Attain vs Agree

njs207

After the arrival of baby #1 in January (as well as ongoing global events) I'm adjusting to the fact that my long mountain biking days trips are going to be few and far between so looking to make a return to road cycling after a 10+ year hiatus to keep up my cycling fitness and have narrowed the choice down to two.

I am only looking at Cube bikes but unfortunately I can't test ride either. At 5'10 I think I would probably be a 56 on both (looking at geometries of comparable bikes that I have ridden, eg Emonda ALR, Allez in 56 and a M/L Defy).

1. Attain GTC SL: https://www.cube.eu/en/2020/bikes/road/road/attain/cube-attain-gtc-sl-rednorange-2020/
... some reviews comment on height of head tube but reach and stack looks comparable to Defy and Synapse - is it really that tall or have I missed something in the numbers? Replacing the cone headset spacer would surely help. I like the idea that it can fit mudguards for when the weather invariably turns, and it's red which is the fastest colour. But I'm unlikely to do much endurance riding.

2. Agree C:62 Race: https://www.cube.eu/en/2020/bikes/road/road/agree/cube-agree-c62-race-bluegreynorange-2020/
... same geometry as the 2018 model which had a good write up, full Ultegra, carbon bits and higher spec carbon frame. Longer and lower than anything I've tried but numbers aren't exactly full on race bike, which is fine as I've no plans to race. It's a bit of an eye sore in this colour.

So in a head to head between the two, where would you put your money?

singleton

The bikes have different geometry. The agree is more racy meaning the geometry is lower and more sporty whereas the attain is more endurance so has higher position.

This needs to be the basis for your decision - you can tweak the position, but need to start with the right shape frame.
For reference - I am 6' and have a 56 cube cross race pro which is a good fit for me.

njs207

Thanks for your comment.

I think I've got my head round the numbers and understand that the two have slightly different purposes. Without trying either bike it's difficult to know if the Attain would be too sat upright, and the Agree too stretched. But because I've not been on the road for a while I'm probably leaning towards the Attain as a bit more relaxed.

It looks similar in geometry to the big brand endurance bikes like the Domane, Defy, Synapse etc so maybe the tall head tube comments I've seen some places are mis-placed, it also has mudguard compatibility for year round use, and the more forgiving frame will probably be welcome on the roads around here.

Anyone with real world experience of owning either? I'm still keen to hear what either of these are like to live with

pippi_langsamer-2

I had an Attain GTC Pro I bought for winter training/ riding. Sold it last year as I gave up racing, and had no desire to ride/ train outdoors thru winter anymore.

Decent bike. Felt like a Shopper after coming of the summer/ race bikes. Not at all light- even with carbon frame. Upgrading the stock wheels would shed some weight I'd imagine.

The Cubeguard mudguards are very good.

I had an issue with sticky rear mech which I attributed to dodgy internal routing. Changed the original (very new), cables to try remedy the problem, but still suffered dodgy downshifts.

If it's a bike for all seasons, then I guess the Attain wins out, but the Agree will be more fun to ride...

mugensi

I'm 5'11" have a 56cm Cube Attain (alloy version) which I use on the turbo in winter and take when going away on weekend trips in the summer. Its a really nice fit and the relaxed geometry suits my needs perfectly. I have it set up more or less identical to my S-Works Roubaix good bike and Felt VR30 winter bike (both also 56cm)

The attain comes with 20 or 25mm of spacers under the stem, If you find the geometry too upright you can remove some or all of those spacers and if its still to upright then get a negative rise stem.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I'm still ~178cm tall, with just ~82.5cm cycling inseam (and as I often stress, this is not trouser inseam, this is "hardback book with feet ~12" apart" measuring).

My Cube Attain is 58cm frame, 388mm reach and 610mm stack, but unusually I now conclude that their stack measurement includes all spacers under the stem instead of just to top of the head tube.

Until around Xmas after owning it since May '17, I usually had 0-20mm of spacers above the stem, but since Xmas I've put all 40mm of spacers above the stem in -6 degree position and got used to being a bit lower on the turbo.