Cube MTBs - Any good?

richa

I am interested in a Cube MTB (c£2k) and am canvassing for opinions on quality of frames?

There don't seem to be a huge amount of reviews on this pretty big German brand. And much less posts as there are for, say, Canyon.

So, anyone got one? What are they like? How do they stack up against Giant, Spesh, Canyon?

Prices seem to be very keen? At the expense of quality?

Thanks.

rockmonkeysc

They are good but quality doesn't look as good as Giant. I have seen a couple broken Cubes but I have seen broken Specializeds and broken a couple Giants myself.

Briggo

RockmonkeySC wrote:

They are good but quality doesn't look as good as Giant. I have seen a couple broken Cubes but I have seen broken Specializeds and broken a couple Giants myself.

No, don't say it's so, are you telling me any manufacturer can have their frames snap? Wow shocker.

jamiemcknight

I have a cube ltd SL. Had it over a year and it has been faultless the thing is bomb proof I have done every type of trail centre run from blue to black and it's never missed a beat. I would go to say its the best bike I have owned only thing That has worn out is the tyres because the rear was bald.
Changed the stem for a shorter one and put wider bars on it just to make it feel more comfortable for my riding style. Changed the pedals for good ones and put a Better saddle on it.
Spec wise it has full shimano xt set up which is top notch. Personally you can't beat the spec for the price!

Jamie

richa

Thanks for the replies. I agree that you can't seem to beat the spec for the price. (Which makes me slightly nervous that corners are cut in the frame...)

Just to add - I am thinking of a Carbon frame.

devbrix

Have just sold a 3 year old Cube Stereo HPC (carbon) 26er as I wanted a long travel 29er and built up a Santa Cruz Tallboy LTc as my 'dream bike' (rather than go for another Cube). However, my wife has a Cube Reaction GTC Pro 29er (carbon) which is as light as a feather and she has lots of KOMs at the local trail centre on it. My son has a Cube Acid.
The Stereo was hammered up on Dartmoor for 3 years and always came back for more. No problems with the frame at all, pretty light and very capable. Other bits wore out whilst the frame looked great and paint pretty good.
All have had good components and are great value, particularly at this time of year when the 2013 stock is being discounted to clear. Cyclesurgery particularly.
Having had Cubes and other makes I think they are great value and would recommend them. The new Stereo 650b gets great reviews eg http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... e-13-47198

Long_Time_Lurker

Cube owner here too (Ltd SL).
Had it for 3 years and am more than happy to recommend them.
It's still my go-to bike - more than my full-sus.

Lewis A

Probably the best value for money non-mail order brand out there. I haven't heard anything negative about the frames, and have had no problems with my analog.

richa

Cheers for the feedback folks. Sounds pretty reassuring.

The plan is to dip my toe in the water of MTBing with the TransPyr...

So was thinking about getting one of these: Cube AMS 100 Super HPC Race 29



Decent choice? Any thoughts on sizing? I am 5'10 (31" inside leg) and was leaning towards the 17".

devbrix

Nice bike. I'm same height , slightly shorter inside leg. The wife's Reaction 29er is a 17 inch and is the definitely the right size for me. Always best to sit on one and preferably ride it but not always possible.
Let us know what you went for

Green Meenie

Ive had a Cube AMS Pro 130 for 2 years now and whilst i love it to bits i have had a few issues including a pedal arm falling off due to a design fault, a cracked frame and a snapped main pivot bolt.

Everything has been sorted out under warranty (new upgraded XT crankset and 2 new frames) but Cube are awful on warranty timescales. Each claim takes between 6 - 8 weeks to sort out which means ive lost around 5 months riding out of the last 2 years, whilst ive heard companies like Specilised will replace a frame within 1 week.

Ive given my cube a hell of a battering over the past 2 years and its done the job very well but the design fault and slow warranty claims have tainted my view of Cube as a future purchase.

thelonegroover

Cubes are quite clever with their spec choice. Their bikes appear to have better specs than rivals but on closer inspection some other parts are lower spec. Having said that, we have had two Cubes in the past and they were both great bikes. However, my son now rides a Giant Trance and much prefers that.

boyse7en

I bought a Cube Ltd Pro at the weekend and So far it's been great

LBS had the Cube, a Giant Trance 1 and a Giant XTC all for similar money so I test rode all three. The Cube was much the best of the three in my opinion. The Trance felt a bit 'dead' to ride and was too upright for me.

chrisw333

boyse7en wrote:

I bought a Cube Ltd Pro at the weekend and So far it's been great

LBS had the Cube, a Giant Trance 1 and a Giant XTC all for similar money so I test rode all three. The Cube was much the best of the three in my opinion. The Trance felt a bit 'dead' to ride and was too upright for me.

Where did you test ride them?

It's surely not a surprise that a 120 full suss trail bike felt very different to two 100mm travel xc oriented hard tails, but clearly the terrain you tested them over and are likely to use them over makes a big difference here?

What do you mean by dead? That's a pretty odd statement about one of the most highly regarded 120mm travel full suss bikes for the last few years.

boyse7en

My bad, was a Giant Talon 1, not Trance 1

thelonegroover

RichA wrote:

Cheers for the feedback folks. Sounds pretty reassuring.

The plan is to dip my toe in the water of MTBing with the TransPyr...

So was thinking about getting one of these: Cube AMS 100 Super HPC Race 29



Decent choice? Any thoughts on sizing? I am 5'10 (31" inside leg) and was leaning towards the 17".

£2,500 + seems a lot to 'dip your toe in the water'!
I'd be interested in the bike if you don't like it.

chrisw333

boyse7en wrote:

My bad, was a Giant Talon 1, not Trance 1

Your post makes a lot more sense now!

The Ltd Pro does seem a good buy.

boyse7en

Yep. It's immaculate as the test rides are only done around the streets where the bike shop is, not off-road. don't think it's actually been tested much anyway, as they have been steering people onto 29ers this year. So for £750 I thought it a good buy. Especially as they did a pair of SPD pedals half-price with it.

The Talon looked good, but didn't have the sparkle of the Cube. It just didn't steer as sharply and didn't feel like it accelerated as quickly.

richa

Thelonegroover wrote:

Cubes are quite clever with their spec choice. Their bikes appear to have better specs than rivals but on closer inspection some other parts are lower spec. Having said that, we have had two Cubes in the past and they were both great bikes. However, my son now rides a Giant Trance and much prefers that.

What would you say are the compromises here / ripe for upgrade:

Color Blackline
Frame Super HPC Monocoque Advanced Twin Mold Technology, ARG, ERC FSP 4-Link, AXH
Fork Rock Shox Reba RL 29, PushLoc, 15QR Maxle, tapered, 100mm
Rear Shock Fox Float CTD, 165x38mm, Climb/Trail/Descend mode, SV air canister
Headset FSA Orbit I-t integrated, top 1 1/8", bottom 1 1/2
Stem CUBE Performance Pro, 6°
Handlebar CUBE Flat Race Bar Pro, 720mm, 9°
Rear Derailleur Shimano XT, RD-M781-SGSL, Shadow 10-speed
Front Derailleur Shimano XT, FD-M781-A, direct mount, Down Swing, 3x10-speed
Shifters Shimano Deore XT SL-M780-I Rapidfire-Plus, direct attach
Brake system Shimano Deore XT K-M7851 hydr. Discbrake (180/160mm)
Crankset Shimano XT, FC-M782, 40x30x22T, 175mm (180mm for largest frame size)
Wheelset DT CSW MA 2.9 straightpull wheelset, 28/32 spokes, 15QR/X12, 622x19C rim, alloy nipples
Front tire Schwalbe Rocket Ron Kevlar 2.25
Rear tire Schwalbe Racing Ralph Kevlar 2.25
Seat Selle Italia X1

Thelonegroover wrote:

£2,500 + seems a lot to 'dip your toe in the water'!
I'd be interested in the bike if you don't like it.

I'll bear you in mind... Have been a roadie for a few years. Done a number of Euro events & multi-stage races and now looking to try XC multi stage races (TransAlp, TransPyr or similar). I enjoy the uphills, and I'm pretty hopefull that I will like the singletrack / downhill stuff...

cooldad

RichA wrote:

What would you say are the compromises here / ripe for upgrade:

The colours

richa

cooldad wrote:

RichA wrote:

What would you say are the compromises here / ripe for upgrade:

The colours

Hmmm. Had forgotten that red ones are faster. Better get me a red Spesh or somefink

cooldad

I was talking about the colours in your post.

grenw

I'd say that there's nothing about that bike that you'd want to change right away. Quality fittings all round. Anyway, why look to change anything before you've ridden it?

Just depends how you get on with saddle/grips/tyres etc and whether you fancy a dropper post.

RedBaros

Had mine about a year and a half now, lots of abuse, fair few smashes and hardly a scratch on it.

http://www.sale-bikes.com/product_image ... 0_zoom.jpg

Did a lot of searching and this was the best value bike I could find for the price. Hayes Ryder are crap brakes with wobbly levers, changed my front for XT and will do same for rear eventually.
Mentioned in another thread about the forks, try to avoid remote locking, taken mine off.

Taken this bike to Antur Stiniog and Revolution bike park a few times and it's done fine on the black runs.

Good bike for XC, but I'm not keen on their DH bikes, prefer Saracen or Giant.

b45her

RichA wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I agree that you can't seem to beat the spec for the price. (Which makes me slightly nervous that corners are cut in the frame...)

Just to add - I am thinking of a Carbon frame.

they don't have have a UK distributor, thats why they are cheaper than competitors, kind of halfway between canyon and a the treks as specializeds of this world.

cooldad

b45her wrote:

RichA wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I agree that you can't seem to beat the spec for the price. (Which makes me slightly nervous that corners are cut in the frame...)

Just to add - I am thinking of a Carbon frame.

they don't have have a UK distributor, thats why they are cheaper than competitors, kind of halfway between canyon and a the treks as specializeds of this world.

Pardon?

richa

b45her wrote:

they don't have have a UK distributor, thats why they are cheaper than competitors, kind of halfway between canyon and a the treks as specializeds of this world.

International distributors:
CUBE Bikes UK LTD
Kayta House Falcon Close Droitwich Spa
GB-WR97HF
Worcestershire
TEL +31 10 340 3502
info@cube-bike.co.uk

Dealer network:
http://maps.cube.eu/en/

BigAl

Have to say, I'm with 'Thelonegroover'

£2.5k to 'Test the water'. Holy cr@p!!!!!

Nothing against £lots on a bike - but, FFS, try it first.

adamfo

BigAl wrote:

Have to say, I'm with 'Thelonegroover'

£2.5k to 'Test the water'. Holy cr@p!!!!!

Nothing against £lots on a bike - but, FFS, try it first.

I wouldn't recommend a 29er with an agile/twitchy 71 degree head angle to a novice MTBer.
Stick to 70 degrees or less.

thelonegroover

RichA wrote:

Thelonegroover wrote:

Cubes are quite clever with their spec choice. Their bikes appear to have better specs than rivals but on closer inspection some other parts are lower spec. Having said that, we have had two Cubes in the past and they were both great bikes. However, my son now rides a Giant Trance and much prefers that.

What would you say are the compromises here / ripe for upgrade:

Color Blackline
Frame Super HPC Monocoque Advanced Twin Mold Technology, ARG, ERC FSP 4-Link, AXH
Fork Rock Shox Reba RL 29, PushLoc, 15QR Maxle, tapered, 100mm
Rear Shock Fox Float CTD, 165x38mm, Climb/Trail/Descend mode, SV air canister
Headset FSA Orbit I-t integrated, top 1 1/8", bottom 1 1/2
Stem CUBE Performance Pro, 6°
Handlebar CUBE Flat Race Bar Pro, 720mm, 9°
Rear Derailleur Shimano XT, RD-M781-SGSL, Shadow 10-speed
Front Derailleur Shimano XT, FD-M781-A, direct mount, Down Swing, 3x10-speed
Shifters Shimano Deore XT SL-M780-I Rapidfire-Plus, direct attach
Brake system Shimano Deore XT K-M7851 hydr. Discbrake (180/160mm)
Crankset Shimano XT, FC-M782, 40x30x22T, 175mm (180mm for largest frame size)
Wheelset DT CSW MA 2.9 straightpull wheelset, 28/32 spokes, 15QR/X12, 622x19C rim, alloy nipples
Front tire Schwalbe Rocket Ron Kevlar 2.25
Rear tire Schwalbe Racing Ralph Kevlar 2.25
Seat Selle Italia X1

Thelonegroover wrote:

£2,500 + seems a lot to 'dip your toe in the water'!
I'd be interested in the bike if you don't like it.

I'll bear you in mind... Have been a roadie for a few years. Done a number of Euro events & multi-stage races and now looking to try XC multi stage races (TransAlp, TransPyr or similar). I enjoy the uphills, and I'm pretty hopefull that I will like the singletrack / downhill stuff...

This particular bike looks very good, nothing really needs upgrading soon, the frame would be the first thing though.

The Rookie

On what basis would you say frame first? Fork is probably the part that stands out as being the 'least good' part.