CUBE AGREE C:62 RACE DISC £2499

It’s as 2018 as a road bike can be

This Cube Agree encapsulates pretty much all that is on trend: dropped seatstays, tapered head-tube, allround endurance geometry with aero flourishes, disc brakes and wide tyres. It’s ready for Shimano Di2, and looks poised and powerful in its understated black-and-white colour scheme.

The components

The Shimano Ultegra hydraulic setup has a wide-ranging 11-32 cassette, 12mm thru-axles and 160mm rotors. In typical German style the Newmen carbon handlebar – unusual at this price – has flattened tops for extra comfort, with more plushness coming from the 28mm tyres. The quality kit also keeps the bike light for the money.

The geometry and ride

The endurance geometry is similar to the well-liked Cannondale Synapse’s, though the Cube has a lower stack figure [vertical distance between the bottom bracket and head-tube] and a longer, more stable wheelbase. The Agree is comfortable, climbs superbly and descends rapidly, the excellent discs allowing you to brake later into hairpins. You could ride this all day over almost any terrain without complaint, and at a decent pace.

ONE THING WE’D CHANGE Seat clamp bolt

It’s a small thing and probably only costs a few pence, but a harder, higherquality bolt would not have been so easily stripped. We used a torque wrench, as always, so there was no damage to the frame, but this seems to be the only shortcut on an otherwise very well-specced bike with a top ride.