The roads made me do it!

Richtea70

Finding my (electric) wheels
Feb 8, 2013
10
2
Hi all,
Ive been on the forum for a couple of years and thanks to advice here, went from a early Cyclotricity Stealth, to using the hub motor on a giant bike and then finally building my own hybrid with a 8fun 350w crank drive.

I’ve used the hybrid for the last couple of years but whilst in the main I’ve loved it I had 2 issues with it. One was the whole ‘Heath Robinson’ look about it. Whilst I tried to make the bike as discreet as I could, on the whole I think the large battery and crank motor were, frankly, a bit of an eyesore.

Secondly, the roads were I live (Reading) are actually in an appalling state. This, coupled with weight of the bike, made for a very uncomfortable ride. With reduction in tyre pressures and suspension forks making little difference.

So I’ve taken the plunge, sold my bike and ordered a Cube Acid Hybrid 29er. With the bigger tyres hopefully it will soften up some of the bumps and the overall look of the bike is very slick with the intergrated battery and crank drive. I know that I loose some flat out speed but I’m over that now and I’m just looking for a more comfortable ride.

As its fairly new I cant find many reviews on line so if anyone has one or tried one, I’d be interested in your thoughts?

Failing that I may have to do a review when I get it!
 
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Reactions: flecc

Doogle

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 16, 2018
23
23
63
Cumbria
Hi all,
Ive been on the forum for a couple of years and thanks to advice here, went from a early Cyclotricity Stealth, to using the hub motor on a giant bike and then finally building my own hybrid with a 8fun 350w crank drive.

I’ve used the hybrid for the last couple of years but whilst in the main I’ve loved it I had 2 issues with it. One was the whole ‘Heath Robinson’ look about it. Whilst I tried to make the bike as discreet as I could, on the whole I think the large battery and crank motor were, frankly, a bit of an eyesore.

Secondly, the roads were I live (Reading) are actually in an appalling state. This, coupled with weight of the bike, made for a very uncomfortable ride. With reduction in tyre pressures and suspension forks making little difference.

So I’ve taken the plunge, sold my bike and ordered a Cube Acid Hybrid 29er. With the bigger tyres hopefully it will soften up some of the bumps and the overall look of the bike is very slick with the intergrated battery and crank drive. I know that I loose some flat out speed but I’m over that now and I’m just looking for a more comfortable ride.

As its fairly new I cant find many reviews on line so if anyone has one or tried one, I’d be interested in your thoughts?

Failing that I may have to do a review when I get it!
 

Doogle

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 16, 2018
23
23
63
Cumbria
Ditto, I'm awaiting one of these myself and tbh am surprised at the lack of general reviews out there yet they seem quite popular or are at least favourably mentioned in the forums.
 

Jowwy

Pedelecer
Jul 20, 2018
89
22
47
I have one, but made a few changes to it

Removed the mechanical 9spd for shimano di2 11spd
Removed the suspension forks and added carbon forks
Switched tyres for thunder burst
Added a rack for commuting

IMG_0024.JPG
 

Gringo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 18, 2013
1,333
835
Northampton
I have one, but made a few changes to it

Removed the mechanical 9spd for shimano di2 11spd
Removed the suspension forks and added carbon forks
Switched tyres for thunder burst
Added a rack for commuting

View attachment 26890
Just curious about your forks, are they ebike rated ?
as I had "on one" carbon forks on my last E-cube and I was asked that question several times, being told they need to be stronger to cope with the additional mass when breaking. Several thousand miles and I had no issues but it did make me think a bit more when stopping.
 

Trevormonty

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 18, 2016
1,135
564
17
NZ
Just curious about your forks, are they ebike rated ?
as I had "on one" carbon forks on my last E-cube and I was asked that question several times, being told they need to be stronger to cope with the additional mass when breaking. Several thousand miles and I had no issues but it did make me think a bit more when stopping.
More sales gimmick. The weight difference between normal bike and ebike is less 10kg, weight difference between riders can be lot more than. Don't see bikes come with different forks for different riders.
 

Jowwy

Pedelecer
Jul 20, 2018
89
22
47
Just curious about your forks, are they ebike rated ?
as I had "on one" carbon forks on my last E-cube and I was asked that question several times, being told they need to be stronger to cope with the additional mass when breaking. Several thousand miles and I had no issues but it did make me think a bit more when stopping.
As trevormonty stated...........I'm 105kgs, does that mean I need fat man rated forks too. The carbon forks are 29er mtb forks and as I only use cycle tracks, canals and roads. I don't think they will be an issue.

My ebike only weighs 7kgs heavier than my custom titanium road bike, after the changes I made of removing the heavy groupset and forks. As for braking, fully loaded touring bikes have used carbon forks for years and weigh a hell of a lot more, than a stand alone ebike.