Well, I've been falling over kind of too often lately. Good news is, it has been pretty fun.
The bike I've enjoyed falling over on so much is the replacement I bought with the insurance money after the theft of my beautiful fixed gear, Summer. I'll bet the visually astute among you caught a couple of cool features already.
The bike I bought is a 2014 CUBE Men's Touring City Bike. Touring City Bike? Wha? Exactly. CUBE is a German company with a pretty good rep, mostly for mountain bikes. Translation of bike model names isn't always the greatest. Germans love a good all-purpose bicycle and with this thing you can tell. After seeing the specs on it I bought it from Chain Reaction Cycles, the online monster based in Ireland.
When you see the following spec list, I'm hoping you will understand why I skipped the LBS on this purchase...
Frameset:
- Frame: Aluminium Lite Trekking Comfort
- Forks: SR Suntour NEX HLO
Groupset:
- Chainset:Truvativ E400, 42T, 175mm
- Bottom Bracket: Truvativ BB Power Spline
- Shift Levers: Shimano Nexus Inter-8 SL-8S30, Revoshifter
Wheelset:
- Rims: Schürmann Yak19, V-Brake
- Front Hub: Shimano DH-3N31, Hub Dynamo, QR
- Rear Hub: Shimano Nexus SG-8R36
- Spokes: DT Swiss Factory 2.0, Black
- Tyres: Schwalbe Spicer Active 40x622
Components:
- Front Brake: Shimano BR-M422, V-Brake
- Rear Brake: Shimano BR-M422, V-Brake
- Brake Levers: RFR 520 Aluminium Black
- Handlebars: CUBE Rise Trail Bar, 660mm
- Grips: CUBE Ergo Grip Shift
- Headset: FSA No. 10 Semi-Integrated
- Stem: CUBE Performance, 31.8mm
- Saddle: Selle Royal Freccia
- Seatpost: CUBE Performance Post, 31.6mm
- Seatclamp: Scape Close 34.9mm
- Pedals: Trekking Aluminium
Weight: 16 kg
Extra Features:
- Front Light: Busch&Müller Lumotec IQ Fly T Senso Plus
- Backlight: Busch&Müller Toplight Flat Plus
- Kickstand: Standwell Centre Kickstand
- Mudguard: SKS Black Shiney Pro
- Bell: Humpert
- Carrier: Standwell Bag Carrier
See, unlike most North American bikes, which need accessorizing after the fact, this thing came with EVERYTHING I was after and then some. I wanted an internally geared bike and that is where I started. But when pre-installed dyno, lights, SKS fenders and a rear rack showed up along with pretty good brand-name components including good spokes and tires, I was SOLD.
Am I crazy, or is this bike spec'd out really well?
I am absolutely loving this bike, despite a few shortcomings that I will cover now.
1) Size: It is too big for me. Bike fit is great when riding, but standover height is too high. Those among you who are thinking "I told you so" about not using a local bike shop are absolutely right, so back off, you bastards! The sizing chart lied to me. My suspicion is that they didn't adjust the chart for the suspension fork. I wasn't interested in returning this awesome bike by shipping it across the ocean, whether at my expense or not. I am so pleased with everything else that I will a) get used to it and do nothing or b) try a rigid fork that will lower the crossbar height somewhat. Despite some online forum goons saying it may mess with the handling, I don't believe it would hurt anything the way I'm using it and if I'm careful to find a fork with some rake to it. My winter tires are 32c instead of the the 38c ones that are on it, and that will help a tiny bit too.
2) Suspension Fork: I am not a fan of suspension forks for road use, harsh urban or not. CUBE has more offerings in their 2015 City lineup with rigid forks, so it would seem I am not alone. That said, I found this one acceptable because it has a lockout feature which I use most of the time. When I'm out in "falling over land", I let the fork do its thing and quite enjoy the cushy ride.
3) Grip Shifters: I hate grip shifters. Just a personal preference I guess. However, grip shifters combined with the Nexus hub seem more acceptable somehow. I don't know why, but it just isn't bugging me the way a grip shifter with a derailleur does.
4) Cable Guides: The cables came attached to the guides on the frame by little metal clip things that pop off rather easily. Nothing trusty zip ties couldn't fix, but a tad annoying and surprising in a bike of good quality otherwise. CUBE has moved to internal cable routing in 2015 models.
That's it for my complaints.
This bike rides beautifully, partly of course because it has big slicks on it. It is heavy, but so am I, and the solid feel is good. When I weigh 160 lbs again, I'll gladly start caring about how much my bike weighs. The gear range seems perfect so far, because I have yet to need gear 1,2 or 8 on my in-city rides, meaning it will probably be fine if I challenge some bigger hills or hit some really fast and flat terrain.
The chainguard, not mentioned in the specs, is clear and black and cool looking. If a chainguard could be cool, that is. The ergon-like grips are really good, and unlike some other imitations they have lock down screws that keep them from twisting out of position.
The Busch & Müller lights, pre-wired to the front dyno hub, are awesome! They aren't crazy blazing bright, but the beam is super wide and useful. They have a light sensor in them so during the day I get running lights and when its dark they go full on. They also have a capacitor so that when I'm stopped they won't go out for several minutes. I know this is old news to some, but I am totally loving not thinking about lights for the first time ever; they take care of themselves. When I'm extra worried about being seen, day or night, I activate my helmet mounted superflash but otherwise I just don't worry. It's great! The points where the wires disappear into the frame seem flimsy to me. I intend to reinforce them with a dab of silicone or something.
Of course, this particular model of CUBE bike is not to be found anywhere for much longer; the model names have all changed for 2015 and I can't find an exact equivalent. In addition, they will likely never be distributed in the USA due to patent problems with the rear suspensions on their mountain bikes. Lastly, there appears to be a new Canadian distributor: http://www.cube-bikes.ca , which makes me happy .
So, if you're in the USA and wanted a CUBE bike, you should probably do what I did and order it online. I have no idea if duties or taxes are much different for my US brothers and sisters, but my bike, all-in (taxes, delivery, duty, everything) cost me $1350 CAD. When I look at the extras, that price blows my mind.
I would not recommend buying a bike online to anyone who is not comfortable doing their own assembly, repairs and adjustments; it isn't fair (in my opinion) to ask your lbs to fix the business you chose not to give them. Also note that I got semi-burned on the sizing thing. What's all that worth? I don't know.
Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K PS - I have not received anything from anybody for this review.
