by liquid-life Hero Julian Bauer
At the beginning of April, the time had finally come for the team presentation of the liquid-life Heroes
we got the new bikes for the season. I was really looking forward to finally being able to try out a 29 inch bike. Up until then I had only ridden 26 inch bikes.
The first visual impression is good, the frame color and the components match each other. Now all that's left is to get the technical side of the bike right. The first test ride definitely convinced me, despite the larger wheels, the Cube Reaction GTC SL is agile to steer and the comfort provided by the larger wheels is clearly noticeable. Root passages that I could previously only ride standing up, I can now manage sitting down with this bike. TheFox 32 Float suspension fork can be optimally adjusted to the rider and the terrain thanks to the various adjustment options, and this can even be done while riding with a lever on the fork crown. The Formula RC Tune, specially made for Cube, also impresses with its good braking power and controllability. An important feature of this brake is that the lever width and pressure point can be adjusted without tools.
The Shimano XT gear system was converted for us to 2×10 gears instead of 3×10 gears.
So far it has been shifting without any problems, even hard gear changes in the mud during a race are no problem. However, there is one negative point: in a lot of mud, 2.25-width tires no longer work optimally because there is too little space between the chain stays. It is therefore recommended to swap the installed 2.25 tires for 2.1 tires. In summary, the Cube Reaction GTC SL is really recommended; it is very robust with a good weight and offers a real racing feeling. Of course, it can always be lighter, but you also have to consider the durability/rigidity and price of the components.
Link: The liquid-life Heroes Cube Reaction GTC SL in our shop
