Cube or Fantic

[Trowernator]

Hey guys,

I have recently been looking into purchasing an E-bike and originally I was drawn to the Cube Stereo Hybrid 160.

I'm looking at spending around £5000 which the Cube falls into. With that you get the 750Wh battery and the Bosch motor putting out 85Nm. I've ridden my friends one which I really enjoyed other than my knees almost hitting the handlebars (granted its a small frame and I need a large).

This was all good up until last weekend when I was at the local motorbike shop who are also Fantic suppliers and I got chatting to one of the chaps in there. There's a Fantic XMF 1.7 for £5300 with the Brose motor (Specialized also use them) putting out an extra 5Nm but I doubt that's noticeable anyway and they chip them to allow no resistance past 15mph and you still don't void the warranty for 2 years. He said that the Brose motors are better and all this chip malarkey sounded a little tempting its just I've never heard of Fantic before this.

I was wondering if anyone's had experience with both bikes or even just the Fantic and could give me some more advice. Or if you lived the Cube, what are your thoughts?

 

[beanzz]

they chip them to allow no resistance past 15mph

I wouldn't do that as it makes insurance a hassle if you mention that it doesn't cut out at 15mph iirc

 

[B1rdie]

I would rather buy an ebike from a bike shop than from a motorbike dealer…
It seems to me that this fantic could just be a bait they keep at the shop to bring the customer in.
I ride a medium cube stereo 160 race and a large canyon spectralon. The canyon with shimano e8000 motor is easy to unlock the speed limit with software, the cube is not even possible.
I have the chip for the canyon but am not using it, because unlocking with software works better.
I am not even going to try to chip the cube’s motor, gonna live with that stupid limit to avoyd having trouble with error detection, bosch firmware is not as user friendly as shimano.

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

Hey guys,

I have recently been looking into purchasing an E-bike and originally I was drawn to the Cube Stereo Hybrid 160.

I'm looking at spending around £5000 which the Cube falls into. With that you get the 750Wh battery and the Bosch motor putting out 85Nm. I've ridden my friends one which I really enjoyed other than my knees almost hitting the handlebars (granted its a small frame and I need a large).

This was all good up until last weekend when I was at the local motorbike shop who are also Fantic suppliers and I got chatting to one of the chaps in there. There's a Fantic XMF 1.7 for £5300 with the Brose motor (Specialized also use them) putting out an extra 5Nm but I doubt that's noticeable anyway and they chip them to allow no resistance past 15mph and you still don't void the warranty for 2 years. He said that the Brose motors are better and all this chip malarkey sounded a little tempting its just I've never heard of Fantic before this.

I was wondering if anyone's had experience with both bikes or even just the Fantic and could give me some more advice. Or if you lived the Cube, what are your thoughts?

I have experience of both, I would get the cube.

 

[Doomanic]

He said that the Brose motors are better

 

[Trowernator]

I would rather buy an ebike from a bike shop than from a motorbike dealer…
It seems to me that this fantic could just be a bait they keep at the shop to bring the customer in.
I ride a medium cube stereo 160 race and a large canyon spectralon. The canyon with shimano e8000 motor is easy to unlock the speed limit with software, the cube is not even possible.
I have the chip for the canyon but am not using it, because unlocking with software works better.
I am not even going to try to chip the cube’s motor, gonna live with that stupid limit to avoyd having trouble with error detection, bosch firmware is not as user friendly as shimano.

I don't think it really makes a difference tbh. As long as the warranty etc is in place then I can't see the shop providing it would be an issue. I'm certainly swaying more towards the Cube anyway I just didn't want to miss a hidden gem.

I have a Cube supplier local to me anyway that do a pretty good deal so I think I'm going to go with that tbh.

Thanks for the response

 

[Trowernator]

I have experience of both, I would get the cube.

Thanks dude. Yeah I'm probably going to go with the Cube

 

[Trowernator]

I'm assuming you have the opposite opinion. Funny though as Specialized use Brose and surely they wouldn't use a crap motor. I'll go for the Cube anyway but as stated above to the other chap, I didn't want to miss a hidden gem and wanted to understand both bikes before spanking £5000

 

[Doomanic]

Specialized use Brose and surely they wouldn't use a crap motor

 

[Trowernator]

 

[Bummers]

I'm assuming you have the opposite opinion. Funny though as Specialized use Brose and surely they wouldn't use a crap motor. I'll go for the Cube anyway but as stated above to the other chap, I didn't want to miss a hidden gem and wanted to understand both bikes before spanking £5000

The Bosch motor is considered to be the best of them all, warranty is generally good and there is a lot of aftermarket support available.

You won't regret getting the cube, it has a few niggles you'll need to sort but they're n minor and it is a great bike.

 

[Trowernator]

The Bosch motor is considered to be the best of them all, warranty is generally good and there is a lot of aftermarket support available.

You won't regret getting the cube, it has a few niggles you'll need to sort but they're n minor and it is a great bike.

Brilliant, thanks for the info. What are the niggles?

 

[Bummers]

Brilliant, thanks for the info. What are the niggles?

The motor/battery cover is often not great fitting and has gaps, it's adjustable though and can be sorted.
Rattles sometimes, might need a bit of foam padding against the battery/cables.
There was an issue with headset bearings not being greased and they'd creak after a couple of hundred miles. Lbs would sort under warranty.
The battery bracket came loose on mine (seen a few others with this issue) was just a case of locktite and tightening a bolt.

Nothing major and not every bike will have these issues.

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

the brose is a good motor but its reliability is variable. with that said, the customer support is usually top notch from most specialized dealers so that kind of makes up for it.

this might help you cement your choice: 2019 to 2021 Turbo Levo - Are Brose & Specialized Fixing Their Motor Problem ?

 

[Trowernator]

The motor/battery cover is often not great fitting and has gaps, it's adjustable though and can be sorted.
Rattles sometimes, might need a bit of foam padding against the battery/cables.
There was an issue with headset bearings not being greased and they'd creak after a couple of hundred miles. Lbs would sort under warranty.
The battery bracket came loose on mine (seen a few others with this issue) was just a case of locktite and tightening a bolt.

Nothing major and not every bike will have these issues.

the brose is a good motor but its reliability is variable. with that said, the customer support is usually top notch from most specialized dealers so that kind of makes up for it.

this might help you cement your choice: 2019 to 2021 Turbo Levo - Are Brose & Specialized Fixing Their Motor Problem ?

Thanks for the response guys. I've just been into my local Cube dealer and I'm definitely going to go for the stereo 160. Looking like I need to get it sorted ASAP though as there's only 2 in the country in large otherwise it'll be the 2023 model which won't be until later this year

 

[Bummers]

Thanks for the response guys. I've just been into my local Cube dealer and I'm definitely going to go for the stereo 160. Looking like I need to get it sorted ASAP though as there's only 2 in the country in large otherwise it'll be the 2023 model which won't be until later this year

Awesome, which model are you going for - SL? TM?

 

[Trowernator]

Awesome, which model are you going for - SL? TM?

Well, I've been looking at the SL but another ones just caught my eye. Was hoping someone could shed some light.

The HPC SL is 2022 and £4999 yet I can get a 2023 HPC (but not SL) for £4699. What's SL stand for? I do prefer the colour of the 2023 as well.

 

[beanzz]

HPC SL is 2022 and £4999 yet I can get a 2023 HPC (but not SL) for £4699. What's SL stand for? I do prefer the colour of the 2023

Check the spec, and also consider what exactly do you gain for getting a bike that's is newer but a lower version

 

[Trowernator]

Check the spec, and also consider what exactly do you gain for getting a bike that's is newer but a lower version

I'm assuming it's Super Light?? I thought there is a newer bosch system on the 2023 models where you can connect it to your phone etc, I do also prefer the look of the 2023. Having said this though, the 2022 is obviously the better bike

 

[beanzz]

Super Light

I would just have a bit of a deeper look into it, but from what I can tell having Bluetooth on a motor seems to be quite liked but I'm not overly experienced

 

[Bummers]

The race has lower spec components, check the spec list against each other.
Both bikes will be using the Bosch smart system which connects to your phone via Bluetooth through the app.
It's worth seeing if there are any discounts on 2022 models as although it's the better bike I did see price drops on them.

 

[Bummers]

2022 Cube STEREO HYBRID 160 HPC SL 750 27.5

Buy 2022 Cube STEREO HYBRID 160 HPC SL 750 27.5 Electric Bikes for £4399.00 at Cycle Gear Free Shipping

www.ukbikesdepot.com

Just an example, that's a great bike for the price.

 

[Trowernator]

The race has lower spec components, check the spec list against each other.
Both bikes will be using the Bosch smart system which connects to your phone via Bluetooth through the app.
It's worth seeing if there are any discounts on 2022 models as although it's the better bike I did see price drops on them.

The guy in the shop said the 2022 doesn't have the smart system and that it's only out this year. The bike you posted below is really nice and a brilliant price, I'm just looking on finance with lower monthly payments. The one I posted above is only £113 a month with 9.9% apr and a £500 deposit which I thoughts pretty good and seems to be the best I can find

 

[beanzz]

The guy in the shop said the 2022 doesn't have the smart system and that it's only out this year. The bike you posted below is really nice and a brilliant price, I'm just looking on finance with lower monthly payments. The one I posted above is only £113 a month with 9.9% apr and a £500 deposit which I thoughts pretty good and seems to be the best I can find

Guys in shops often aren't fantastic sources of knowledge especially if it's a bigger store, lbs are usually pretty knowledgeable

 

[Bummers]

The guy in the shop said the 2022 doesn't have the smart system and that it's only out this year. The bike you posted below is really nice and a brilliant price, I'm just looking on finance with lower monthly payments. The one I posted above is only £113 a month with 9.9% apr and a £500 deposit which I thoughts pretty good and seems to be the best I can find

Guy in the shop is full of sh!t. It's the gen 4 motor with 750 battery. You only get those with the smart system.
Now, if he's talking about a different thumb controller then he might be correct there, as the 2022 models have a different thumb controller but it's the same smart system, just different peripheral.

 

[Trowernator]

Guys in shops often aren't fantastic sources of knowledge especially if it's a bigger store, lbs are usually pretty knowledgeable

Guy in the shop is full of sh!t. It's the gen 4 motor with 750 battery. You only get those with the smart system.
Now, if he's talking about a different thumb controller then he might be correct there, as the 2022 models have a different thumb controller but it's the same smart system, just different peripheral.

Ah okay, thanks for letting me know guys. Not sure if it's me getting it wrong, he said that the 2023 is the one with a new system that allows you to connect your phone to the bike and adjust the modes i.e tweek/tune them. I did wonder why I'd ever want to do that but I certainly like the idea of having an app on my phone where I can check data when I'm not using the bike. Can you do that with the 2022 models?

 

[beanzz]

the 2022 models?

Drive Unit Performance CX Generation 4 (85Nm) Cruise (250Watt), Smart System
This seems to be the motor the 2022 model has, so yes you can. The smart system part means you can connect to the Bosch flow app

 

[Trowernator]

Drive Unit Performance CX Generation 4 (85Nm) Cruise (250Watt), Smart System
This seems to be the motor the 2022 model has, so yes you can. The smart system part means you can connect to the Bosch flow app

Yeah, I've just had a look and the bike has the Bosch Kiox 300 which is compatible with the Bosch app so not entirely sure what he was on about. Anyway, just need to bite the bullet and get one ordered now.

 

[Richywalker64]

Ah okay, thanks for letting me know guys. Not sure if it's me getting it wrong, he said that the 2023 is the one with a new system that allows you to connect your phone to the bike and adjust the modes i.e tweek/tune them. I did wonder why I'd ever want to do that but I certainly like the idea of having an app on my phone where I can check data when I'm not using the bike. Can you do that with the 2022 models?

The 2022 definitely has the smart system as I have one
The phone does connect and allows you do many things such as changing power modes and even sat nav on the Kiox 300 display using either Bosch or Komoot routes.

 

[beanzz]

Yeah, I've just had a look and the bike has the Bosch Kiox 300 which is compatible with the Bosch app so not entirely sure what he was on about. Anyway, just need to bite the bullet and get one ordered now.

I tend to completely ignore sales men advice if it's a big shop. Hargroves and Halfords are exceptionally bag in my experience