{"id":37159,"date":"2022-05-19T13:46:44","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T11:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/?p=678884"},"modified":"2022-05-19T14:01:14","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T12:01:14","slug":"is-cube-about-to-launch-a-new-lightweight-aero-road-bike","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/rss_feed\/is-cube-about-to-launch-a-new-lightweight-aero-road-bike\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Cube about to launch a new lightweight aero road bike?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By George Scott\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 19 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Is Cube about to launch a new top-tier road bike? That appears to be the case, with the Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty-Gobert Mat\u00e9riaux team riding an unreleased model at the 2022 Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n

The Litening C:68X SLT aero bike<\/a> is the Dutch team\u2019s go-to machine, but we\u2019ve spotted a number of the Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty-Gobert Mat\u00e9riaux team riding what looks, on the face of it, to be a slimmed-down version of Cube\u2019s aero road bike.<\/p>\n

We first saw Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty-Gobert Mat\u00e9riaux on this bike ahead of the 2021 Tour de France<\/a> and, with UCI article 1.3.006 stating \u201ccommercialization will take place no later than 12 months after the first use in competition\u201d, an official launch is likely to be imminent.<\/p>\n

Aero-lite<\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Biniam Girmaye (left) riding the existing Cube Litening C:68X SLT and Lo\u00efc Vliegen (right) riding the new bike on stage four.<\/span><\/figcaption> Zac Williams \/ SWPix.com<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

The Litening has been a familiar name in the Cube line-up for more than a decade and the latest version, the C:68X, was launched with disc brakes and an aero makeover in 2019.<\/p>\n

Cube\u2019s new bike at the Giro d\u2019Italia sports a fairly similar shape, with a Kammtail-profiled down tube, elongated seat tube, aero seatpost and deep head tube, but dials each back.<\/p>\n

For example, there\u2019s no aero-profiled junction between the seat tube and top tube and, while the seat tube itself still sports a wind-cheating shape and dropped seatstays, it\u2019s not as deep as the existing Litening, nor does the cutaway hug the rear wheel as closely.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Jan Hirt is among the Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty-Gobert Mat\u00e9riaux riders on the new bike, which sports slim aero tube profiles.<\/span><\/figcaption> Tim de Waele \/ Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

The fork and the down tube are also significantly slimmer, though all cables are still run internally, as we\u2019d expect from any top-tier bike.<\/p>\n

While we don\u2019t know the name of the new bike and, as yet, there\u2019s nothing on the UCI\u2019s list of approved frames and forks, we\u2019d hazard a guess that this is Cube\u2019s take on a lightweight-aero mash-up.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll have to wait and see whether this new bike will be an addition to the Litening range, or a new model altogether.<\/p>\n

Dedicated aero road bikes<\/a> have, to some degree, had their day in the pro peloton, with the convergence between lightweight and aerodynamics offering a sweet spot that appeals to many riders. Think of WorldTour bikes<\/a> such as the Pinarello Dogma F<\/a>, Specialized Tarmac SL7<\/a> and Trek Emonda SLR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For now, we\u2019ve seen Jan Hirt, Rein Taaram\u00e4e and Lo\u00efc Vliegen on the new bike at the Giro d\u2019Italia, though Biniam Girmay\u2019s stage-10 victory for the team came on the Litening C:68X.<\/p>\n

Aero jockey wheels and tubeless tyres<\/h2>\n
\""Biniam\"<\/picture><\/div>
Girmay was riding Cube\u2019s existing Litening C:68X SLT aero bike when he outsprinted Mathieu van der Poel to win stage 10.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Tim de Waele \/ Getty Images<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Biniam\"<\/picture><\/div>
However, Girmay was forced to withdraw from the race after being struck in the eye by a Prosecco cork.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Luca Bettini \/ Getty Images<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

Girmay\u2019s bike, incidentally, was equipped with CeramicSpeed\u2019s unreleased, aero-shrouded jockey wheel system<\/a> for the stage-four ascent of Mount Etna, though the \u2018standard\u2019 OSPW design was in place on stage 10.<\/p>\n

The team has also embraced tubeless tyre technology, with Continental Grand Prix 5000S TR tyres<\/a> fitted to Newman wheels.<\/p>\n

Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty-Gobert Mat\u00e9riaux have enjoyed a remarkable season to date, with Girmay, in particular, enjoying a breakout campaign following victory in Gent-Wevelgem and five top-five finishes in Italy before winning stage 10 and, in the process, becoming the first black African winner of a Grand Tour stage.<\/p>\n

However, Girmay\u2019s race came to an abrupt end after he was struck in the eye with a Prosecco cork during the post-stage victory presentation, forcing the 22-year-old Eritrean to withdraw.<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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By George Scott Published: Thursday, 19 May 2022 at 12:00 am Is Cube about to launch a new top-tier road bike? That appears to be the case, with the Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty-Gobert Mat\u00e9riaux team riding an unreleased model at the 2022 Giro d\u2019Italia. The Litening C:68X SLT aero bike is the Dutch team\u2019s go-to machine, but we\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":37160,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/is-cube-about-to-launch-a-new-lightweight-aero-road-bike-scaled.jpg",2560,1710,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/is-cube-about-to-launch-a-new-lightweight-aero-road-bike-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/is-cube-about-to-launch-a-new-lightweight-aero-road-bike-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/is-cube-about-to-launch-a-new-lightweight-aero-road-bike-768x513.jpg",768,513,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/is-cube-about-to-launch-a-new-lightweight-aero-road-bike-1024x684.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/is-cube-about-to-launch-a-new-lightweight-aero-road-bike-1536x1026.jpg",1536,1026,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/is-cube-about-to-launch-a-new-lightweight-aero-road-bike-2048x1368.jpg",2048,1368,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By George Scott Published: Thursday, 19 May 2022 at 12:00 am Is Cube about to launch a new top-tier road bike? That appears to be the case, with the Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty-Gobert Mat\u00e9riaux team riding an unreleased model at the 2022 Giro d\u2019Italia. The Litening C:68X SLT aero bike is the Dutch team\u2019s go-to machine, but we\u2019ve…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/37159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}