Cube Reaction 29er ?? Any good?

Whats the hold up?

BTW i find the tyres fine, slightly slippy on some wet rock, but i probably have slightly too much pressure in them.

Ordering from Cube, assembly at MHW in Germany, shipping to mine. To be fair, they said it would be delivered for assembly early this week so hoping they can turn it around for next week. If not, next.

Not too concerned as it’s so muddy at the moment and I plan to have it as my fair weather ride 🙂

@stevewhyte – Experienced the same slippy on wet rock problem on a big climb yesterday – lots of wheelspin.

Currently running 40psi in the rear (I’m 90kg), could be time to let some air out!

My 26 Rocket Rons / Racing Ralphs aren’t great in the wet – especially on roots and rocks. Light and fast but not a mud tyre!

Hoping things will dry out a bit and I will ride the standard tyres (when the bike finally arrives!) until autumn.

Hear Mud X’s are good in 29.

well happy was going to go for the GTC pro but had a quick look around and managed to grab a GTC SL the only 1 the shop had in stock it is turning up tuesday 😀

Just got mine from Cycle Surgery but decided not to take it out in the mud today. Those Schwalbes definitely look like Summer tyres.

At 5’9.5″ I still feel too tall for the 17″ and too short for the 19″ though.

I got the 19″ i am 5ft 10 and have fairly long legs could you not of run a shorter stem on the 19 ? I noticed they spec them with longish stems and short bars.

Yes got a 90mm stem, might change for a 70mm as i feel its a slight stretch to the bars comparedt to my 805.

The tyres can cope with more than you think, i get the impression that you can run them slightly lower than 26″ tyres.

I might try 35psi next time i am out.

anyone converted them to tubeless yet?

Wold be interested to know as well. Usually dt swiss are ok with just stans tape …

Had delivery this morning from stif and am in love with it only got a chance to try the pro in the shop but opted for the SL in the end as i found it in stock. Exspected the cassette etc to be lower grade than xt but to my suprise its all xt which put a smile on my face. Only had a quick 20 mins spin as i am off out tonight but intial impressions are its fantastic. Its alot more comfortable than my carbon 456 on the rear and very quick. The position even with the long stem does not feel to streched out but then i have not ridden anything steep yet.

Bring on saturday for the first proper ride .

Well my bike has finally arrived today. A lot of hassle and pour communication from MHW. Cost £1585 including shipping but it has arrived with a few problems. The front gear cable wasn’t set up right – massive overhand under the bottom bracket. Spent hours trying to replace it today. If anyone has some tricks on how to change the cables, please let me know.

Other (minor) problems include no chain stay protector, missing helicopter tape on the left side of the steerer tube, no jam nuts on the inner tube valves and poorly set up brakes – the bite point is too late and the adjuster barrels are screwed as far in as possible.

Nightmare! Pretty pissed with the whole thing. Have emailed them asking for compensation so I can sort it out at my LBS.

Sorry to here your having problems. Pretty sure they only tape the downtube and behind the seat tube the rest is down to you

Im glad i bought from a decent bike shop.

Couldn’t resist the temptation and took it out in the muddy woods on Monday. Absolutely no problems with the tyres or with the length of the size L frame / stem, and was noticeably faster than my 26″ bikes. Still going to convert to tubeless when I get a minute.

I also didn’t get a chain stay protector, jam nuts, or taped steerer tube, but I didn’t see any of that as an issue or really think of them as missing.

Cycle Surgery in Kings Cross did a great job of sourcing, building and delivering for me, when my LBS could not get stock.

Why would you want jam nuts? Mine doesnt have them.

Also the only tape on mine is on the downtube.

And i bought a nice Endura chain stay protector from my LBS.

Anyone got an update on if the dt Swiss rims convert ok yet?

£1585 for what spec :-S … I got my GTC SL for £1630 from my LBS without all the hassle of buying it from oversea and having no real comeback if it’s breaks… I hate to think what sorting a warranty issue out would be like with an overseas shop… Nightmare.

Really interested to head about stans / no tubes conversion… Aiming to do the end2end in sub 3 hrs this year so would prefer not to loose 10 / 15 minutes fixing my tyre at the side of a trail.

I emailed Cube and he said that the rims on my Pro would be fine for conversion using tape.

Im still amazed at the top quaility Evo tyres and general components.

Im just not getting out enough, every day would be good.

If you do the E2E in under 3 hrs then you will be in an extremely elite group who have done that , Nick Craig and 1 or 2 others . Even my wife can fix a puncture a lot quicker than 10 – 15 mins .

For the 29 GTC SL. Warranty won’t be an issue as I have bought from them before and sorted out all concerns. My LBS couldn’t get the bike and have never been flexible on price. When I bought my GTC Pro 26 not a single UK company would budge on price. MHW saved me around £200 on that one.

Helicopter patches should be on both sides of the steerer tube because over time the cables can damage the resin.

These are minor problems but had very high expectations from the German company as they have been brilliant in the past.

Will keep you updated.

By the way, Rocket Rons and Racing Ralphs are definitely summer tyres. My SL 29er is going to be a dry weather machine.

Re the jam nuts. Good point – do you really need them? I always assumed that if you didn’t they wouldn’t be supplied.

If you do the E2E in under 3 hrs then you will be in an extremely elite group who have done that , Nick Craig and 1 or 2 others . Even my wife can fix a puncture a lot quicker than 10 – 15 mins .

Yeah that was an iPhone fat finger typo… I meant 4hr… Still a challenge for me but something to aim for… We are averaging 14.3mph over a 40 mile route at the moment once a week. Amongst other training.

Good for your wife, does she use co2 or a little hand pump lol

Helicopter patches should be on both sides of the steerer tube because over time the cables can damage the resin.

Are the patches for the frame not even in the box the bike came in? Mine didn’t come fitted but were at least with the bike.

Has anyone replaced the cables yet?

I had to replace the front gear cable yesterday (to sort out the poorly sorted outer).

The internal routing on my 26 GTC Pro was a little tricky so I used a capillary tube to guide the new cable. On the 29 the exit holes are too narrow.

Does the internal routing on the 29 have guides? I managed to get the cable through the down tube with very little problems but the routing through the bottom bracket was a tricky. Will use dental floss next time.

Thanks gsp1984.

No, the right side was applied. They forgot the left. What chainstay protector (size?) are you using I have an old Cube hardtail one but it is far too tight.

Any of you have a look at or test ridden a 29er Elite as opposed to the Reaction? The Elite more of an out and out race bike?

No, the right side was applied. They forgot the left. What chainstay protector (size?) are you using I have an old Cube hardtail one but it is far too tight.

I just bought the cube neoprene hardtail one, it was very tight to get it to fit though. I don’t recall the size, but I don’t even recall there being a size option when I bought it.

Any of you have a look at or test ridden a 29er Elite as opposed to the Reaction? The Elite more of an out and out race bike?

I’ve never seen an elite in a shop for test ride… The main difference is components and frame technology.

The gtc SL is all XT with gt frame technology… The HPC SL is all XTR components with hp frame technology… Save 1kg in total.

It’s no more of an out and out race bike in terms of geometry as the differences are tiny… Just lighter components and frame.

Ta….look nice. Going to be an Elite or a Canyon 29er if they bring out a carbon hardtail.

…..or maybe a Ti frame build.

I have an Elite HPT – the 26 titanium bike which Cube stopped making this year. I think the geometry is also different – a steeper head tube which makes the bike more twitchy.

Not had to replace any cables but I’ve only got about half of the original cable clips left – cable ties are slowly taking over…

Still loving the bike though 😀

2011 was my first end2end, completed it in 5hrs 59mins on a 10 year old Trek with v-brakes and not much training – hoping for better this year!

gsp1984 – just realised yours is a 26 which is why you got it for £1630.

The 29 GTC PRO SL retails at £1800 in the UK.

Anybody else having trouble with the seat post staying done up? (Are yours with like a hand tightening dial?)

You mean slipping ? I put carbon paste on mine

Yeah, having the same trouble – no matter how tight I do it up. It only usually drops by around 10mm (before I spot it) but it’s still moving when it shouldn’t.

Make sure you really clean the post and the inside of the tube from any grease.

If it still happens Carbon Paste. If it still happens get to the gym and tighten it more.

I keep a close eye on all my bike to make sure the saddle height is at a constant 705mm (from centre of BB).

jwmlee – Member
gsp1984 – just realised yours is a 26 which is why you got it for £1630.
The 29 GTC PRO SL retails at £1800 in the UK.

There is no such thing as the GTC PRO SL.

The 26er GTC SL and 29er GTC SL RRP is exactly the same at £1800 😉 and the my LBS discount would have been exactly the same if I had been willing to wait a few weeks for the 29er, which I wasn’t.

Yeah, you’re right. I thought UK shops were saying they couldn’t get hold of the SL 29er.

MHW have offered to pay to get the problems solved at my LBS. Have replaced and shortened the housing on the front derailleur cable myself. Very fiddly.

Anyway, good on you for getting a reduced price.I bought the 2010 PRO which I loved. Now has an HPT frame, Hope XC3 wheels and XT all round.

Where did you get it from by the way.

its slipping on the rails each time, not down into the frame. Think I am going to replace it to something that uses alan key bolts instead. It is really not a strength issue.