It's worth noting that the clutch has zero effect on the shift action on horizontal parallelogram type mechs like these. The shifter will fully click to the next gear before the cage moves at all, so even small hands would be fine on U6000. This is part of why b-tension is so much more important on these style mechs: it needs room to move the cage inward before the cage pivots.
Yes, on older mechs with a diagonally-oriented parallelograms, the cage does have to pivot a bit against the cage spring and clutch to allow the inward movement, making the action heavier at the shifter level when the clutch is on, but that doesn't happen on CUES or HG+ (or Eagle or SRAM-11).
It's a huge part of why I went to back to Shimano (12sp) after being SRAM-only ever since X01 11sp happened. Always loved the snappy light shift action _of SRAM 11sp & Eagle, but wanted the durability and precision of Shimano again. SLX shifter, XT mech, GX cassette, XO1 chain, RaceFace ring. Snappy, durable, quiet_: pick 3.
*(dead quiet when not shifting and very quiet when downshifting: it does thunk when I upshift under power, but it still makes the shift. Maybe I'll someday get a MicroSpline freehub and HG+ cassette whenever I need a new cassette...)
Feb. 28, 2023, 10:27 a.m. - Justin White
It's worth noting that the clutch has zero effect on the shift action on horizontal parallelogram type mechs like these. The shifter will fully click to the next gear before the cage moves at all, so even small hands would be fine on U6000. This is part of why b-tension is so much more important on these style mechs: it needs room to move the cage inward before the cage pivots. Yes, on older mechs with a diagonally-oriented parallelograms, the cage does have to pivot a bit against the cage spring and clutch to allow the inward movement, making the action heavier at the shifter level when the clutch is on, but that doesn't happen on CUES or HG+ (or Eagle or SRAM-11). It's a huge part of why I went to back to Shimano (12sp) after being SRAM-only ever since X01 11sp happened. Always loved the snappy light shift action _of SRAM 11sp & Eagle, but wanted the durability and precision of Shimano again. SLX shifter, XT mech, GX cassette, XO1 chain, RaceFace ring. Snappy, durable, quiet_: pick 3. *(dead quiet when not shifting and very quiet when downshifting: it does thunk when I upshift under power, but it still makes the shift. Maybe I'll someday get a MicroSpline freehub and HG+ cassette whenever I need a new cassette...)