My first e-bike... generally good but after 500 miles some issues have come to light.
IMHO:
The saddle position is too far forward, by as much as 25-30m. The standard suspension seat-post has no set-back and the saddle adjustment is limited. To fix this I have had to buy an after-market seat-post with set-back and a saddle with much more adjustment (Spa Cycles "Nidd"), at a cost of around £115.
The forks, SR Suntour NVX30, appear bouncy, jerky and creaky. Preload adjustent on both sides has to be kept in balance or the wheel leans to one side. No lock-out. SR Suntour say this is a "lower-end" fork that "has no oil damper cartridge" and "relies on friction between bushings and stanchions". This fork seems inappropriate on an otherwise well specified touring e-bike. Upgrading to a reasonable RockShox fork, as suggested by the dealer, is likely to cost a few hundred £££s.
The rubber cover for the external charging socket is a poor fit and seems likely to let water in, and perhaps salt too int he winter. This appears to be a known design fault, which has been reported by the dealer but so far with no response from Cube.
On the plus side. the Bosch motor and Intuvia display seem excellent and the battery life is good (with careful use). It goes up most steep hills in Tour mode, with Sport and Turbo modes rarely used. Mostly I use Eco mode. The Schwalbe Big Ben tyres have very low rolling resistance for their size and the 1 x 11 gears are more than adequate. The corrected riding position feels good.
Although purchased for £2,999, I'm now looking at an overall cost of around £3,400 after fixing the saddle position and forks. I could have bought a KTM for that money and had a better bike.
I hope this information helps others and that Cube can address the issues I have found.
IMHO:
The saddle position is too far forward, by as much as 25-30m. The standard suspension seat-post has no set-back and the saddle adjustment is limited. To fix this I have had to buy an after-market seat-post with set-back and a saddle with much more adjustment (Spa Cycles "Nidd"), at a cost of around £115.
The forks, SR Suntour NVX30, appear bouncy, jerky and creaky. Preload adjustent on both sides has to be kept in balance or the wheel leans to one side. No lock-out. SR Suntour say this is a "lower-end" fork that "has no oil damper cartridge" and "relies on friction between bushings and stanchions". This fork seems inappropriate on an otherwise well specified touring e-bike. Upgrading to a reasonable RockShox fork, as suggested by the dealer, is likely to cost a few hundred £££s.
The rubber cover for the external charging socket is a poor fit and seems likely to let water in, and perhaps salt too int he winter. This appears to be a known design fault, which has been reported by the dealer but so far with no response from Cube.
On the plus side. the Bosch motor and Intuvia display seem excellent and the battery life is good (with careful use). It goes up most steep hills in Tour mode, with Sport and Turbo modes rarely used. Mostly I use Eco mode. The Schwalbe Big Ben tyres have very low rolling resistance for their size and the 1 x 11 gears are more than adequate. The corrected riding position feels good.
Although purchased for £2,999, I'm now looking at an overall cost of around £3,400 after fixing the saddle position and forks. I could have bought a KTM for that money and had a better bike.
I hope this information helps others and that Cube can address the issues I have found.
