AlanW
Guru
- Location
- Not to sure?
We purchased this e-bike brand new from the Electric Bike shop in Solihull in February of this year. The primary reason was so that my wife could join me and do some YHA light touring together. With that in mind we quickly dismissed all the carbon, rear hub drive e-bikes in favour of a much larger capacity battery, a very high torque mid drive motor and the ability to be able to carry panniers.
After careful consideration and many road tests later of all different manufacturers and models, the Cube Kathmandu SLX750 seemed to tick most of the boxes. Sadly of course such luxuries come at a price, namely the overall weight of the bike/battery. But she rides it to her mums once a week, 25-mile round trip, and she really enjoys it.
Fast forward several months, the bike has now covered a fraction over 900 miles, and we did our first YHA three-day mini tour a few weeks ago. The bike was loaded up with two 20lb panniers and after a rather hilly 60-mile route, we arrived at the YHA. It's fair to say that the bike was brilliant and made my wife's experience most enjoyable. So, mission accomplished l guess?
However, my wife now says that she would like the option of going places in the car and taking the bikes with us. Which l totally agree would be great thing to do.
Now comes the “but”, as great as it was for the YHA trip and any future YHA trips, the problem is because of its weight/size it's impossible to load it into our small/medium sized car which also just happens to have a fancy rear diffuser, so a towbar/bike carrier just isn’t an option as it would mean cutting away the bodywork in order to fit the towbar.
I suppose l must take the brunt of the blame as l became far too focused on the battery range and it's carrying capacity rather than the practicalities of ownership.
My wife has suggested selling it and replacing it with a much lighter carbon frame e-bike and then looking at getting something like the Restrap saddle/frame bags instead of using a rack and panniers?
With its fourth-generation Bosch CX drive unit, high-capacity 750Wh battery and new Kiox display, it's got the power to take you further than ever.
Shimano's reliable XT 1x12 gears put a huge range of hill-devouring ratios at your fingertips, and powerful four-piston XT hydraulic disc brakes help keep you safely in control in any weather.
The RockShox Recon Silver air fork, suspension seat post and adjustable stem are all there to ensure your comfort. Plus, the elegant and very tough Integrated Carrier 3.0 make this a versatile and real workhorse of a bike.
Built in LED rear light and an adjustable LED front light means you can never get caught out in the dark or bad weather.
Full length mudguards front and rear with an additional wide RAW mud flap fitted to the front mudguard.
Full Technical Specification
E-Bike System - Drive Unit Bosch Drive Unit Performance CX Generation 4 (85Nm) Cruise (250Watt),
Smart System - Display Bosch Kiox 300 + LED remote
Battery - Bosch PowerTube 750Wh
Charger - Bosch 4A
Frame - Frame Aluminium Superlite, gravity casting technology, efficient comfort geometry, boost148, fully integrated battery, integrated carrier 3.0, advanced internal cable routing, 1.5 headtube (EE: Tapered Headtube)
Frame Size - Small, which according to the Cube website is for riders between 5' 3" and 5' 7". That said my wife is 5' 8" and the next next size frame felt to big for her and on the advice of the shop we opted for the Small. I have also ridden it a few times and I'm 5' 9" and it felt perfectly fine to ride.
Wheel Size - 29 inch.
Suspension Fork - RockShox Recon silver RL air, tapered, 15x110mm, 100mm, lockout.
Drivechain and Brakes - brake system Shimano XT BR-M8120/M8100, hydraulic. disc brake (180/180).
Rear Derailleur - Shimano XT RD-M8100-SGS, ShadowPlus, 12-Speed.
Shifters - Shimano Deore SL-M6100-IR, direct attach.
Crankset - Acid E-Crank, 40T, 175mm (EE: 170mm).
Cassette - Shimano Deore CS-M6100, 10-51T.
Chain - Shimano CN-M6100.
Wheels - Rims Cube EX23, 36H, disc, tubeless ready.
Front Hub - Cube engineered by Newmen, 15mm, boost, centerlock.
Rear Hub - Cube engineered by Newmen, 12mm, boost, centerlock.
Tyres - Schwalbe Marathon E-Plus, Smart-DualGuard, 55-622.
The only three mods I have done, I fitted a wide RAW mudflap to the front mudguard, a small CatEye mirror to the handlebars and clear helicopter tape to the rear triangle where the panniers fit.
Although the bike is stored outside in my workshop with my other bikes, the battery is always removed and kept in the warmth of the house.
We paid £3800 in February for the bike, selling it for £2990 which I think is a fair price?
Cash or bank transfer, sadly its collection only from Redditch, Worcestershire.
NOTE - photos to follow
After careful consideration and many road tests later of all different manufacturers and models, the Cube Kathmandu SLX750 seemed to tick most of the boxes. Sadly of course such luxuries come at a price, namely the overall weight of the bike/battery. But she rides it to her mums once a week, 25-mile round trip, and she really enjoys it.
Fast forward several months, the bike has now covered a fraction over 900 miles, and we did our first YHA three-day mini tour a few weeks ago. The bike was loaded up with two 20lb panniers and after a rather hilly 60-mile route, we arrived at the YHA. It's fair to say that the bike was brilliant and made my wife's experience most enjoyable. So, mission accomplished l guess?
However, my wife now says that she would like the option of going places in the car and taking the bikes with us. Which l totally agree would be great thing to do.
Now comes the “but”, as great as it was for the YHA trip and any future YHA trips, the problem is because of its weight/size it's impossible to load it into our small/medium sized car which also just happens to have a fancy rear diffuser, so a towbar/bike carrier just isn’t an option as it would mean cutting away the bodywork in order to fit the towbar.
I suppose l must take the brunt of the blame as l became far too focused on the battery range and it's carrying capacity rather than the practicalities of ownership.
My wife has suggested selling it and replacing it with a much lighter carbon frame e-bike and then looking at getting something like the Restrap saddle/frame bags instead of using a rack and panniers?
With its fourth-generation Bosch CX drive unit, high-capacity 750Wh battery and new Kiox display, it's got the power to take you further than ever.
Shimano's reliable XT 1x12 gears put a huge range of hill-devouring ratios at your fingertips, and powerful four-piston XT hydraulic disc brakes help keep you safely in control in any weather.
The RockShox Recon Silver air fork, suspension seat post and adjustable stem are all there to ensure your comfort. Plus, the elegant and very tough Integrated Carrier 3.0 make this a versatile and real workhorse of a bike.
Built in LED rear light and an adjustable LED front light means you can never get caught out in the dark or bad weather.
Full length mudguards front and rear with an additional wide RAW mud flap fitted to the front mudguard.
Full Technical Specification
E-Bike System - Drive Unit Bosch Drive Unit Performance CX Generation 4 (85Nm) Cruise (250Watt),
Smart System - Display Bosch Kiox 300 + LED remote
Battery - Bosch PowerTube 750Wh
Charger - Bosch 4A
Frame - Frame Aluminium Superlite, gravity casting technology, efficient comfort geometry, boost148, fully integrated battery, integrated carrier 3.0, advanced internal cable routing, 1.5 headtube (EE: Tapered Headtube)
Frame Size - Small, which according to the Cube website is for riders between 5' 3" and 5' 7". That said my wife is 5' 8" and the next next size frame felt to big for her and on the advice of the shop we opted for the Small. I have also ridden it a few times and I'm 5' 9" and it felt perfectly fine to ride.
Wheel Size - 29 inch.
Suspension Fork - RockShox Recon silver RL air, tapered, 15x110mm, 100mm, lockout.
Drivechain and Brakes - brake system Shimano XT BR-M8120/M8100, hydraulic. disc brake (180/180).
Rear Derailleur - Shimano XT RD-M8100-SGS, ShadowPlus, 12-Speed.
Shifters - Shimano Deore SL-M6100-IR, direct attach.
Crankset - Acid E-Crank, 40T, 175mm (EE: 170mm).
Cassette - Shimano Deore CS-M6100, 10-51T.
Chain - Shimano CN-M6100.
Wheels - Rims Cube EX23, 36H, disc, tubeless ready.
Front Hub - Cube engineered by Newmen, 15mm, boost, centerlock.
Rear Hub - Cube engineered by Newmen, 12mm, boost, centerlock.
Tyres - Schwalbe Marathon E-Plus, Smart-DualGuard, 55-622.
The only three mods I have done, I fitted a wide RAW mudflap to the front mudguard, a small CatEye mirror to the handlebars and clear helicopter tape to the rear triangle where the panniers fit.
Although the bike is stored outside in my workshop with my other bikes, the battery is always removed and kept in the warmth of the house.
We paid £3800 in February for the bike, selling it for £2990 which I think is a fair price?
Cash or bank transfer, sadly its collection only from Redditch, Worcestershire.
NOTE - photos to follow
Last edited:
