cube nature?

little wiser

Hi anyone own or road one off these if so how do you find it?

dilemna

Nope, but I've been tempted by one. Of the limited Cube dealers that there are, none have the Cube Touring in stock. They seem to be very well specc'd and finished.

Berk Bonebonce

Riding with suspension forks on roads sucks. It is the height of daftness.

26" offers advantages over 700c in terms of balance. You have a lower centre of gravity with 26" and this can make for more assured cycling, especially in traffic.

Disc brakes are great until you get fed up of cycling with a rucsac on your back and want to fit a rack. And likewise mudguards. Disc brakes can get in the way of the fitting of a rack and mudguards.

And a bike like the Cube Nature is very nickable. As are the bits on it. It might be okay left locked up in Copenhagen or Ferrara, but not in this poxy little country.

As a general rule ... the more unfashionable a bike, the better and more functional it actually is.

beverick

The berk above is half right.

Riding on tarmac (and indeed any firm level surface) with a suspension fork doesn't make much sense, doubly so when you're going up hill. But the fork on the Cube seems tohave a lock-out (and I assume the RL on the spec means 'remote lockout' on the bars) so this won't be a problem. it's just potentially a wast of money if you're not going to use the bike off-road. nb I, and many others, ride suspension fork equipped MTB on the road with the suspension locked out. To be honest, and in the main, you don't really notice if the suspension is free unless you get out of the saddle.

There's no stability advantage, or indeed disadvantage, between 26" and 700c rims. In fact, you're probably likely to be sitting higher on 700c wheels so even if there were a compromise with stability it would be cancelled out by the increased visibility.

It is possible to fit a 'standard' rack on a bike with disc brakes but you may need to apply the odd-bend here and there or use longer bolts and spacers. if you don't have the confidence to re-engineer the rack there are several disc-brake specific racks available. Alternatively, fit a seat post rack.

Disc brakes are more likley to cause a challenge when fitting mudguards but again, you need to know either where to bend the stays or have the wherwithall or facilities to make a bodge. See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/archie1978/2889854567/

Novel use of P-clips or longer bolts and spacers may also be needed to attach the mudguards.

Comments about nickability apply to virtually any bike. You just have to be careful where you leave it and how you secure it. The trick is to make your bike less appealing to steal than those around it - a cynical view but perhaps the best defence.

Regarding the bike itself, unless there's a specific reason for the suspension fork, I'd be tempted to look at a 'fast' flat bar road bike instead such as the Specialized Sirrus or Boardman hybrid.

Bob

Berk Bonebonce

beverick wrote:

There's no stability advantage, or indeed disadvantage, between 26" and 700c rims. In fact, you're probably likely to be sitting higher on 700c wheels so even if there were a compromise with stability it would be cancelled out by the increased visibility.

If you think that there is no stability advantage from riding a bike with a lower centre of gravity: you think that.

looe

I have a CUBE Touring 2010 with disc brakes and it is lovely for what I use it for i.e slow touring with a Burley Nomad behind. If speed is your thing this bike is not for you as it is heavy. ChainReaction Cycles stock them