In late 2020 Cube’s owner, Marcus Pürner, told his head of engineering, Bernd Schenkl, that the German brand was going

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Cube’s Reaction TM Pro is great looking and even better value: It’s for riders who want a tough, well specced, aggressively agile play bike but don’t want rear suspension or long-reach stability. It’s a bit short, but otherwise Cube’s latest hardcore hardtail is one of the best new hardtail mountain bikes for heavy or heavy duty riders who want to ride more and wrench less. There are some decent full suspension bikes around for £1,500 now, but whatever the price point, a hardtail will always be lighter, with better equipment and less maintenance / set up stress. Cube’s Reaction TM Pro shows you don’t have to back off the attack much just because you’ve got no rear shock and it’s a great price too. There are some geometry aspects and kit that won’t suit everyone though. Frame and geometry The Cube Reaction Pro stands out straight away with a raw alloy finish and subtle silver reflective graphics. These make it look like an ultra cool boutique machine, not a mass market bargain. It also takes a lot of paint stress out of hard riding too as even if you manage to wound the thick clear lacquer you won’t see a scratch or scar. The belly and chainstay are protected with chunky rubber armour. The brake line gets secure bolt-on clips under the seatstay rather than just zip ties or those pointless U clips that come off immediately. The left offset brake routing through the top tube is a little bit awkward when switched to UK standard. Fixtures are bang up to date too with a UDH rear dropout, a bolted accessory mount under the flattened top tube and a bottle mount on the squared down tube. The bottom bracket has a three point mount for a full chain guide and you get an MRP 1x top chain retainer as standard. Bridgeless seat stays and a sculpted chainstay yoke give clearance for 29×2.6in tyres, despite the bike’s very short 427mm back end on the M, L and XL sizes. That back end shrinks to a crazy 408mm on the XS and S sizes, which get 27.5in wheels as standard. The seat tube is also short at 420mm leaving plenty of room for the 170mm stroke dropper, and the head tube is only 100mm tall too. Add a 462mm reach and you’ve got a really progressive medium sized bike. The trouble is, these are the numbers for the large, which really needs at least another 10-20mm of reach and a head tube height to match most competitors. And while the XL does get a 482mm reach, the seat tube grows disproportionately to 470mm, ruling out a long stroke dropper for large sized riders. However heavier riders – or anyone concerned about frame strength – will be stoked to hear that Cube’s 140kg rider weight limit is 20kg higher than most brands’. The angles are good too with a 65 degree head angle and an effective 75.5 degree seat angle. Components Cube matches …Continue reading »

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Find out how Cube manages to offer top performance at lower prices than the other big brands, and get to know the Litening C:68X SLX better as Jamie takes this pro road race bike on a 550km trip across France

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