Finally got to ride my Cube!

For most of you, I guess yesterday was Valentine's Day... for us though, it was our daughter's 11th birthday! It was also the day that the bikes which have been hiding in our neighbours garage got revealed... she got her Trek Skye S (which she was seriously chuffed with) and I – finally – got to ride the Cube Attention (bought from fellow CC'er Larry theLoafer a few weeks ago)

We both had massive grins on our faces as we headed up to and round Gartmorn Dam Country Park – I was proud of how well she managed with the hilly bits and squelchy muddy bits given this was her first proper MTB 'expedition'. She'll get the hang of being in the right gear with a bit more practice I reckon, and maybe next time I'll show her how to wash, clean and lube after a muddy trip... I let her off as it was her birthday

Apart from the fact that I need to get SPD's on the Cube pronto, the back brake needs serviced and the gears weren't indexing properly, I'm chuffed too (or perhaps "stoked" is a more appropriate expression!). Back on the Flight this morning for the commute, but looking forward to the weekend

By 'eck that Cube stirs a memory or two. By a great bit of coincidence (or is it synchronicity?) it was an 11th birthday present as well! Cubester fell in love with it in the shop and couldn't be swayed. He sacrificed Christmas presents so he could own it. Still looks to be in fine fettle.

Crikey... didn't realise I was riding a kids bike LOL! Having finally got to ride it, I'm delighted with the Cube, and although it needs a spot of routine maintenance now, it was clearly "enjoyed" by your son... I don't think any of the battle-scars are Larry's doing

Tell Cubester that his old pride and joy is now my pride and joy, and I intend to enjoy riding it and not polishing it (although I'll do a spot of that too )

your right there mate i never used it as much as i was going to pleased its gone to a better place and gets used for what it was built for

ps great looking bike ..

Cheers Larry

very very nice bike!

Thanks Fran I am, as they say, a very happy bunny

Wasn't a full-on blast yesterday, but my daughter and I riding round the Dam with the sun shining and hills in the background was just the perfect first ride with the Cube! Not only is it a nice looking bike, it's light, responsive (feels better than how I remember my old Trek 6500) and a hoot to ride. SPD's shall be ordered tonight, and I'm going to pop it in to the LBS for a once over tomorrow to deal with the rear brake and poor indexing so everything's tickety-boo for the weekend

thats brilliant! Glad you are happy with it and enjoying your time out riding out with your daughter, Iam just saving up very very hard at the moment for my On One 456 Carbon, and I mean saving hard..setting e back £1500, and wont be getting it for a few good months yet, but I cant wait!

I noticed the other thread... that On One 456 Carbon looks awesome – I'm sure you'll have fun on that

The Cube is being lined up as my "fun and family" bike. Given that I'm doing a round-trip 28.5 mile commute 5 days a week (on a Ridgeback Flight), I'm not sure if I'll want to go out every night for some off-road fun, but I do hope to get out with the kids at the weekend (and maybe even persuade my wife to get on a bike too). Apart from our eldest on her shiny "new" ex-hire Trek, I also got a tag-a-long for her wee sister who's 4... She got a shot at being towed for the first time yesterday too. What a hoot! She wasn't sure for the first 50yds, but after that it was "whhheeeeeee.... faster dad!" all the way . Not only that, but I stopped pedalling at one point and could feel her pushing me... priceless.

cool ! sounds like you and kids are having great fun, definately try and get your wife out biking too,Iam sure she will enjoy it immensely. I have only been cycling for nearly a year now, and am getting really into mountain biking. I dont want to do all that crazy stuff they do on the trails - I just want to prove to myself that I can do the trails and feel confident and enjoy doing it.

It's all about having fun and enjoying it... no crazy stuff here either (yet) and I'm sure you'll get on fine on those trails

My old Trek was pretty much unused and languished in the shed, except for a few summer rides. Last year (well, November 2010 to be precise) I started on a "lifestyle change", with the aim of getting back on a bike once I'd lost a bit of weight having enjoyed pootling about on a hard-tail when I was a teenager. Cue a few rides in May, and I'd got the bug again, decided I wanted to commute (save money, stay fit, maintain "new me" weight) and thought a road-oriented bike was the answer.

I regretted selling from the Trek the moment it was loaded into the chap's boot (posted here before about that), but had I not sold it and bought the Flight, I doubt I'd have covered the miles I have since I started commuting last August – about 2,200 miles now. I feel fortunate to have been able to pick up the Cube as it will let me go off-road again (heck, I might even treat it to a commute or too!), and do some towpaths and light trails with the kids in tow (literally!). Hopefully I'll get a good few years out it before things start breaking or falling off! (Fingers crossed the trip to the LBS tomorrow doesn't throw up any unforeseen nasties )

enjoy!

He saw it in the photo today and got all reminiscent. As for being a kid's bike, well, he was 5'9" on his 11th birthday. He was amazed, as I was, that it even has the same tyres on as it did when we sold it, so Larry hasn't worn it out much.

Was only joking of course about it being a kids bike, but you were spot on about the 18" frame being the perfect size for me – it fits like a well-fitting glove From what Larry said, the condition of the Cube is pretty much as he bought it, and he only put a couple of hundred of miles on it, tops... The centre tread is showing signs of wear, but there's plenty life left in the tyres!

Back from the LBS, and it turns out that the poor indexing was a result of completely work jockey wheels - should've spotted that!! The chain was worn, and replacing it revealed a worn cassette too so a shiny new one had to be fitted. Thankfully new pads and a bleed sorted out the rear brake and new pins got rid of some of the play in the levers.

Could've been worse, and just routine maintenance really... the Cube now stops properly and the gear change is nice and slick!

Great service too from the guys at Flying Fox in Alva

Very nice bike, Mr Mac. By coincidence, I was at Gartmorn Dam yesterday and, as you said, there was a lot of squelchy mud once off the main track. A nice 30 mile round trip from home, first time out on the MTB for ages and it was great to cycle in cool, sunny weather (and to get back before the rain and gales started). Does the little visitor centre really open in April? It has the look of a permanently abandoned concrete bunker!

Cheers Hardrock Yep, fairly certain the "abandoned concrete bunker" does indeed open in April - I've seen it open, just never used the facilities myself!