CUBE ATTENTION SL
Cube’s budget hardtail’s got some eye-grabbing features but is its Attention worthy of yours?
For a bike that’s had a very recent overhaul, the 2022 Cube Attention SL manages to keep one foot firmly planted in the past. Yes, it has a lightweight alloy frame, trendy tan-wall tyres, a remote lockout for the air-sprung Rockshox fork and a cutting edge 1x Shimano drivetrain with a widerange 10-51t cassette. Dig into the numbers, however, and the bike instantly seems dated.
The 445mm chainstay measurement is considerably longer than the reach, even on the size Large. So the weight distribution will be even more negatively skewed towards the front end of the bike on the size Medium. And with sizespecific chainstay lengths becoming increasingly popular on hardtails, Cube really missed an opportunity to get out in front of its rivals here. Also, given that plenty of 29er full-suspension bikes come with stays as short as 435mm, there’s really no excuse for longer stays on a modern 29er hardtail, unless of course it’s intentional on the bigger frame sizes. Thankfully the two smallest Attention SL frame sizes use 27.5in wheels and get shorter 427mm chainstays.
It’s a similar story at the front end of the bike. And even if we ignore the rather truncated 427mm reach on the size Large, is there really any place for a steep 69.1° head angle on a hardtail in 2022? Given that the BMC Fourstoke, a bike that took Tom Pidcock to Olympic XC gold, is the best part of 3° slacker, and hardtails needs to be even slacker to achieve the same dynamic geometry as full-suspension bikes, the answer has to be a resounding no.
Now, I’m not saying that every hardtail needs to be a hardcore hardtail, far from it. I’m merely highlighting the fact that not even XC bikes have geometry similar to the Cube. So if the Cube isn’t an XC hardtail, what is it? Well, the kickstand mount on the non-driveside dropout speaks volumes to its intended use. So does the narrow 680mm handlebar that makes it ideal for ducking in and out of traffic. It also makes the cockpit feel even more cramped and had me hanging my hands off the end of the grips to gain some extra leverage and keep the front
£1,149 • 29in • cube.eu
Dig into the numbers and the bike seems dated