Just in: Cube Peloton in £599 Shimano Claris spec arrives for testing

We’ve tested a few Cube road bikes on road.cc over the years, but they’ve never been what you would describe as affordable. The Peloton range is that though, a line of affordable models priced from £599, which is the bike we've got here, a Shimano Claris specced model. Before it hits the road, let’s take a look at the details.

The Peloton range consists of five bikes, starting with our £599 model and rising to £999 for the Peloton SL. They all use the same aluminium frame, a double butted 6061 tubeset with a profiled down tube, tapered head tube and ovalised ‘Aero Flex’ seat stays. There are no mudguard eyelets, so it’s clip-on mudguards only if you want to fit some.

It’s a smart looking frame and the smooth welds add to the appealing appearance. Some past Cube paint jobs have been a bit ‘out there’ but the company has reined in its creativity with this bike, and it works well as a result. There’s nice splash of colour on the frame, and the colour matched wheels and finishing kit is a nice touch. Still, looks are subjective, that’s just my opinion.

Cables are internally routed, like you find on top-end road bikes, and there are 3D forged dropouts. Married to the aluminium frame is a CSL carbon fibre fork with a tapered steerer tube. The tapered steerer tube is a rare sight at this price. Cube is certainly packing a lot of technology into its entry-level bikes, there are details here you don’t often see on bikes at this price, and it’s good to see Cube clearly paying such attention to its cheaper bikes, which can often feel as though they’ve been overlooked.

Cube has made a subtle, but quite critical, change to the Peloton frame for 2015. The head tube is now 20mm taller, which will provide a higher handlebar position. The company has also expanded the size range and added a 47cm size, there are now eight sizes to choose from, extending all the way to 64cm.

In for test is a 56cm bike. That taller head tube is now on the money at 180mm for this sort of bike, so basically it’s a more relaxed and upright riding position. There’s a 545mm top tube which produces a compact position that won’t overstretch you, so it should be a comfortable bike.

Cube sizing is a little odd, in that if you want a conventional 560mm horizontal head tube, you have to upsize to the 58cm model. Elsewhere, the test bike has a 985mm wheelbase, 72 degree head angle and 73.5 degree seat angle, and a 69.5mm bottom bracket drop.

With the numbers out of the way, let’s have a look at the componentry. It’s a full sweep of Shimano Claris parts, including those parts often substituted to meet the price point, the chainset and brake calipers. Cube has fitted the bike with a triple chainset (50/39/30t) and the crank arm length is size-specific. Claris is a 16-speed groupset, and there are eight sprockets on the cassette in a 12-32 arrangement. Steep hills shouldn’t be a problem with the 30-32 lowest gear.

The rest of the components are all Cube branded. The wheels are called Cube RA 0.7 Aero and are an aluminium rim laced to smart looking hubs, and fitted with Continental Ultra Sport 25mm tyres - nice to see 25mm tyres fitted here as the bigger volume will provide more comfort and extra traction, and a reputable brand name in Conti too.

Cube also use its own-brand products for the finishing kit, with a Compact Race handlebar, Grip Control bar tape, RP 1.0 saddle, Performance Post in 31.6mm diameter and RFR Close seat clamp. Weight is a decent 9.9kg (21.82lb) so it sneaks in just under the 10kg mark.

The Cube Peloton has some stiff competition, and we outlined some of the main contenders in our 10 of the best £500 to £750 road bikes buyers guide recently, it's worth a read.

The Peloton is out on the road right now being put through the grinder, a full review will be coming soon.