New Cube Touring Hybrid One - impressed

MichaelM

Pedelecer
Nov 14, 2020
50
35
My new Cube ebike finally arrived on 1 April from Bikester, from whom I ordered it on 24 February. A word on Bikester - they have had a lot of criticism for delays and lack of communication since Brexit, but they do now have a system for dealing with the UK. They don't have any visibility of where the bike is when they have handed it over to Koch International, and enquiries are dealt with slowly and responses are sparse, but I eventually got a call from a company called Zeigler who arranged the date for a pallet delivery. I asked for assurance that there would be no demand for e.g. UK VAT and they assured me that part of their role was to get that billed to Bikester so there are no payments demanded from the UK buyer.

The bike arrived in good condition, minus the nut that had evidently unscrewed itself from the seat clamp and escaped from the box, a trivial matter. I have already posted here on my initial concerns about backlash in the drive, and those who reassured me were correct - it is not at all evident when pedalling with assistance.

I've been quite busy (I'm building a new house) and not had much chance to use the Cube, but a couple of days ago I did a 13 mile tour of local villages including some ups and downs. That doesn't sound much but it's more than I have been comfortably able to do for years. I've always liked and owned bikes but I've never been good on hills. Three years ago I found out why, when I went down with heart failure and was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy which I had probably had for decades.

I'm much better now but I have to keep my heart rate below 130, which means I can really only do hills in bottom gear and with more exertion than is good for me. The Cube is a real liberator for me. I can now cycle the 7 miles round trip to my site without discomfort or exceeding my limits. I've also got used to the size and raised the saddle to my old perching height.

I'm now starting to customise the bike a little bit, with a RAW flap for the slightly-too-short front mudguard, and I'm adapting a frame lock to fit - the seat-stay eyelets on the Cube being slightly too far apart (I've a more serious lock too, but the frame lock and cable will be much handier for quick trips to the village shop.)

The only niggle is the weight. This is a very heavy machine at 25-26Kg. The 625Wh battery and motor are a big chunk of that and it has a rack and mudguards,. The mudguards are essentital and the rack is useful. Maybe I'll just live with it, it doesn't make much difference to the ride. But it is a struggle to lift and move around, and any further accessorising only adds to that. I was astonished to see when looking at the specs for it that the basic sprung fork accounts for over 10% of the weight! Obviously I can't get rid of it entirely, but maybe there's a lighter alternative. I don't plan to use the bike off road so I could even go rigid. I don't think I'm getting much benefit from the suspension fork, it's a Suntour XCM without lockout, which I have set to maximum preload. Maybe I should consider a much lighter rigid fork? Is it a practical proposition?

Modern bikes are a bit of a mystery to me, I still need to find out how to maintain disc brakes and even the threadless headset adjustment was a new experience. I also want to swap the brake pipes over so I decided to check that the bleed nipples and reservoir caps would all move before I started, just in case I got some air in. Unfortunately I can't shift either of the caps with all the force I dare apply to a t-handled Allen key! I have no wish to find the breaking strain of the tool. They are both ludricrously tight, is there a trick to it or should I just mangle them with water pump pliers and buy some new ones?
 
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Gringo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 18, 2013
1,333
835
Northampton
Unfortunately I can't shift either of the caps with all the force I dare apply to a t-handled Allen key! I have no wish to find the breaking strain of the tool. They are both ludricrously tight, is there a trick to it or should I just mangle them with water pump pliers and buy some new ones?
are these the caps you are having trouble with ? A small / long “T“ hex wrench can twist/flex a lot with a tight screw, your better off with a “L” hex wrench (Allen key= trade name) at least for the first undoing. Also you’re going to need a bleed kit, or a minimum of a top up funnel to screw into the holes after you remove the caps/screws.
swapping over the hoses should be straight forward if you have the right kit.
 

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Gringo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 18, 2013
1,333
835
Northampton
I don't plan to use the bike off road so I could even go rigid.
Swapping out for ridged can be problematic, you’ll need to figure out the axle to crown length (allowing for 20/25% sag) and then find some suspension adjusted forks with the same length, a little difference isn’t too bad but too short and the steering will be very twitchy, too long and it will be slow and less nimble.
i just remembered, when I upgraded my Acid One I ordered air forks with a tapered steer tube because my frame has a tapered head tube. when I took out the old forks they h a straight steer tube with an adapter to make them fit the tapered head tube !
 
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MichaelM

Pedelecer
Nov 14, 2020
50
35
are these the caps you are having trouble with ?
That's the one. I'll find my l-keys, good suggestion.

Since writing that I found your thread on a similar fork swap which was also helpful, thanks.
 

Gringo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 18, 2013
1,333
835
Northampton
That's the one. I'll find my l-keys, good suggestion.

Since writing that I found your thread on a similar fork swap which was also helpful, thanks.
I was just going to put a link to it ;)
also on a previous cube ebike I fitted carbon ridged forks (a big weight saving) example only
 
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Deleted member 33385

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These Ls are really good for the price, haven't broken yet despite a lot of force exerted with them - springy steel, extra long-ish, cheap too:

 
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georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
1,426
1,251
Surrey
I think this is a great use of an ebike.

For anyone with a medical condition for whom some exercise is beneficial but that also needs to be be done carefully within set exertion limits an ebike coupled perhaps with a heart rate monitor would be a great combination.
 
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Deleted member 33385

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It's a risky balancing act, exercising the heart - overdo it and heart tissue can go into spasm ie heart attack, don't do enough and blood vessels can't grow to heal ailing heart tissue. Slow, gentle and careful does it...
 
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Amoto65

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 2, 2017
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Cheshire
I had a heart attack 2 years ago and had 4 stents fitted, Gradually built my strength back up on a Wisper 905 then a Carrera Crossfuse with the 50NM ALP engine and now I am riding a 14kg 35Nm Specialized Creo around the Peak District and tackling some heavy duty climbs it can be done just take your time building your strength back up and don't over do it.
 

MichaelM

Pedelecer
Nov 14, 2020
50
35
These Ls are really good for the price, haven't broken yet despite a lot of force exerted with them - springy steel, extra long-ish, cheap too:

Thanks, I'd actually just ordered some Bahco ones at a similar price - I was going to rummage for the remnants of the 2 or 3 cheap sets I must have acquired over the years but when you need a tool to fit well and have a bit of force applied, maybe something a bit better is indicated before the screw is chewed up. I did eye the Wera ones briefly but I have trouble parting with money.
 
D

Deleted member 33385

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Thanks, I'd actually just ordered some Bahco ones at a similar price - I was going to rummage for the remnants of the 2 or 3 cheap sets I must have acquired over the years but when you need a tool to fit well and have a bit of force applied, maybe something a bit better is indicated before the screw is chewed up. I did eye the Wera ones briefly but I have trouble parting with money.
Banknotes won't part from my hands in shops lol. I bought a £3 Silverline set at the same time as the Presch, to compare - the thickest Silverline bent immediately, when used with great force. One of the others bent, when I tried to loosen a brake bolt. Hard to get enough leverage too... very short handles on Silverlines.
 
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D

Deleted member 33385

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I had a heart attack 2 years ago and had 4 stents fitted, Gradually built my strength back up on a Wisper 905 then a Carrera Crossfuse with the 50NM ALP engine and now I am riding a 14kg 35Nm Specialized Creo around the Peak District and tackling some heavy duty climbs it can be done just take your time building your strength back up and don't over do it.
I wish a friend of mine would take his life more seriously - he had a few stents about a year and a half ago, I think it was five stents. For awhile... he lost weight, worried, exercised at the hospital gym, took the regimen of tablets... It took him quite a long time to get used to the drugs - six types. Now his weight is back up to where it was, before he got the stents. It's great that you've made and maintained changes.
 
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MichaelM

Pedelecer
Nov 14, 2020
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I wish a friend of mine would take his life more seriously - he had a few stents about a year and a half ago, I think it was five stents. For awhile... he lost weight, worried, exercised at the hospital gym, took the regimen of tablets... It took him quite a long time to get used to the drugs - six types. Now his weight is back up to where it was, before he got the stents. It's great that you've made and maintained changes.
My situation with regard to the heart is a little different to Amoto's, I have no ""ischemic" heart disease, i.e. no scarring or coronary heart disease, rather something (inherited, my mother had it) wrong with the heart muscle and some rhythm problems but when I joined the heart failure club (cardiac rehab) I was warned that heart failure patients tend to be over optimistic. I couldn't really see the problem with optimism, but what they meant was exactly as you say -when we think we are at death's door we adopt the heart healthy diet, stop smoking, cut down or give up the alcohol, lose weight and exercise. Once we are settled on the drugs and in some cases stented or bypassed (I just take mainly beta blockers and ACE inhibitors, and I've recovered enough not to need an implant for now) we feel so much better that some go back to the old lifetstyle, often with the same results as they got the first time.

I'm not as good as I should be with the heart-healthy diet and I really should lose about a stone, but I have sworn off alcohol and caffeine but for one daily mug of proper tea and I do keep active. I gave up smoking decades ago, Alcohol is bad for hearts, is the truth, but so many cling to the old story about red wine being beneficial - not by the bottle it isn't, and probably not at all if you already have heart disease.

Anyway, here's to the e-bike:) More chance of me getting exercise that way than going to a gym.
 
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Deleted member 33385

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I was warned that heart failure patients tend to be over optimistic. I couldn't really see the problem with optimism, but what they meant was exactly as you say -when we think we are at death's door we adopt the heart healthy diet, stop smoking, cut down or give up the alcohol, lose weight and exercise. Once we are settled on the drugs and in some cases stented or bypassed (I just take mainly beta blockers and ACE inhibitors, and I've recovered enough not to need an implant for now) we feel so much better that some go back to the old lifetstyle, often with the same results as they got the first time.
You are absolutely right! He's back to his happy, carefree, affable chubby self. Quite how long that will last, is anyone's guess - will they keep adding stents? Thank you, I'll mention over-optimism to him, when I see him next.

I haven't had a heart issue, but a blood test a couple of years ago showed that my inflammation markers were up, so was my BMI. I was also (probably still am) pre-diabetic and at high risk of heart attack or stroke. My GP wanted to put me on statins. I said "No, I'll lose weight". My first strategy was slow running, which Covid has interrupted. Alternating between intermittent fasting and exercise has really worked well for me. It's weird walking without a beer belly:


I went from running 10 yards to 3 miles - building up to that, took me almost a year.




I do feel exercised after an ebike ride, but it does seem to take about 20 miles. I'll keep lowering the PAS setting...
 
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