Have a feeling I won't be riding my bike any time soon >.>

[Phal44]

I recently bought a Cube Stereo Hybrid 160 and as per some discussions in other threads, I've started experiencing issues with this bike (250 or so miles done).

I've been trying to get in touch with Cube for some assistance but this is proving to be difficult since they can't manage to receive all of my emails. This is starting to get pretty frustrating as the most I've gotten from them in over a week is emails telling me to send the details again. They get my emails asking for an update but not any with my details it seems...

My issue has developed over the time I've had the bike. A creaking developed gradually and it was coming from somewhere near the bottom bracket. The creak gradually got more frequent and a little louder and my research online seemed to point to loose motor mounting bolts.

Once I had obtained the relevant torx plus 40 bit and torque wrench (topeak digital torque wrench), I checked each of the 6 bolts and found the most rear right bolt to be very loose (I would have been able to tell this by hand if I could have reached it better sinceit was the bolt behind the cog on the cranks). I torqued this to 22nm initially as I'd found a few different figures for Cube bikes online and this was the lowest but the creaking continued.

Last weekend, I spoke with someone at Hargroves Cycles to verify the correct torque for this bike/motor and I was advised that 30nm was recommended by Bosch.

I removed each bolt and re-torqued them to 30nm but the creaking continued.

As a last attempt to fix this today, I removed all the bolts and lowered the motor out to a platform under my bike in its work stand. I cleared around each of the motor mount holes to remove any dust/dirt/sand etc. I put the motor back in place and started tightening the bolts with my torque wrench.

The same bolt that originally got loose was making a few crunching sounds. I stopped tightening and removed the bolt again to find the area around the bolt hole seems to be getting crushed. The paint on the frame around this is all cracked. I feel if I keep torquing the bolt then it will just crush the carbon fibre further.

Not looking good!

 

[urastus]

Because of Cube's lack of care, could you plead ignorance, put it back together looking as though it has never been touched by you, and hand it over to cube to find out what the creaking is?

 

[Errol1098]

Take it back to the bike shop you bought it from and ask them to help?

 

[Phal44]

Take it back to the bike shop you bought it from and ask them to help?

That shop is halfway across the country since it was the only shop with stock at the time. It might come to that eventually I can't just nip over there at the moment.

 

[Tonycube]

That shop is halfway across the country since it was the only shop with stock at the time. It might come to that eventually I can't just nip over there at the moment.

Hello there I have a cube 140 hybrid and its now done 400 miles and the last two rides i have now got squeaking and creaking from the motor area.
My bike is only 6 weeks old and goes to the dealer i got it from on monday for a service so they can have a look then.
I will give you a update on monday.
Ps there are others with the same problem.
Some of them have solved it themselves.
They all seem to develop this problem after about 250-500 miles.
Hope this helps from Tony.

 

[MsO]

Bugger hope mines going to be ok I get my 160 TM coming on Monday my trek rail had to go back to trek yesterday as well for the battery aliment to be sorted and I was getting a creak from the crank area they seem to think it could be that locking nut a bit loose on these Bosch 4 motors it might be worth checking that

 

[Phal44]

Hello there I have a cube 140 hybrid and its now done 400 miles and the last two rides i have now got squeaking and creaking from the motor area.
My bike is only 6 weeks old and goes to the dealer i got it from on monday for a service so they can have a look then.
I will give you a update on monday.
Ps there are others with the same problem.
Some of them have solved it themselves.
They all seem to develop this problem after about 250-500 miles.
Hope this helps from Tony.

Yeah, it seems like an issue across various models of Cube bikes but I haven't seen any others where the frame has done this.

Not sure if 2020 bikes are the first ones with carbon frames?

 

[Phal44]

Bugger hope mines going to be ok I get my 160 TM coming on Monday my trek rail had to go back to trek yesterday as well for the battery aliment to be sorted and I was getting a creak from the crank area they seem to think it could be that locking nut a bit loose on these Bosch 4 motors it might be worth checking that

No real locking nuts on this motor - just 6 straight bolts with Torxplus heads. I figure the reason my bolt came loose in the first place is maybe that the carbon around the bolt hole was never 100% and that allowed the bolt to loosen (The other bolts seemed fine when I first checked).

 

[MsO]

Try the lock ring nut that holds the front sprocket on mine and a load of other people have had there's come loose but ya that frame on yours don't look good at all I'll be sending photos to the shop and be asking for a replacement bike or a refund

 

[Phal44]

So much stuff coming loose on these... They publish all the torques for the suspension linkages etc but not for the bolts holding the motor onto the bike along with a bunch of other stuff? Do they think these should never come loose or something? :|

 

[MsO]

My trek rail was rattling like a good one going over bumps turning itself off battery rattling chain ring coming loose rear cassette coming loose verious bolts coming loose went back to bike shop in the week now it's being shipped back to trek in Milton Keynes for them to go over it hopefully it will all be sorted as it's only minor things but still bloody annoying when you part with nearly 5 grand

 

[Steve940]

Mines problem free so far..worst case I live a few miles from the cube dealer I bought it from..i wouldn't buy away from home for this reason

 

[Phal44]

Mines problem free so far..worst case I live a few miles from the cube dealer I bought it from..i wouldn't buy away from home for this reason

Yeah, it's not ideal but it was either that or wait till next year basically.

 

[urastus]

Mines problem free so far..worst case I live a few miles from the cube dealer I bought it from..i wouldn't buy away from home for this reason

That's probably why there's nothing wrong with yours

 

[Zudnik]

Glad I'm reading this prior to buying a cube. I'd been waffling between the 140 TM and the 160 TM. Since I'll have to order over the web (no local dealers in NJ), there's no benefit of buying a retail priced brand. Guess I'll have to change my mind and find something similar.

 

[MsO]

Got my 160tm last week can't fault it

 

[Phal44]

Got my 160tm last week can't fault it

Yeah, nice bike when it works. So far, my experience dealing with Cube has been severely lacking. 3 weeks after I initially emailed them for some details and I'm still waiting to speak to someone who actually knows something.

 

[MsO]

My trek rail 7 is back at trek having new frame set to sort out the battery alignment issues I've been having got the cube now when the trek back my brother bought it but you do get some issues with these bikes

 

[Zudnik]

you do get some issues with these bikes

That's what's really hitting me. Since supply is so low, many have to buy bikes online and have them shipped. It's one thing to do that if you're buying directly from a mfg knowing you'll have to have some knowledge, skills and tools. But it's a different math equation if you're buying a more retail brand online, which usually has a markup to allow for the local store to help when you have problems, but buying that retail brand online means you get the worst of all worlds.... you're paying for support that you'll never get.

 

[Mikerb]

A couple of thoughts. If you are emailing photos etc to Cube you may be exceeding the size of email their system enables so maybe zip or reference a cloud rather than send large attachments.
With reference to your bolt I cannot imagine the toque setting on carbon would be as high as 30nm. The bolt only needs to support the motor with no play so no reason for it to be high torque.....it should however be threadlocked. That bolt is certainly never going to be secure given the damage to the carbon seat so at the very least that section of the frame will need to be replaced...if indeed it is a removable section. If not it is a new frame!!

 

[KeithR]

Glad I'm reading this prior to buying a cube. I'd been waffling between the 140 TM and the 160 TM. Since I'll have to order over the web (no local dealers in NJ), there's no benefit of buying a retail priced brand. Guess I'll have to change my mind and find something similar.

I've been riding a 2016 MY Cube 140 for four years, and it's still faultless.

Just sayin'...

 

[Mikerb]

Carbon frame back then???

 

[KeithR]

Fair point, mine's alloy. Zudnik is anxious about buying a Cube, so in the interest of balance I thought I'd let him know they'e not all bad.

 

[Zudnik]

Fair point, mine's alloy. Zudnik is anxious about buying a Cube, so in the interest of balance I thought I'd let him know they'e not all bad.

Thanks, appreciate that.

 

[Falco]

Look that's major damage, screw the bolts to the official Nm guidelines and ask for substitution under warranty.

 

[Akiwi]

Yowzers! Be interested to hear how this works out.
Just for others worried about Cubes, I have the 2020 160 TM with carbon frame and after nearly 2000 km I don't have any problems either.

 

[Mikerb]

It is something worth checking however. I suspect a blob of epoxy was left on the seat where the bolt head sits. That or the seat was badly formed. Subsequent attempts to torque the bolt have effectively destroyed that seat...or the walls of the recessed seat. The lesson may therefore be not to attempt to tighten a bolt that comes loose without first totally or partly removing thr bolt to inspect the seat on which the bolt head sits. Any uneveness could probably be made flat. The bolt would then torque properly. I still doubt it is as high as 30 nm though!

 

[Phal44]

I've been riding a 2016 MY Cube 140 for four years, and it's still faultless.

Just sayin'...

Sadly, that doesn't really mean a lot in relation to buying a 2020 bike. Models change every year etc so it's hard to compare them.

Cube seem pretty useless so far in providing any details to me and can't even seem to manage to reply to an email. 3 weeks ago I asked them a question and it took days to get a response. That response was them asking me to send the email again. Since then, I chased a number of times and on the second or third atttempt, they finally replied saying they had forwarded this to their service department and that was over a week ago. Pretty shambolic.

 

[MitchF]

Glad I'm reading this prior to buying a cube. I'd been waffling between the 140 TM and the 160 TM. Since I'll have to order over the web (no local dealers in NJ), there's no benefit of buying a retail priced brand. Guess I'll have to change my mind and find something similar.

Why avoid a brand because one customer has had a bad one. If that’s a deal changer you’ll never buy one at all. ??

 

[Phal44]

Why avoid a brand because one customer has had a bad one. If that’s a deal changer you’ll never buy one at all. ??

I agree with that statement but unfortunately it's definitely not just one bad one with regards to motor mounting bolts getting loose. Poor customer service is also often a good reason to avoid a company even if their products are usually ok.