CUBE Nuroad FE - First Ride and Impressions

Actually this is the very last Cube Nuroad in Bulgaria. I think cube is discontinuing this bike model. And here is the story of this bike. When I set my eyes on a gravel bike I started researching and I needed an entry model with good specs and affordable price. One of the most affordable models was the DECHATLON Triban gravel bike. It is around 700 euro but there was no availability. Then I went to Bike Center and saw that they have Cube gravel bikes. Also they had a sale and bikes that usually sell for 1000 euro are now 850. So I went for the very basic model Cube Nuroad but it was all sold out. Then I saw the FE model that comes with fenders, dynamo and integrated lights. Essentially if you remove them it becomes lighter and also you can put them in winter if you like. However it was late at night and following the old saying that The morning is wiser than the night I decided to wait until then and see for other options. Bullshit. When I woke up the bike was gone. I was frustrated and I went to the local bike centre store to ask if there will be availability soon. They made an official request from the dealer and few days later they informed me that there is no word when this bike will appear again. I went to few other shops to search for similar bikes at that price point but the best answer I got was that I can have one as early as November. It seems that there is a global shortage of bikes and bike parts and pair that with high gas prices and huge bicycle demand and we have a situation. “So what”, I said. I have a bike already I will not buy another one. Move on.

But then after a few days we made a little trip to Varna. It is the biggest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. It has more bike shops. When we went there I visited most of them and there were no gravel bikes at all. Only one shop had a gravel bike but it was too expensive and way above my budget.

Disappointed I decided to go home but when I crossed the street there was a Bike Center shop and I thought. “Let’s check there if they have something.” I went inside and asked for a gravel bike. The guy greeted me with a smile and said: “You have luck today. We just got one.” And he showed me the box that they had just received from the courier. Inside was the very same bike that disappeared from the online store.

What it really happened was that they pulled that bike to their shop to sell it to customers. It was the same frame size that I needed.

Two hours later the bike was assembled and here am I riding it for the first time in front of you. Overall I’m really impressed with this bike. It goes so smooth and light even at its relatively high weight of 12.6 kilos. I guess if I remove the fenders and the rack on the back it will shed some of these but for now I will keep them. For now I’m riding with some cheap pedals that they put in the store as a compliment but I plan to swap these with clipless and get some bike shoes.

The saddle is very comfortable. I can easily go 50 km/h on a level road with this bike.

Still there are two things that I don’t like on that bike. First although the matt colour is very nice and the bike is a looker it’s also a big problem. In the summer it’s very dry around here and the matt colour is a dust and fingerprint magnet.

The second is the brakes. These tetktro brakes are awful they are noisy they lack performance. It’s my fault because I saw a video review of the more expensive model and it had a hydraulic brakes. I assumed that this one will have them too and that’s a bummer.

Still I like that bike a lot it is lightyears away from my 10 year old Scott Aspect 45. So what do you think? Do you like this bike? Please tell me in the comments. And don’t forget the usual staff. Like Subscribe, Ride more bikes and Peace!