Cube Acid Hybrid ONE 400 29er 2019 electric mountain bike

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First impressions

As far as Bosch-powered electric mountain bikes go, the Cube Acid Hybrid One 400 represents excellent value for money at £1699. Having previously ridden and reviewed the hybrid version of this bike, my exceptions were high.

At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be a lot to distinguish the mountain bike from the hybrid version. In fact, apart from the frame, forks and tyres both these bikes share a lot of identical components. From the Shimano MT200 hydraulic brakes through to the Bosch mid-drive electric motor and battery pack.

Cube Cross Hybrid ONE 400 2019 Electric Bike vs Cube Acid Hybrid ONE 400 Electric Mountain Bike

The Bike

For those of you familiar with Cube, you will be aware of their mountain bike heritage. The excellent Agile Ride frame geometry gives the Acid Hybrid ONE easy, intuitive handling that is predictable and safe.

The 2020 model of this bike is now available, there have been minor tweaks here and there but the overall specification remains the same.

The front forks are the entry-level Suntour XCM, with 100mm of travel. These are the kind of forks you would usually find on a £400 mountain bike. They are absolutely fine as long as you are aware of their limitations and don’t attempt any heroics! This bike is definitely aimed at the commuter or weekend rider, who does some casual off-road riding.

If you want an all-weather commuter, then there are provisions to mount a rear rack and mudguards – the front forks have a fixing point for SKS mudguard stays.

cube acid hybrid one 400 electric mountain bike 2020 model

The components on this bike are all fairly typical of a mountain bike in the £350 – £500 price range. The chainset is an FSA 38t with a Shimano 11-34 9-speed rear cassette, served by a Shimano RD-M2000-SGS, rear derailleur. The gear shifter is a Shimano SL-M2000, which works absolutely perfectly and provides crisp, precise shifting.

The brakes are Shimano MT200 hydraulic brakes, with a 180mm disc rotor front and rear. The wheels are Cube’s own brand ZX20 32h rims with Shimano HB and FH-TX505 hubs.

Tyres are the excellent Schwalbe Tough Tom 2.25 x 29, and are suitable for multiple surfaces, from rough gravel tracks to tarmac. These tyres offer a reasonable level of puncture resistance and should be fine for everyday use. The only issue with these tyres is the increased rolling resistance when on the tarmac – if most of my riding was done on the road, I would be tempted to swap them out for some more road-friendly tyres.

cube acid hybrid one 400 29er electric mountain bike

The centrepiece of this bike is the excellent Bosch Active Plus mid-drive electric motor. As I have stated in previous reviews, the way these motors produce electric assist is very subtle and intuitive.  The Bosch motor uses a combination of torque and cadence sensors to deliver the required assistance. The torque sensor measures how much force is being applied to the pedals and the cadence sensor measures pedalling rpm. This helps to produce what can only be described as an enhanced cycling experience.

Bosch has fine-tuned this motor, and pedalling past the 15 mph (25 km/h) limit is not as arduous as it used to be. The transition from electric assist to human pedal power is a lot smoother, and there seems to be significantly less pedalling resistance than the mid-drive motors of a few years ago.

The Bosch Purion Display is a fairly basic affair, but it gives you all the information you really need, such as battery level, speed, distance and power assist level. As with other Bosch motors, this gives you four different levels of pedal assist ranging from just a little (Eco mode) through to full power (turbo mode). The battery range will vary greatly depending on how much and how often you use the assist. It will also be affected by your weight and the kind of terrain you are riding on.

The 400wh (watt hours) Bosch battery has an approximate manufacturer’s range of 50 miles (80 km). However, using the 20wh per mile calculation (assuming power was on constantly) you would be looking at around 20 miles. I would say an average range of between 25-40 miles would be about right.

Cube Acid Hybrid ONE 400 29er 2019 electric mountain bike close-up

Mountain bike or Hybrid?

There isn’t a lot to choose from between the Cube Acid One 400 and the Cube Cross Hybrid One 400. For me personally, the mountain bike version has a slightly better specification than the hybrid for exactly the same price. If the choice were mine, I would be inclined to buy the mountain bike and fit some hybrid tyres.

The frame geometry of the hybrid is more relaxed than the mountain bike, so if you were commuting on the tarmac over a longer distance, I would go for the hybrid. It really boils down to what you are going to use it for.

Conclusion

The Cube Acid One 400 is an excellent entry-level electric mountain bike, and at £1699 is not overly expensive. Given the slightly better specification than the hybrid, and the better off-road riding credentials, I think it’s the better buy. But, as I have stated above. If you are planning on longer days in the saddle, and not venturing too far off the beaten track, then maybe the hybrid would be better suited.

It is hard to find fault in this bike, as long as you are not looking for a full-blown off-road machine for blasting down rocky trails, then you should be fine. This bike is at home on light trails and country lanes.

The forks are okay, as long as you accept their limitations, the saddle is comfortable enough and everything works as it should. The brakes are okay (but not brilliant) and the gears shift nicely. As with the hybrid version, I believe Cube should have fitted an 11-36 rear cassette, as opposed to an 11-34. But that is just my personal opinion.

All in all a great entry-level electric mountain bike, and well worth the price.

Specification (2020 Model)

Features:

  • Frame:  Aluminium Super Lite, Advanced hydroforming, Agile Ride Geometry, Double butted, tapered head tube, internal cable routing, full Integrated Battery, Kickstand / Fender / Carrier Mounting Points
  • Fork: SR Suntour XCM ATB Coil, 100mm
  • Headset:  FSA Orbit 1.5B ZS-R, Top Zero stack 1 1/8 “(44mm OD) Bottom Zero stack 1 1/2” (56mm OD)
  • Stem: Cube Performance Stem Pro, 31.8mm
  • Handlebar: Cube Rise Trail Bar, 700mm
  • Grips:  Cube Performance Grip
  • Rear Derailleur:  Shimano Deore RD-M592-SGS, 9-speed
  • Shifters:  Shimano SL-M2010-9R, Rapidfire Plus
  • Brakes:  Shimano BR-MT200, Hydraulic Disc Brake (180/180)
  • Crankset: FSA CK-602, 38T, 175mm
  • Cassette: Shimano CS-HG201, 11-36T
  • Chain:  KMC X9
  • Wheelset: Cube EX23, 32H, Disc, Tubeless-Ready
  • Tyres:  Schwalbe Smart Sam, K-Guard, 2.35
  • Pedals: Cube PP MTB
  • Saddle:  Natural Fit Sequence
  • Seatpost: Cube Performance Post, 30.9mm
  • Battery: Bosch PowerPack 400
  • Power Unit: Bosch Drive Unit Performance Generation 3 (65Nm) Cruise (250Watt)
  • Display: Bosch Kiox
  • Charger: Bosch 2A
  • Weight: 22.1kg

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5 Comments

  1. I too have been looking at this bike and according to Bosch, the 2020 Active plus motor get much better range than the performance series so keep that in mind.
    Also there do no appear to be any mounting holes for a normal rack and the Cube rack has a super long curved mounting piece that appears to run down to the top of the motor so you may have to settle for their rack unless you bodge up mounting clips

  2. Hello,

    Nice review and a website overall. I am thinking of buying e-bike to use for food delivery, therefore mileage is factor number one for me. I am considering between two options:

    1. This kind of e-bike – branded (probably Cube or Raleigh), Bosch motor (I think a bit better than Yamaha) and 400Wh or 500 Wh battery.
    Pros: no hassle of assembling a bike, reputable manufacturer, supposedly better service.
    Cons: price (higher than if I assemble an e-bike myself), it seems I can’t find easily the same battery to use as a spare (I will travel 50-60 miles) and even if there’s one it will be expensive (probably twice the price compared to AliExpress)

    2. Assemble a bike myself – buying new hybrid bike for around 400£ (Tredz, Halfords or any other place doesn’t matter) and fitting Bafang 250W mid-drive motor and 17.5 Ah battery (600£ for everything found in AliExpress).
    Pros: cheaper, easier to find spare parts, especially a 2nd battery
    Cons: a bit unsure about how I’m gonna fit the motor (definitely will need help with removing the bottom bracket as I have no tools for that), parts reliability (Bosch seems better on paper).

    What would be your advice if you’re to have an e-bike that needs to travel up to 80 miles a day (preferably at high assist mode as I need speed for food delivery)

    p.s. I had for a short while NCM Prague 250w rear hub motor with 13Ah battery. I wasn’t happy with the range which would be enough for just 25-30 miles so I sold it after 3 months of use

    1. Hi,

      Thank you, i’m glad you like my website.

      Due to the daily mileage you will be covering, I would personally go for a ready made e-bike, but as you have mentioned, spare battery packs are very expensive at approximately £450 for a Bosch 400wh battery.

      Although Bosch motors are very reliable, they are not without their problems. If you buy from a reputable vendor, there should be a good warranty with the bike. But if there are any issues after the warranty has expired Bosch motors are notoriously expensive to repair, and Bosch will only supply replacement parts to registered dealers.

      Bafang are good motors, but their long-term reliability is questionable. I have recently fitted two Bafang mid-drive motors for Deliveroo and Uber eats riders and one of those customers is already on his second controller. Both these conversions used a Hailong case 36v 20.4ah battery and ranges of nearly 100 miles have been reported.

      Regarding removing of the bottom bracket, you could take your bike to a local bike shop. Sometimes they are easy to remove other times they can be a nightmare to remove, even if you have the right tools.

      Out of all the Bafang motors I have installed the 36v 250w definitely seems to be the most reliable, but it would be a good idea to have some spare parts available (controller, speed sensor).

      The other issue with the Bafang BBS motor is it can have a tendency to work its way loose in the bottom bracket and it may need to be periodically tightened. The Bafang tool is fairly cheap and can be purchased off Aliexpress or Amazon.

      A good donor bike for a Bafang conversion would be the Giant Roam 2 (currently available from Tredz at £439)– I have just installed a Bafang motor on to one of these bikes and it was a very straightforward conversion. I will post a YouTube video of the bike tomorrow evening.

      If you need any more advice, please let me know.

      All the best,
      Tony

      1. Thanks for the prompt answer.

        Then I plan to buy this Cube (or the similar Cross Hybrid: https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cube-Cross-Hybrid-One-400-2019-Electric-Hybrid-Bike_200317.htm

        But I will definitely need to buy straight from the start a spare battery so I can ride at least 1 full day of work (7-8 hours avg 7-8 miles per hour).

        Is this website: https://www.bike-discount.de/en/shop/bosch-9674 good for buying Bosch battery or probably you know another one? And which model exactly I will need for this Cube frame: I guess Powertube horizontal although I’m not completely sure.

        Cheers

        1. The Cube battery is specific to that frame / model, so the other Bosch batteries wouldn’t be compatible. I have done some research and it looks like you can only get the spare battery pack from Cube. The only thing I can suggest is contacting Tredz to see if they can provide an additional battery at the point of sale.

          The Haibike SDURO Cross 1.0 uses a standard Bosch battery and is currently on offer at Tredz (but only in a medium frame).

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