Blending all our engineers' accumulated experience in a beautifully crafted frame designed to get the best out of the Bosch drive unit, this is a bike that will keep you smiling, mile after mile.
Our e-MTBs were already widely regarded as amongst the best out there, but we're always looking for improvements. So we started from the ground up for 2017, focussing our attention on integrating the Bosch motor and battery even more seamlessly into the frame. The result is cleaner looks, even better handling and easy-to-live-with touches like the ability to charge the battery without removing it from the frame. As you'd expect, CUBE's acclaimed Agile Ride Geometry continues to set the standard for e-bike handling, with a lower centre of gravity and the perfect blend of liveliness and stability. We even routed cables inside the frame, to protect them from damage.
No compromises here. We started with the heart and soul of the Reaction Hybrid SL: Bosch's superb CX drive, with powerful 500Wh battery as standard. With up to 75Nm of torque and an intuitive control interface, your riding possibilties have never been greater. Up front there's a Rock Shox Recon Silver fork with tapered steerer, for precise steering and smooth, predictable bump absorption. CUBE EX23 rims shod with Schwalbe Nobby Nc tyres provide rapid acceleration and all the grip you need, while powerful Shimano Deore disc brakes control your speed via 180mm rotors front and rear. Meanwhile, an XT 1x11 transmission with wide-ranging 11-46 tooch cassette means you'll always be able to find the right gear in an instant.
e-Bikes come in as many shapes and sizes as non-powered bikes, so you can have an electric road bike, mountain bike, city bike or general hybrid style. But, there are extra choices for you to make as well, so this is a brief guide to choosing the e-Bike best suited to your needs. For a more complete guide, please visit our Blog post on Choosing Your e-Bike.
Frame design
The primary choice is whether there is a top tube or you have a step-through frame. If you have any limitations in your hip flexibility and find it hard to raise your leg around the back wheel and saddle, then a step-through frame will be the better option for you. Given e-Bikes are heavier than other bikes, a step-through is also easier to handle if you're not very strong.
Battery power & capacity
"How far can I go between charges?" is the most common question, and the answer is "It depends", but here are some useful guidelines. Firstly, you control how quickly you deplete the battery. e-Bikes have power assist settings that you use to control acceleration and the amount of assist. If you choose "economy", it will take longer to get up to speed, and your top-end speed will be lower than if you select "turbo" mode. In addition, most e-Bikes are pedal assist, so you need to turn the pedals, and the more force you put in, the less you consume the battery charge. Finally, hills consume more power than flats, so your route selection makes a difference.
Batteries are rated in Watt hours (WH), and you can use this to compare the expected range between bikes. You simply multiply the voltage (V) by the amp hours (Ah) to calculate the Watt hours. On average, if you didn't pedal at all, each mile of flat travel will consume 15 WH. The e-Bikes we sell all have batteries with 300 - 400 WH, so that is 20 - 27 miles on a flat road with no pedaling.
Motor location and drive system
There are three primary positions for the drive system, the front wheel, the rear wheel and the crankset (to which the pedals are attached). By far the best is the crankset, as it is the most efficient, and it keeps the centre of gravity low. Motors in the wheel hubs are more common, as they are less expensive, and there are offsetting pros & cons for front versus rear wheel. drive.
Throttle or Pedal-assist
Our FreeGo e-Bikes have a throttle, so you can choose to be powered exclusively by the electric motor. Our other e-Bikes are all pedal-assist, which means the motor amplifies your own pedaling. The amount of power added by the electric motor in all cases is controlled by the setting, for example "economy" or "turbo".