Cube Litening SLR Cycle 08
Cube have updated their road bike range for 2009 and there's now a couple of models above the previously top-of-the-range Litening. The Carbon Litening SLR is produced using a twin-mold process, which neither the Cube boys nor the hastily-translated Cube brochure were adequately able to explain, save for the fact that it's some kind of quality control process that's supposed to iron out weak spots in the carbon. Anyhow, the bike is available in builds from £2799 to £5499, though only the top spec gets the integrated seat tube as pictured, they lop it off for the rest. 
Also new is the Titanium Litening Super, which comes in 3/2.5 and 6/4 flavours. It's pretty rare to see a full 6/4 bike, especially one with triple butted stays and a main frame that's made from folded sheets that are welded so neatly that it's almost impossible to see the join. Both of the frames are made by Ti-masters Linsky and the Super Record equipped 6/4 bike weighs in at a svelte 6.6kg, we're told - we couldn't weigh it as it was zip tied to the stand to stop johnny consumer picking it up and scratching the seatstay on the wing nut through the crank! At £2499 the 3/2.5 bike is, if not exactly cheap, then reasonable for a hand-worked Ti bike. There's nothing reasonable at all about about the 6/4 Litening Super's £7999 price tag, which reflects just how hard it is to build a whole bike out of the harder metal.
Dave is a founding father of road.cc and responsible for kicking the server when it breaks. In a previous life he was a graphic designer but he's also a three-time Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling world champion, and remains unbeaten through the bog. Dave rides all sorts of bikes but tends to prefer metal ones. He's getting old is why.