Shimano Link Glide Drivetrain - Long Term Review 

Just got this groupset for my ebike. First ride tonight!

I'm fully switching to linkglide on Friday. I have the Cues U8000 derailleur, Cues LG400 cassette and XT linkglide shifter sitting in my hallway waiting to be installed. Total price came out to about $240 for everything.

The Loam Wolf is quickly becoming my go to for in depth reviews and testing on bikes. Love your content!

my boi been liftin'! getting swole! i see you

On a 32t 11/42t Turbo Levo, a steel 34t and the 11-50 Linkglide should be the only choice when your NX chain (or derailleur) snap.😂

I think I’ll upgrade to this. I’m running a 1x11 Deore 5100 groupset on my Cube Reaction Hybrid Pro, but the Bosch CX is putting a lot of power through it, so the cassette is not looking great. I really don’t mind slower shifting, but I do like durable parts. I’ve already upgraded the weak Tektro brakes to a set of 4 pot XT brakes, and it stops on a dime now. Now I’ll do this next. By the way, would I need to upgrade to a LinkGlide shifter too? My current is the 5100 11 speed.

I use this on my 2020 Turbo Levo Expert Carbon. It came with 1x11. I discovered to avoid problems I had to replace the chain and cassette at the same time, SRAM GX1175 cassette which I think has all steel cogs. I used the XT derailleur with this setup, and usually SRAM 12-speed GX chain. I kept 2-3 backups to avoid downtime. I replaced the whole shebang with the linkglide. Zero issues, have about 600 miles on it. Just replaced the first chain (using chain stretch tool to decide when). $300 for the whole thing including XT shifter and derailleur. Way better than the expensive stuff, and weight doesn’t matter on the ebike. Also don’t need 12 speed. I’ve been through a couple praxis steel front chainrings since I got the bike, they seem to hold up pretty well.

I’m running with a 12 speed sunrace cassette no idea what the chain is and a deore derailleur that came on my trek fuel exe I think an XT full set of either would be a lot better.

The one downside of the Linkglide is that most new e-bikes come with microspline or Xd wheelsets. I would have to buy a HG freehub body for the rear wheel and sometimes budget wheels don’t allow you to swap freehubs at all. I would rather have an 11spd XT Linkglide over a 12spd XT Hyperglide drivetrain for an e bike any day. I’m not a pro athlete, slower shifting, fine, fewer expensive cassettes to replace, yes please!

I have a RIZE MD mid drive, with a 120 nm motor. My problem is that I keep destroying my freewheel and yes it is a freewheel. I am thinking that replacing the rear wheel to get a cassette and then installing a link glide might solve my problems. Any comments?

Shimano drivetrains at all levels have always been superior in shifting, smoothness, and longevity compared to Srams garbage quality and longevity. It's sad that a complete Shimano Deore group set, although a lot heaver, is far smother then Sram expansive GX. I find that on the sram equipped bikes I owned, I had a lot of phantom shifting on steep techy climbs. No such issues ever with Shimano at any price level.

Anyone which new e-bikes come stock with linkglide?

Off topic: does that Feedback sports truing stand hold its balance with a 29 rear wheel with cassette on it or you have to remove the cassette? Thx a lot in advance

Do I need to switch vom HG free hub to micro spline?

Imagine that. A company is aiming for affordability, durability, and compatibility. If this groupset fails it's the consumers' fault.

I have 12-speed XT Drivetrain. Going to change it to Linkglide next year for sure! I use eBike and I use it hard.

You should do more videos on good value components and breaking it down so less bike incline people can understand.

Well Done ! An excellent & thorough review that obviously came out of experience. The Shimano Cues system is being sold as "made for e-bikes" or at least more able to stand up to the heavier loads and higher torque of a big class III e-bike. One thing I can speak to based on personal experience is, Don't get the Shimano brand CN-LG500 Chain on backwards ! My new e-bike came w/ the Cues RD-U6000 10/11 speed Derailleur & matching CS-400-10 cassette but had KMC e- bike chain installed. When I'd decided to go w/ a larger Chainring I thought I'd try out the Shimano LinkGlide chain and proceed to install the chain w/ the markings/lettering on the "inside", instead of facing outward (like it says in the installation instructions). While testing & adjusting the shifting in the shop you knew something wasn't right just turning the Crank by hand. Rotating the Crank fetl "ratchety", iow, you could feel every sprocket cog engage w/ the chain. I didn't ride w/ this setup but until I did some online research, I finally read where this is a No-No. I reversed the chain (writing to the outside), and suddenly everything worked Very smoothly. 😊 I'm not sure if KMC chain has the same requirements, but I'll be paying attention to that in the future. And yes, I already knew that some Master Links were directional.

Man, I was completely unaware of this product line. Might need to try this next before going all in on T Type. I like using Archer D1X to do the electronic shifting in the meanwhile.

The three smallest rings/gears are the ones that wear out the quickest? Whaaaat?? It's the middle ones that wear out first since they get the most use unless you are always riding at top speed. That's just stupid and I'm insulted this would be stated. Corporate supported talking head.

6:33 Not really surprising. The chain made out of steel, a harder material, is wearing down the softer Aluminium alloy. Not a problem of Hyperglide, but rather a fundamental materials property and limitation. An Apples-to-Apples comparo would have been Steel to Steel.

Will the cassette work w/ any derailuer?

I have xt linkglide on commencal meta 4x and 12speed xtr on my nukeproof mega and with exception of weight xt linkglide wipes the floor with xtr in terms of performance. It is significantly easier to find the cable tension sweet spot and is much more robust in terms of staying in the sweet spot where as the xtr is very fical and needs a bit of tweaking every couple of rides...

Depending on the weight penalty over a 12 speed id probably consider this for my normal bike,

I have a Ari Timp peak, which i bought based on loam wolfs reviews. Ive put 500 miles on it this summer so far and this drive train is holding up great. You get used to the slower shifting pretty quickly, i dont even notice it any more. Im very impressed with it.

Was looking at this to replace a slightly wonky Box 2 setup on an older bike. One compatibility concern is it doesn’t jive with the older hyperglide pull ratios. So can’t reuse my XT shifter. Was interested at a 100 for a derailleur, but not 200 for both.

I just got a new ebike with linkglide. Haven’t used it a ton yet but so far I’m very impressed with its shifting capabilities, even under power, shifts really nicely. The expected longevity is just another added bonus! Oh, also, it shifts up multiple gears at once if you want, whereas some others usually are one gear at a time.

I have a Turbo Levo Alloy Comp and have been through 2 cassettes in the first 1,000k and have a Glink Glide setup waiting to go on next. The cost is one thing, but the wear and durability is another. Expecting a normal cassette and chain to handle the power of a modern E Bike is a big ask. You don't change gears as often because the power spreads the need to and blends the gears so often you can get caught in the wrong gear for sure.

It would be great to get 15,000 km out of one cassette. Is there a 'Linkglide' derailleur or, does a stock unit work? I get 5000 km with 2 chains out of regular SLX XT cassettes

You sold me. Just ordered this.

Good review. I really appreciate the more affordable options reviewed.

What was the weight difference on the cassette? You don’t say?

Tbh I'm not sure why more ebikes don't come with Linkglide. If I smash my 12 speed XT on my ebike around the time I need a new cassette I'll definitely swap to Linkglide. 12 speeds is excessive on an ebike anyways.

definitely makes sense for an e-bike. The less expensive Cues lineup also uses linkglide and actually look to be great for entry level bikes or a cheap drivetrain upgrade for an older bike, especially for 1x conversions on older bikes. For my analog bike I think I'll stick with my 12 speed XT and its double upshift and quad downshift.

Run the 10 speed on my levo and it is spot on. Bonus feature is that the spacing is larger and better for ebikes. Far less double shifts under acceleration. Price for the complete 10 spd. group is ridiculous :D

will see.. I will pair it with microshift advent x deruiler,kmc chain and race face 30t ring. 💪🙏

a properly lubed and cleaned chain is the key to longevity. my doere XT groupset is clocking now on 2000km+. The wear on the chain is just about to reach 20%. you don't need a good lube I personally used 80W gear oil.

If I were to transition to emtb I've been thinking about drivetrain longevity when they are using drivetrains for non assist mtb's. Now, I know I'll replace with LinkGlide after wearing out the initial drivetrain. Thank you for sharing this info.

Does anyone know where the last three cogs can be purchased?

What's the catch? Shimano has always been the king of planned obsolescence and incompatibility.

Can you install 11 speed linkglide cassette and shifter with an ordinary 12 speed xt derailure?

Can I run this on my current SRAM crank and will the cassette fit my rear hub??

Do we need spesific chain and chainring for linkglide to works?

I will buy one for shure because I tear 11t cog in 300 km.

I wish more manufacturers would run this over SRAM shit....is there a list anywhere with what bikes have linkglide? I noticed that the Timp peak no longer has Shimano offerings...sigh...

Question about the smaller cogs. On a full power ebike, sprinting standing, side loading the bike while cranking through a corner…shimano cassettes skipped on me because the small cogs are just held by pressure from an aluminum lock ring. Is that skipping issue fixed because the cogs are thicker?

Is anyone going to mention this man's awesome hair. 😂😂😂 looks flawless. What's that hair product homie. Lol

On a new trek emtb, my wife tore through two cassettes in six months and the poor shifting drove her crazy. I switched everything to linkglide deore 10sp, and a year later it is still perfect and she's happy with the shifting. My bike is next for linkglide.

Will it work with m9000 swifter?

Why does this require a different derailer?

I wonder why they didn't go with a 12-speed group set, not because we necessarily need it, but seems to be the norm in groupsets these days. I assume this uses the newer shimano spine drive too right? little pro-tip you can use the collar on the cable end of the derailer from the xtr, to help reduce the sharp bend of the cable feeding into the derailer.

why no 12 speed version ?and can I regress to an 11 speed from a 12? excuse the newbie question

Avoid the cues range, it's low tier garbage. I'm hoping to pair the 10speed 11/48 cassette with the deore m5130 mech, even though it's only rated to 43t, it's supposed to work.

Was not excited at all when it was first anounced but can see through your video that it's definitely interesting for people who buy their stuff and ride their bikes a ton.

Shimano get it wrong again. I doubt that many people care about the smallest 3 gears on a MTB. The lowest gears are far more important for MTB but Shimano have removed the 51 tooth on the 11 speed and the 45 tooth on the 10 speed. Incidentally Shimano could have replaced their useless and unreliable clutch with the SRAM sprung pin method for slackening the chain. What a disappointment.

I think the regular Shimano is pretty durable. My deore chain and cassette is going on year 4. Chain still no measurable wear.

Great video, but I think that the preferred term for the "teeth" on a cassette is "cogs"

Second!