cube streamer? opinions

niceonetom

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=20775

i need some opinions on this please. basically i think i'm going to buy it unless someone gives me some reason not to.

is the compact double a mistake? should i get the triple instead?

Chips Lovell

I think a compact is fine for most people, especially considering the cassette's 12-27.

lukester

I bought one a few weeks ago- I trawled the web for ages and hemmed and hawed, and this seemed genuinely the best value per euro I could find anywhere. Cube bikes get very good reviews online too. If you have the cash, go for it! I was initially going to go for the BeOne Storm 1.0 with 105 groupset, but after polling opinion here and other places the Streamer seemed worth the extra outlay.

I haven't had a chance to go on any long rides yet, but so far I'm very impressed with it. Bear in mind I'm comparing it to mtbs with slicks and hybrids, but it is very responsive and fast, and has a good stiffness/comfort balance. It looks and feels well built, all the components are of a decent calibre. The Ultegra shifters are super smooth. The wheels seem light and strong, and it comes with Schwalbe Stelvios which are supposed to offer some puncture resistance.

I went for the triple as in my frame size (56cm) it was a bit cheaper at the time than the double. I don't anticipate needing the bottom ring unless I hit some steep hills, but it was worth the saving at the time.

You probably know this, but you have to do a small bit of assembly when you get the bike, tape the bars, etc., and I had to fiddle with the indexing a little too.

If you have any questions give me a shout here or PM me.

Thread on it here

Ghost Rider

Nice looking bike - not that my saying that'll make any difference.

niceonetom

thanks lukester. good stuff.

what height are you? i'm 6 foot exactly and would be thinking 58 frame but it would be nice to know whether cubes are big or small for their stated size.

i'm not put off by assembly, i really enjoy that kind of thing.

lukester

I'm a smidge over 5'10" (without shoes!) and went for the 56cm frame and it fits me very well. I did a bit of digging, and it's hard to compare precisely because manufacturers each have their own measurements and geometry differences, but Cube bikes seem to have a top tube that's about 1.5 cm shorter per frame size in comparison to other brands. This goes across their range of road bikes. e.g. all 56 frames in their range have a top-tube of 545mm. It's a small amount, and this could just be down to how they measure.

In any case, I sat on a few 56cm bikes before I bought, and the Cube 'feels' very similar. Obviously fit is a highly individual thing but if 58cm is what you normally would go for I imagine you'll be happy with that in the Cube.

niceonetom

right well i better get the oul credit card warmed up then. 58 it is - i have a couple of different stems in the parts bin if i need to tweek. i doubt i'm going to find a better speced bike for the budget. thanks for the input folks.

fish-head

If they had one a size bigger, I'd be all over it! Top tube looks too short for me on a 58. It looks like an amazing deal.

lukester

niceonetom wrote: »

right well i better get the oul credit card warmed up then. 58 it is - i have a couple of different stems in the parts bin if i need to tweek. i doubt i'm going to find a better speced bike for the budget. thanks for the input folks.

My credit card is still warm from the purchase. But you can't go wrong, it is one of the best bang for euro options out there.

niceonetom

bought.

i love this short period when the excitement still lingers and the guilt has yet to set in.

this weekend those mountains are my bitch.

blorg

34-27 is almost exactly halfway between 30-23 and 30-25 on a typical road triple (30 being the typical lowest front ring on a road chainset.) Not a world of difference.

niceonetom

blorg wrote: »

34-27 is almost exactly halfway between 30-23 and 30-25 on a typical road triple (30 being the typical lowest front ring on a road chainset.) Not a world of difference.

yeah, i did some back of-an-envelope maths and saw little difference so i opted for the compact on grounds that it looks neater (i think) and is a bit simpler to maintain. i tend to grind up hills anyway (habit of riding fixed) so if i find some redundant gearing at the lowest end i might consider an new cassette. see how it goes first.

i'm checking the crc site every half hour to see when it goes from 'processing' to 'sent'.

trek climber

Good luck with the new bike - the wait from ordering the bike to actually delivery to your door is the worst part !!!!

lukester

niceonetom wrote: »

i'm checking the crc site every half hour to see when it goes from 'processing' to 'sent'.

I had to chase them up for mine, it took a few days to get shipped, the guy I spoke to said they were kept in a different warehouse which might have caused the delay. Once it was shipped it arrived within 24 hours.