Six years on the good old Giant Reign have come to an end. The bike has been great. In fact more than that. Incredible durability. Still the original wheels after six years of torture… But ok, it’s well used and meanwhile the technology in the bike industry has taken leaps ahead.

Thanks to the guys at Bikexpert I finally got myself a new mountain bike: the Cube Stereo 140 C:62, SL 29. All new in every sense. Going from aluminum to carbon, 26″ to 29″, 3×9 to 2×11 and one of the first 2016s to roll off the assembly line in Germany.

Rushing through the streets of Bucharest to pick it up after work

And of course the guys in the shop pulled off a prank, hiding it away saying it hadn’t arrived. But it was there!

Bigger wheels and bigger frame. Having tried last year’s model – thanks Martin! – I knew that a 22” frame would be IT, even though the idea of such a big frame freaked me out to start with

Good to know info:

I got my good old DX pedals mounted and everything adjusted in cockpit. Squeezed in the reverb lever. Might work, but integrated shifters/levers suck. Impossible to get the right position with my big hands.

Only upgrade so far: can’t ride without the Odi Rouge grips.

So here it is, ready for the first ride

New bike, sunshine and spring in the air! Would have loved to shred some technical stuff but it’s not around the corner and just got to go for a ride whatever. But spring it is!

First feeling is that everything just feels so right with the size, inspite of the 22” inch frame and 29” wheels.

It pops like a BMX and corners very well. Hard to tell more at this stage – gotta go for the big stuff as soon as possible to find out how it really handles.

At least I got the first small splashes of mud on it

Short edit also:

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