New (to me) CUES RD
 

The '26 Diverge I acquired late last year came with Shimano's CUES groupset.

Didn't have a lot of time to ride it before outdoor biking season closed in October, but enough that I got a feel for the differences between CUES behavior and the 105 stuff on my Tarmac.

Last week saw a break in our winter weather, sufficient for me to drag the Diverge up out of the basement for a couple of days' commutes the 3/4 mile to work, and brief forays out for lunch.

Shifting the RD didn't have as much of a delay in the beginning as it seems to have developed between then and presently. It's the in-between RD shifts that tend to pause, when going to smaller (higher) gears than larger (lower).

So I'm wondering if it's just a cleaning maintenance project, or maybe a B Screw adjustment to minimize the 'built in' CUES delay?

Your thoughts on this, if you've experienced similar characteristics, are welcomed.

might be a cold cable issue.. steel shrinks when chilled... loosen the cable tension adjuster one click, maybe two.

That never crossed my mind... good point, thanks! I'll try that (the next time we see a 50° day 'round these parts...).

The simplest explanation: it's ready to be taken back to the dealer for the free warranty checkup. That's assuming you haven't already adjusted the rear derailleur to take up the cable slack that usually happens in the first hundred miles or so with a new bike.

I wouldn't skip the free checkup. The mechanic will check other stuff, too..

Now that possibility did cross my mind. What I haven't allow for was the "steel shrinks when cool" effect and whether that would negate any stretch that's happened.

Cables stretch, new ones in particular, until some miles have been ridden. I haven't made any adjustments yet, preferring instead to toss the question into the ring here, see what comes back.

May keep that option open until I've ridden this bike for a few more (hundred) miles.

Closest Specialized dealers are an hour's drive minimum. Too, as I bought this bike from an on-line dealer I'm reluctant to depend on a local dealer's support just yet.

the symptoms you described are because of a too-tight cable adjustment.
loosen the cable's adjustment by turning the adjuster in one click to reduce the "reluctance to shift to a smaller cog" in the rear.
it may take two clicks.

Colder grease increases drag on the shift cable/housing.
Shifts to higher gears rely on a spring where the low shifts have a positive pull.

It's a maintenance issue.
If not bad, sometimes that an extra click won;t bother low shifting, but allow "tolerable" upshifts.

You could also try spraying something like Tri Flow in the cable to "thin" the lube.

These replies are telling me it's the cold weather aspect of my recent rides that suggest a different approach to maintenance is indicated for cool / cold weather. No surprise, I rarely ever venture out when it's below 50°F.

This too an 'index vs. friction' thing... the former sensitive to environmental conditions, the latter somewhat more forgiving once set up properly, cable tension vs. spring tension.

I'll be sticking with my trainer for awhile yet... it's 10°F outside right now, streets covered with ice where plows left snow from Friday's blast to thaw / freeze in yesterday's sunshine.

Thanks all for your insights.

An hour's drive to the Specialized shop might not be worth it to you. And that's assuming that Specialized dealers are obligated to provide the free warranty tuneup despite their having made no money on the bike sale. Which, if true, would annoy me if I still worked in a shop that sold Specialized bikes. Maybe dealers can submit a claim to Specialized for the labor charge. I hope so.

In any event, rather than speculating on the cause and letting the bike continue to shift badly, maybe look at some videos detailing how to adjust the cable tension for optimal indexed shifting. It's one of the easiest bike adjustments to do.

Also check the torque specs on the various bolts and nuts on the bike and check them with a torque wrench. It's been decades since I worked in shops, so I hope Maddog or one of the other people here who currently work in shops can provide advice on what warranty checks entail for modern bikes.

Exactly my plan for later today. Problem's less evident when bike's on stand in basement, leading me to think the cold temps of garage storage prior to commutes to work are the cause of poor shifting. If it's just a simple click or two on the barrel adjuster to effect smoother shifting, that can wait until I can ride again when it's still cooler than I like to ride to see if that'll 'fix' things.

Last year I put a lot more miles under the wheels on my Tarmac. This Diverge was a late-summer acquisition, the 'Mac's more in need of a thorough inspection & servicing before the outdoor riding season arrives here.

I've already replaced the rear shift cable out of caution to inspect for wire breakage (and opportunity to add the short Shimano-recommended bit of cable housing at the back for the turn before the DR) but everything else has pretty much gone untouched since I finished putting it together late in 2024.

Has the CUES kit been out long enough now for opinions on shift cable longevity (vs their 105 stuff) to become evident?

Either way I'm working to get shut of a mindset that has me shifting vastly more than when I ride my friction MB just because it's easier when the shifter's at my fingertips 'stead of down on a tube between my knees.

When I was commuting here in WI before retiring, I often had shift issues in cold weather. I would typically still ride down to about a morning of 20F. The bike sat in the cold garage, but heated space at work. I always noticed a difference on the start of the ride home. I feel a lot of it was in the STIs. This was typically my flat bar rapid fire shifters bike. I definitely had to push harder in cold weather.

CUES shifts noticeably slower, particularly upshifts. It's a combination of the wide-range cassettes (particularly the 9/10 speed ones) and the cassette design that puts more emphasis on durability than shift speed.

Durability's a Plus!
 

What I found when I first approached adjusting that cable -

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...37f4ac4b8.jpeg

Am I correct in thinking that cable should instead be routed through the slot on that boss, instead of around the outside?

Manual's illustrations aren't that detailed to inform me about what Shimano intended.

May not matter when I do something new I want to do it correctly....

wow.. that must have been a very difficult screw up.. that took some work to achieve.... i'd definitely route the cable thru the slot.
and the routing shown will change the pull ratio... :rolleyes:

most of the time when i see things like this,, people have tried to trap the cable with the anti-spin tab on the cable clamp plate... i'm surprized the cable wasn't routed to the opposite side of the screw.

One of the negatives I guess of buying a bike, unseen, from an exclusively on-line vendor.

Here's a screen-grab of the relevant page I found in Shimano's manual for the Rear Derailleur: Shimano CUES RD-U6020 (10 Speed) on my Diverge -

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6d846aaf0d.jpg
I'll relocate that cable into the groove, see what happens....

When I received my Tarmac (same vendor) near the end of the 2024 biking season I wondered why I was having some 'issues' over the FDR performing as I'd expected. Taking things further (as is my preference, and as I'd not dealt with a 'local' dealer) I came to learn that its little 'support screw' (virtually hidden in the DR mech) needed to be tightened against the backer plate bonded to the CF seat tube, otherwise the DR would twist slightly under cable tension. Don't recall if that came via a tip here on the BF forum (I'd just recently joined) or my searching through Shimano's maintenance files on line. Tightening that little screw fixed things virtually instantly.

most of the time, the shift cables are attached at the factory, and should be close to adjusted before crating too.
maybe they leave the rear der. off the bike now, to limit shipping damage...?

can you imagine the fight it took to get that cable clamped in place like it was?
i imagine it raised a bit of a sweat, and required pre-bending, to achieve the wrong thing. :lol:

the rounded outer edges of "the slot" become the cable pull point, not the clamp plate... it SHOULD reduce the chance of flexing/wear/breakage at the plate to zero... that portion of cable sees high stress anyway, due to over-clamping of the cables. "It can still move! i'll just add another half turn or two....."... mush.. fray... break, eventually........." i've seen it too many times.

[QUOTE=maddog34;23701158]....maybe they leave the rear der. off the bike now, to limit shipping damage...?[[size=13px]QUOTE]

Not on these two Specialized, no; they both had their RDR's attached & cabled when I took them out of their packaging.

Both were well packed, secured by zip ties with flexible foam fitted blocks to the major structural points like dropouts & bottom bracket. Those were then encased in cardboard that was taped shut. Lots of free space between those compartmentalized protective covers and the outer cardboard shell of the shipping cartons.

Thanks for your insights on this BTW. I appreciate all the contributors here and how they add to my knowledge base.[/size]