GrantCube
Member
Hi Folks,
I've been here a couple of months now and I've been watching, reading, learning and wondering! Whilst doing those things, I have also been taking advantage of the "work from home" situation that is Covid-19 and using my bike every day! I am lucky enough to live near one of Sydney's premier trails, Manly Dam which is 3.3km from home and around 11km to do the main loop. There are many tracks and trails off the main trail but I tend to leave home at lunch time, do the main trail and sprint home again for a 16.5km run each day. Coupla months of this and I am 6kg's less of a beast than I used to be!
Anyway, enough about me, lets talk about the bike! I bought a Cube Stereo Hybrid 140 SL 500 off the original owner with around 700km's on it. He had used it for commuting and had fitted a tuning device that enabled unlimited support from the motor at all speeds. The bike was in really good condition when I bought it and whilst it was a risky purchase, the owner was in Brisbane and I live in Sydney, 1000km's away, but the local bike chain that distribute Cube was very helpful and the owner was an honest and decent guy! The bike arrived as advertised and the price I paid was about half the new price so I am very happy.
The bike was standard with the exception of the badass box and I very soon took the saddle and V8 pedals off my Norco downhill bike and fitted them to the Cube. Soon some softer handlebar grips came along, some valve caps and we were good to go! The bike runs Hans Dampf 27.5 x 2.6 in SpeedGrip on the front and Addix soft on the rear.....rear is wearing at 3 x the rate of the front and only some of that is the softer compound........the long chain stay means that it is necessary to coax the back end to move around corners with a judicious use of rear brake if one is in a bit of a hurry. In saying this, the bike is very comfortable to steer on the rear brake and almost never wants to behave badly and swap ends.
The suspension......having read every post that relates to setting up suspension, I have played a little bit with the air volume and the rebound of the rear shock but the original owner was very close to my weight and he had the shop set it up for him and as much as I am tempted to buy into the endless micro adjustment process that everyone seems to do, it just works for me the way it is! I thought that I needed more travel and my previous bike was a downhill bike so it had a lot of movement but this 140 is generous in the way it works and I have never been bucked off a line nor have I bottomed out in a horrible way. I know I am using all the rear travel as the little rubber band around the shock body is always at the bottom of where it can get to, but the suspension keeps me where I place the bike and I would struggle to look to change it right now. The front is a little over aired but I will play with that later on down the track.
I am doing the Convict 100 race on the bike in August, (google it), and after that I will most likely look for the next big thing.......I am thinking I will buy a Stereo 160 for the extra travel, even though I know I dont need it but I would like to get onto the new bigger battery that the 2020 bikes have and I can waste my money any way I choose!
Overall, I love the bike and I will keep it for mates to ride as there is nothing wrong with it and I dont want to part with it yet.
I've been here a couple of months now and I've been watching, reading, learning and wondering! Whilst doing those things, I have also been taking advantage of the "work from home" situation that is Covid-19 and using my bike every day! I am lucky enough to live near one of Sydney's premier trails, Manly Dam which is 3.3km from home and around 11km to do the main loop. There are many tracks and trails off the main trail but I tend to leave home at lunch time, do the main trail and sprint home again for a 16.5km run each day. Coupla months of this and I am 6kg's less of a beast than I used to be!
Anyway, enough about me, lets talk about the bike! I bought a Cube Stereo Hybrid 140 SL 500 off the original owner with around 700km's on it. He had used it for commuting and had fitted a tuning device that enabled unlimited support from the motor at all speeds. The bike was in really good condition when I bought it and whilst it was a risky purchase, the owner was in Brisbane and I live in Sydney, 1000km's away, but the local bike chain that distribute Cube was very helpful and the owner was an honest and decent guy! The bike arrived as advertised and the price I paid was about half the new price so I am very happy.
The bike was standard with the exception of the badass box and I very soon took the saddle and V8 pedals off my Norco downhill bike and fitted them to the Cube. Soon some softer handlebar grips came along, some valve caps and we were good to go! The bike runs Hans Dampf 27.5 x 2.6 in SpeedGrip on the front and Addix soft on the rear.....rear is wearing at 3 x the rate of the front and only some of that is the softer compound........the long chain stay means that it is necessary to coax the back end to move around corners with a judicious use of rear brake if one is in a bit of a hurry. In saying this, the bike is very comfortable to steer on the rear brake and almost never wants to behave badly and swap ends.
The suspension......having read every post that relates to setting up suspension, I have played a little bit with the air volume and the rebound of the rear shock but the original owner was very close to my weight and he had the shop set it up for him and as much as I am tempted to buy into the endless micro adjustment process that everyone seems to do, it just works for me the way it is! I thought that I needed more travel and my previous bike was a downhill bike so it had a lot of movement but this 140 is generous in the way it works and I have never been bucked off a line nor have I bottomed out in a horrible way. I know I am using all the rear travel as the little rubber band around the shock body is always at the bottom of where it can get to, but the suspension keeps me where I place the bike and I would struggle to look to change it right now. The front is a little over aired but I will play with that later on down the track.
I am doing the Convict 100 race on the bike in August, (google it), and after that I will most likely look for the next big thing.......I am thinking I will buy a Stereo 160 for the extra travel, even though I know I dont need it but I would like to get onto the new bigger battery that the 2020 bikes have and I can waste my money any way I choose!
Overall, I love the bike and I will keep it for mates to ride as there is nothing wrong with it and I dont want to part with it yet.
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