Cube Hybrid Electric Trike Review

The post Cube Hybrid Electric Trike Review appeared first on Cycling Electric.

Featuring on the cover of the tenth print issue of Cycling Electric is the one-of-a-kind Cube Trike Hybrid, a product so unique in its design DNA and abilities that we just had to get one in for review.

For background, this unique electric trike was brough to market on the back of a design process that took in input from automotive giant BMW. That’s not your usual collaboration for the bike industry, though Cube has prowess in Germany and globally to catch the automotive maker’s attention. By volume, Cube is one of the world’s largest bike manufacturers. If it sold into the USA it might even lay claim to being the largest, but alas its primary focus is Europe, inclusive of the UK where it has a particularly close relationship with specialist e-bike retailer The Electric Bike Shop. Here, you can try any electric bike in stock, free of charge, before you buy, which for a bike (trike) like this is particularly advisable.

In this Cube Electric Trike Hybrid review I’ll explain why taking a demo is actually something you should consider doing before any purchase; hence why Cycling Electric has it’s own Demo Event next month, on April 28th at the Lee Valley Velopark, which you can access tickets for at CyclingElectricDemoDays.com.

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Cube Trike Hybrid Review: The details

Pros
A very reasonable price for the trike’s engineering detail, more so now there’s £1,000 off
About as comfortable an experience for the kids and the rider as you’ll find
Bosch Cargo Line motor’s Auto function is all you need to get going
As trikes go, it handles very well, especially when loaded.
Really impressive spec sheet and accessory build quality
Turning circle better than expected
Decent size battery at 750Wh

Cons
Off bike, it can be hard to handle in tight spaces, or where there are steps (use walk mode)
You’ll need to know your route before you set off because one bit of dodgy UK infrastructure and you’ll have to turn round (which isn’t Cube’s fault)
Chain runs a little noisy
Prone to scuffs on bumper showing
75kg

Features
Detachable, waterproof, full rain cover
Detachable childseats
Pivoting chassis that keeps rear end balanced as front pivots into turns
Gravity cast aluminium chassis
‘One size’ fits all concept (1.6m to 1.9m)
Downtube storage
Dual battery possibility
EPP Foam box with metal bars
Custom parking brake

Specs
24-inch front wheel, 20-inch rear (x2)
750Wh battery
Bosch Cargo Line Mid motor gen 4
Bosch PowerTube 750 battery
Will take two kids of up to 125cm high (dependent on body type)
SR Suntour MOBIE 34 cargo fork (100mm)
Enviolo cargo stepless gearing
KMC 3mm, 18t cassette and KMC chain
Tektro Auriga Twin+ HD-E745 with parking lock mechanism (180/160)
Cube stem, handlebar, rims, hubs, pedals
Schwalbe Pick-up tyres
Supernova T-M99 rear light, ACID Pro-E front light
ACID mudguards

Cube Trike Hybrid review: Our test

The Cube Trike Hybrid works as both a hauler for a pair of children and, with the seats removed easily via a pair of pull cords, also as an open plan cargo bike. As such, our first test was with two toddlers. Sure they cried at first, but once we got going they asked our parent to go faster. That, then, is a decent endorsement right off the bat from the important cargo.

Separately, in view of the kind of cycle that this is, we didn’t shoot for all out distance, rather variety of real world terrain. That means tackling the shoddy nature of great British infrastructure, doing a bit of weaving in and around tight spots, pushing the 75kg of trike up a few steep and long hills and seeing how far we could go uninterrupted on a typical ride before hitting an immovable object at which a cycle would fit, but we would have to turn around.

This is, unfortunately, a test in England, not a test in Holland on pristine bike paths, so part of our Cube Hybrid Trike review is understanding how relevant this bike is for our domestic market.

The need to knows

To own any trike you’ll likely need to know your route well in order to navigate efficiently

Designing a trike is no simple task. Your objective is to create something that is well balanced, carries the load well on different segments of the bike, doesn’t lift off in the corners or bumps and generally to steer predictably.

To achieve all of the above Cube partnered with BMW to create a front and rear end that are somewhat independent of one another. The front end pivots on a rolling rotational bar down the middle of the bike, while the rear end remains on two wheels, tracking without any of its own steer.

Looking at the trike, you’d think the turning circle would be awful, but as a result of this clever innovation it can actually turn almost on the spot, making it all the more acceptable an experience when you do hit a tight spot where it’s not possible to pass. At least you won’t have to reverse for hundreds of metres to navigate a narrow path, should you encounter one of those annoying pinch barriers that are fairly common on Sustrans routes. They’re often there to prevent motor vehicles entering, but occasionally they will too stop a cargo bike, or a parent with a stroller.

Nonetheless, a bit of advice we’d be negligent to omit is the planning required to own a trike of any kind. You’ll really need to know your route and so we again recommend taking up your bike shop on a test ride so that you can make that judgement in advance.

The very same would apply to handling this bike around the home. For example, to get the trike into my own storage, I had no choice but to roll over a flowerbed to meet my back gate at the right angle to pass. It’s not to say that the bike is wide, it’s only 74cm in width, but it is long at 220cm. The upside is that this is an all-in-one solution to kid carrying, so no need to buy a trailer, though of course they are detachable. If your property has steps, I would have to say this trike is a no go down to its weight, unless you can lay down some wood if the steps are not steep.

Cube Trike Hybrid review: Loading it with cargo

The aforementioned endorsement from the children is probably the first thing you’ll want to hear about if you’re considering buying this Trike. Next up is the parent’s view, one I’m not qualified to give, but in organising our print magazine cover shoot I’d decided to watch and listen closely to the model and parent’s reaction. Comments ranged ‘It just picks up instantly, you don’t need to think about it at all’, in reference to the Bosch Cargo Line motor, through to ‘it handles really well’ as a general point as we rinse and repeated the many necessary passes to get a cover image.

In aiming to replicate the experience for my own test, I’d whipped out the childseats using the two pullcords, a process that took only seconds and instead loaded the rear with heavy items like a 24 can drinks pack and my own luggage. There was one notable frustration in securing down that cargo, the EPP box doesn’t have any internal fixings or sub-storage compartments. The space, really, is built for the kids with the bonus that you can use it for shopping, if you’re willing to suss out securing loads yourself. Not impossible, but difficult without fasteners of some kind built in.

As I say, the kids will be alright. The removable seating is really very well considered and each child is locked into place by a multi-point safety harness that secures centrally via a really easy to use magnetic Fidlock clasp that takes only seconds to understand. Looking around the chassis, which is made from a lightweight but robust EPP foam, it’s further built out with metal roll bars, which inside the cover are coated in a soft foam to stop kids hurting fingers or bumping heads. If you want to learn more about how safe cargo bike boxes are, we wrote about that recently.

The rain cover and the chassis construction is actually very good in that the details are well thought out and the lift of the lid is supported by a gas strut that hold the roof open while you’re loading. Another example is the two release buttons are very easy to click closed and open, with one side lockable with the supplied key. Inside, the dimensions measure 60cm length ways and 53.5cm across, which sounds tight and certainly two toddlers will be sitting shoulder to shoulder, but it’s enough.

There’s venting in the footplate and sides of the cover, the latter of which seals down or rolls up with velcro securing it either way. There’s little chance of condensation inside as a result and otherwise the cover is total, rather than partial, as we have found on other cargo bikes built for kids. What good is a rain cover if the kids still get wet feet and are cold quickly?

I’d have like to have seen the narrow space behind the childseat put to some use, but if you need it there is at least an open slimline section that would tuck kids jackets down the back of. Cube’s ACID brand does actually make a five litre accessory bag for holding extra kit, sold separately, that attaches to the very rear of the trike. You can too bolt on a front carrier to the headtube, which will add 20kg in carriage capacity where you can see it.

Oh, and finally on storage, that’s not a battery in the downtube, it is in fact a storage compartment. Both battery instalments (you get one, but can add another) are underneath the cargo hold.

The components, engineering and final thoughts

Able to take up to 190kg, inclusive of the rider, bike and cargo weight, the gravity cast aluminium chassis feels extremely well built. Cargo bikes of any kind simply have to be, or they go the way of Babboe. The extra forces bikes carry when loaded up with weight is no joke and so I had a good look underneath the Cube Trike Hybrid during the course of my review to see how the tilting mechanism works and whether it’ll take a few unplanned bumps.

Underneath the tilting section hosts a clever dual chain system that runs either side of an adapted gearbox. Behind that, the system drives both wheels, something achieved as a result of a constant velocity joint and differential. Sounds automotive, it is borrowed and it allows each wheel to drive independently. All of this is very well enclosed, so as to be as protected and maintenance free as possible.

Without the Enviolo stepless gearing system I don’t think this would be half the trike that it is, really it’s required to give the system the convenience and strength to cope with the task at hand. I had one minor niggle with it, in that the collar on the handlebar didn’t feel perfectly engineered or tight, but nonetheless it worked flawlessly and the system made climbing really very straightforward and very deliberately I did hit a handful of hills.

I had expected, in the reverse, descending direction that the brakes would not be as good as they were. The rotors were smaller than I’d anticipated, but ultimately the Tektro system did its job and I felt assured at speed. There is a specially built ‘hand brake’ system, that locks with a clutch, to support the trike when you’re parked up. This takes some getting used to, but the instructions are printed on the lever so you can’t really be confused for too long.

Components that I found to be particularly strong ranged from the well-built and quite plush SR Suntour Cargo fork chosen, through to the ergonomic grips that support your forearm and reduce fatigue as you ride.

On the software side, I did particularly like the way the gearing communicated with the Bosch computer, telling me when to shift up or down to support the motor’s efforts and, ultimately, help conserve battery.

I did not have any major concerns about the battery either. A 750Wh cell is, or was, Bosch’s upper end until recently and you can fit two into this bike, though only one comes as standard. This is never going to be a bike that you ride huge distances on. Sure, you might be out all day, but this is ultimately a family vehicle, for riding to the park, or along the canal (though you’ll need to pull over often to let people pass). I rather enjoyed a low and slow cadence, taking time just to potter around and take in the environment. As a parent there’s big value in that alone.

What else might I have liked to see? Perhaps something of a suspension system in the rear end, whether an elastomer or a leaf spring, but not only would that add cost and weight, it’d be another structural point for the engineers to consider. I understand why the back end is firm, so all I’d say is don’t hit any bumps too hard at speed with the cargo hold unloaded. It can catch a small amount of air if you do, but I don’t expect most parents would be trying or able to achieve this.

The Bosch package is overall excellent. I can’t fault the motor’s assistance and on the fly adaptation. There’s manual on/off lighting and a bunch of smart system software features to tap into if you want to enhance the anti-theft, or adapt the ride to your preferences.