A Storm is Brewing... Shimano ends support for the mega-popular 10/11speed road bike drivetrains

Innovation or forced migration to 12 speed? Millions of current Shimano customer are being left behind by their latest move.

Jan 31, 2025

Shimano Launches Cues: A Bold Move with Serious Consequences for 10 and 11-Speed Riders

Shimano’s latest drivetrain innovation, the Cues line, is being marketed as a revolutionary step forward in simplifying and improving shifting performance. By unifying their 9, 10, and 11-speed drivetrains under the Cues banner, Shimano promises greater durability, cross-compatibility within the new ecosystem, and a refined rider experience. However, this move comes with a significant and controversial downside: the decision to discontinue support for millions of existing 10 and 11-speed road drivetrains. And we don't see anyone at Shimano, or their paid "reviewers" talking about this not-so-insignificant detail.

The Discontinuation of Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, and Dura-Ace 10 & 11-Speed Support

With the introduction of Cues, Shimano is quietly ending support for traditional 10 and 11-speed road groupsets, including mechanical and Di2 versions.  Cues is also NOT compatible with current 10 and 11speed parts as the cable pull ratio is different. This means that long-standing series like Tiagra (10-speed), 105, Ultegra, and Dura-Ace (11-speed) will no longer receive new replacement parts such as shifters and derailleurs. For riders and bike shops, this represents a major challenge. Millions of road bikes currently in use rely on these drivetrains, and as parts wear out or suffer crash damage, finding replacements will become increasingly difficult.

A Market Shift with Negative Consequences

While Shimano positions Cues as a future-proof solution, this shift could create a spare parts crisis for both individual cyclists and retailers. Historically, when Shimano discontinued support for 10-speed Di2 around 2016, shops and riders faced significant difficulties sourcing replacement shifters and derailleurs. Given that 10-speed Di2 was a niche product at the time, the impact was somewhat limited. However, this latest move affects far more riders, as 10 and 11-speed mechanical drivetrains have been dominant on road bikes for over a decade. The scale of disruption is likely to be unprecedented.

What This Means for Riders and Shops

For customers, this means an increased urgency to stock up on spare components while they are still available. Once parts start disappearing from the market, repairing a high-quality road bike could become impractical. At the coal face, bike shops will face an even greater challenge, as they must manage customer frustrations and the logistical nightmare of sourcing alternatives and explain why a simple part is not readily available.

Some might argue that this move forces riders to upgrade, but not everyone is looking to overhaul their entire groupset just to keep their bike running. Many cyclists invest in high-end components expecting longevity, not planned obsolescence.

A Risky Bet for Shimano

By introducing Cues and cutting off support for millions of existing Shimano users, the brand is taking a substantial risk. While they may streamline production and improve compatibility within the Cues ecosystem, they risk alienating a significant portion of their loyal customer base. Given the widespread use of 10 and 11-speed Shimano road drivetrains worldwide, this decision could have lasting repercussions in the industry for years to come.

In the short term, bike shops and consumers must prepare for parts shortages and consider alternative brands for future-proofing their setups. For Shimano, the question remains: is the pursuit of progress worth the cost of leaving millions of riders behind?

What about Alternatives?

Shimano has a history of making big, bold moves and forgetting to check market sentiment before jumping, then leaving big gaps that smaller companies are all too eager to exploit.

In 2003 Shimano decided to change all the high end mountain bike XTR rear derailleurs to a "low normal" which defaults to the big cog instead of the small cog when tension is off the derailleur cable. I was working at Specialized at the time and the experience of riding one of these was counter to how we used the gears and there was feeling that Shimano developers didn't actually ride mountain bikes or understand how their products were used. This opened the door for Sram to supply parts for ALL the high end mountain bikes from Specialized that year.

These missteps are hard to recover from and hungry companies like Sram jump on it, Sram, who started with Gripshift and a slick mountain bike drivetrain option in the late 90's is now considered to be level with Shimano in many respects. During Covid when Shimano couldn't (or wouldn't) respond to the rapid increase in demand for bike parts, a little fighter called MicroShift all of a sudden appeared on almost all of our entry-level urban and mountain bikes.  

Wheeltop out of China is a new entrant at the electronic, high end of the market and they offer the ability to tune the shifters and derailleurs to suit any combination of 7 speeds up to 14 speeds, so future proofing your drivetrain purchase for the next couple waves of development is even possible. Impressive. Another Chinese company LTWOO is also ready in the sidelines, with a wide offering including high end wireless, electronic groupsets.

Is a competitor going to step in and make their name by selling 10/11speed shimano-compatible parts? I have not confirmed it in store here, but I'm told that some Microshift parts will work, so maybe that's already happening...

I'm curious to see how this decision pans out for Shimano, but for now when asked about which groupset brand I prefer, I stay on the fence. They've all made missteps over the years, who's on top now may not be next year. But this move from Shimano really feels like the execs and accountants who are only focusing on tooling and production line costs might have forgotten to look at the wave of discontent they might have set off. I might be hesitant to buy, or recommend a Shimano groupset if they will stop supporting it in a couple years.  If I'm thinking it, then there are many more retailers who will be thinking it, too.  It might be the move that relegates Shimano to "one of the big four" and topples a giant.