Cube AMS 125 XTR The One
andygibbins
Posts: 13
I have just joined the many very satisfied Cube owners by picking up a bargain '09 AMS 125 XTR The One. This is a significant upgrade for me, been riding a Giant Yukon FX1 for the last 12 months. Despite my best efforts it has been very difficult to find any reviews of the AMS 125 prior to purchase so I intend to make regular updates to this topic after each event I do this year in order to assist anyone else wishing to buy this bike. As per last year I intend to go solo at Mountain Mayhem, SitS and Relentless 24 as well as regular 7 Stanes rides, mainly Kirroughtree and Glentress red routes. (Before anyone critisizes the Yukon it performed extremely well at these events and trails last year without a single mechanical...damned heavy though!!)
Well this is the bike(hopefully pics have uploaded), I know its in the bling white, black and green rather than the anodised black but I actually prefer it and there are some forums that critisize the quality of the anodized bikes (although many owners have had no problems!?). I have strapped on some (equally bling) Team Edition Ergon Grips as I get numbness in my wrists at the 14-16hr point duting 24hr events and quite fancy trying them out, especially with the bar ends...will update as to their effectiveness in later posts.
For those who dont know the spec it basically is a hydroformed aluminium frame, Fox TALAS fork, RP23 shock, full XTR drivetrain and Formula The One brakes; light DT Swiss wheels and carbon bars..all in around 12.8kgs.
So far I am loving it and compared to my Giant it is a massive step up for me. As I say, there is a lack of reviews for this bike so happy to answer questions or post pics as required.
Well this is the bike(hopefully pics have uploaded), I know its in the bling white, black and green rather than the anodised black but I actually prefer it and there are some forums that critisize the quality of the anodized bikes (although many owners have had no problems!?). I have strapped on some (equally bling) Team Edition Ergon Grips as I get numbness in my wrists at the 14-16hr point duting 24hr events and quite fancy trying them out, especially with the bar ends...will update as to their effectiveness in later posts.
For those who dont know the spec it basically is a hydroformed aluminium frame, Fox TALAS fork, RP23 shock, full XTR drivetrain and Formula The One brakes; light DT Swiss wheels and carbon bars..all in around 12.8kgs.
So far I am loving it and compared to my Giant it is a massive step up for me. As I say, there is a lack of reviews for this bike so happy to answer questions or post pics as required.
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Thats a very nice ride. Extemely good kit choice on it, have to let us know how you get on with it. Those Ergo grips always tempt me, although I don't do anything over 4 hours riding!!!
Happy trails0 -
Nice bike, my brother has had the same one for a few months and loves it (to the point where he has some money to spend on it but can't find any worthwhile upgrades!)0
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Congrats, very nice looking bike Suffering from the light bike fat git syndrome.0
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Mate.....looking good! 8)0
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beautiful bike.maybe too good looking to get dirty.0
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Very nice looking ride0
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Its not going to look like that once we are finished at lecky hill gibbo!!0
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Schweet ride mate 8)Ribble Gran Fondo
Guerciotti Lyra Cross
Trek 6000 S/S0 -
Nice bike!!! I've had the ams 125 xt for about a year and absoloutly lovin it. See it on about page 7 or 8. Only thing I've changed is the stem and handlebars, being the 20" frame it came with a 120 stem. Dropped it down to 100 and makes the steering more responsive Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
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I am also looking at getting this bike.
I have a Cube Acid which i have thrown around trails (Cwn Carn, Afan, Glyncorrwg, Coed-y-Brenin) and local madness (suicidal muddy pine needle infested forestry) for over a year and it has coped well, in the day and night....if i upgraded the forks i'm sure it would last me another year.
However, steep head and angle and underwhelming forks is going to bring me to a sticky end soon.
soooo, the bikes i'm looking at and testing in order of cost are: Anthem X3, Cube AMS 125 XTR and Lappy Zesty 514.
my specific question regarding this bike is about head angle, all the websites quote it has being 70.5 however the Cube catalogue quote it as 69, if this is the case this is another pro for me when considering this bike; this is the only bike out of the three i wont be able to test ride. but based on my experience with my Cube and it's build quality and the spec of the AMS 125 XTR for the price, it's a very strong contender.......
so, what do you reckon, is it 69 or 70.5?0 -
had a cheeky ride on an ams 100 yesterday, Very nice bike, a lot of kit for the money, if i wasnt a Hard tailer at heart i'd seriously consider one!!Timmo.
After all, I am Cornish!
http://cornwallmtb.kk5.org/
Cotic Soul, The bike of Legends!
Yes, I Am a bike tart!
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... 1#162974810 -
@Suss - cube.eu says 69deg head angle for the AMS 125 (70.5deg for the AMS Comp and AMS Pro, which both have 100mm forks)
There's a few Cube HT's at work, and one guy left a AMS Pro in the bike shed one day. The more recent ones certainly look nice, but I've never ridden any.0 -
What a serious bike. It's nicer in white IMO. Formula brakes are a good upgrade compared to the XTR brakes I guess and in white....ummm
Short stem : is it 90mm ? Steering must be entertaining.0 -
Well...I demo'd a Zesty 314 this weekend, i was't as wow'd as i expected to be after reading the reviews. I did Whites Level and a local downhill'ish ride.
it climbed well enough, and was pretty smooth at the xc sections, but i guess it came into it's own on the fast downhill sections, sailed over everything relatively smoothly. a bit dissapointed with small bump sensitivity, but that may be down to the setting up. for the like of Whites Level i reckon you could get away with much less travel and tighter head angles, i also found it twitchy at slow speed techy cornering, i suppose this was down the the long wheel base and slack angles. where it really shone was at my local ride, very steep muddy root infested natural forestry trail. i sailed down tracks that usually make me feel very nervous.
the actual bike in the Zesty range i am considering is the 2.8k 514, i'm not 100% sure i need to spend this amount of cash to get a bike that will do what i need it to do!
so, i'll guess i will get to the point, i think the AMS XTR 125 may be closer to what i need, with the adustable travel fork; 100mm for tight technical single track climbs and 140mm travel for the madness.
anyhoo the next bike on the list is the Ahthem X2 which i'm hoping to demo next weekend, i guess this is at the other scale of what i'm considering geometry wise.
sorry for hijacking your thread 0 -
If you look at the 09 website the head angle is stated at 70.5, but in the 2010 it is 69 so maybe cube has changed the frame geometry for 2010! however I'm lovin my 09 125xt done 1500km over the last year and only just changed my rear nobby nic! for the same again of course! :P :P 0
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Nice and a bit green here.
I have owned my AMS comp 9 (Cassandra) for around 6 months now and although it doesnt have the bling componants its a fantastic ride. Although it lacks the bling I havnt felt the need to change anything. Well maybe, but its only because I had a nice set of wheels in any case and i have fiddled with a wider barfly like a mouse, run like a cushion be the small bookcase!0 -
Good idea mate, I bit the bullet and forked out £1900 (I got £400 cheaper than Chainreaction by buying from a German bike shop) for a Cube AMS Pro R1 Mag 2010. I, like you couldn't find hardly any info on this bike or reviews and trying to find a shop that had one in London to try was impossible.
But I was so impressed with the spec list, looks and apparent quality I bought one, and happy to say I'm extremely happy with my decision. I left a short review on the Chainreaction website under that model if anyone wants to read it or if anyone is considering one and has some questions I'll happily try to answer them.
I've just replaced the handlerbars with some EA70s with a bit more rise, fit a chain protector and thats about it. I have the black anodised one and noticed a little bit has worn near the rear brake cable but nothing too bad.0 -
Thats a month with the bike and I have to say I have been blown away by how good it is. I may only be making strict comparisons with my previous bike (Giant Yukon FX1) but it surpasses it in literally every aspect. For starters I have never been able to climb so fast as I can with this bike, it simply flys uphill and with the front and rear both locked out it is incredible. The rear shock is super plush and incredibly responsive it makes long rides far more tolerable. I rode 70 miles over the weekend, mainly road work, and where I would ordinarily have back ache for days, I feel fresh and without any pain. The riding position feels far more upright and comfortable than I was used to.
The Formula The One brakes are astonishingly good too. They took a few rides to bed-in fully but now they are incredible to the point I have to give a health warning to anyone having a go on the bike; if your weight isn't right when you brake for the first time then there is a strong chance of nose diving, once you are used to the 'feel' then they are a pleasure to use. The XTR kit has performed faultlessly and having adjusted and re-adjusted the ergon grips, they are now very comfortable. On steep seated climbs they are great to pull against and on long rides they allow for comfortable change in grip.
It will get its first real test in a few weeks time when it is taken for a long weekend to Glentress (Red routes). My mate will be riding a Spicy 316 so we will be able to make some comparisons in the 'all mountain' performance. I will report back on how it got along. For those lucky enough to get a place at this years Mountain Mayhem, look out for me on this bike as a solo entry looking pretty dishevled!!0 -
Hi , was wondering when more Cube owners would start a thread , Currently riding an AMS Pro 125 K18 2008 model , got it before the price hike for £1250 , was impressed by the spec for the money , 5" travel with Rock Shox U- Turn up front and RP23 out back both with lock -out ( even with pop-lock on front ) Bike pictured on holiday when we stopped at Crosby beach last year . Had the bike for nealy 2 years now and so far its done the C2C from Whitehaven to Sunderland , Peak district foray , and many vetures on the local 7 stanes as well as loads of XC trails right through the winter,as well as the rest of the year , so I guess I can call it an All Mountain bike . So far its been pretty reliable , although I had to replace the rear swing arm bearings and headset bearings after 1st year , just changed the chain for second time but also swapped out the rear cassette as it was starting to hang up on 2nd and 3rd gears , still to fit new middle ring as its trashed . front forks are showing signs of salt eating into plating on tubes but still working great . For this reason I've bought another Cube , this time a Flat Bar road bike (Tonopah ) for doing the road miles / fitness runs. Overall i'm really impressed with the bike , great combination of parts , I agree with previous review that a shorter stem would help , swapped the seat for my old Bel-Air and the grips for Lizard Skin Lock - ons but other than that its as per factory . For the money it ticks all the boxes .0
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OK how do you get pics on , tried to use Img box but no luck .0
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andygibbins wrote:My mate will be riding a Spicy 316 so we will be able to make some comparisons in the 'all mountain' performance.
Mate, I'm happy to do 'Comparisons' only if it's on the flat or downhill 0 -
G Cubed - You need to have your images hosted on a sit such as photobucket, once you have uploaded them you will see the image details that need to be copied and pasted into your forum reply. If you get stuck there is advice in the forum FAQs. Look forward to seeing your ride!0
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Have managed to get picture on ,Thanks Andy . Tonights work was fitting new 36 - 24 chainring set up , machined down old 44 tooth ring as bash guard , will try out this weekend.0
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andygibbins Hi what did you think of the Giant Yukon?
Is the sizing different?0 -
Hey blindinggnasher.....the Yukon was my first bike and it was great. For £560 (pauls cycles) you really wont find much better. It more than handled Glentress, Llandegla(red routes) and 3x24 hr events without any mechanicals.
As for sizing, I am 5'11" and got the large frame which is 19". The stand-over height was fine but I felt the toip tube was a bit too long and the head angle had me stretched over the bike a bit which after time gave me back ache. I reckon if you are 6'1"+ then this would be the right size for you...up to 5'9" I think the 17" frame will be fine. Additionally, due to the raer shock linkage on the seat tube the seat post will only go down half way but you can always saw it to size of needs be.
Overall though it is a great bike and I still use it as my spare.
Hope that helps.0 -
I am now a proud owner of a Cube AMS 125 The One, I must say that i am very impressed! the only thing i will change at the moment are the tyres, my local rides are very wet and muddy and the tyres do not cope well, however i will refit them if/when things start to dry up! extremely please with the kit for the price! top of the range TALAS FIT forks which work a treat! and excellent brakes (almost too goooood!) & the XT gear shifts are clinical! i have ridden it everyday since it has arrived!0
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Hey Andy,
What do you have to do to service the rear linkage bearings? I have a Pro 100 and noticed on the weekend there was slight play in one of the bearings, when I lifted the back a very small amount of play was noticable, maybe it was there before...does that mean it's forked?
Apart from cleaning I haven't tightened or checked them yet.0
