Jimi1977

I recently picked up a Cube Nature 2014 for a very low price. I was wondering wether it was worth upgrading it.

I noticed that the spec that bikeroar gives is not what is on the bike. Not sure if it has been changed out but I doubt it as it seems like it would be a downgrade.

It has a 9 11/32 cassette with a long cage Deore LX M570. Just want to take things one step at a time so wondered if there was a better one than this that I could put on there?

cheers for any suggestions.
james

veganbikes

What is the end goal for the upgrade? What do you like and not like about the bike currently?

In the end Deore LX is SLX just slightly different names and eras. Basically LX became SLX though XT has kept the Deore nomenclature. It is good stuff essentially what 105 is to road bikes. 9 speed stuff is still good, I run plenty of it on various bikes with no issues.

If the bike is running well and you are enjoying it only swap out touch points to make it better or stuff that is worn out. If not working for you figure out what you want and we can help move you in the right direction. From what it looks like the bike is less of a mountain bike and more of a "trekking" bike which is common in Europe which is sort of a mountain hybrid which I think was kind of silly.

Personally if I want that I want wider tires and a steel or carbon fork and if I need a suspension fork I want something with some travel and 40-80 just doesn't really do it for me especially on heavier forks. Some of the new high end gravel specific short travel stuff and some of the ultralight XC stuff for a bike like that would work but nobody is really spec'ing that on a bike like the Cube.

If you are just looking to buy stuff to buy stuff either put it towards spare parts or save it for the bike you really want. This is a fine mid-tier bike nothing special but not terrible either so I would keep it running and replace as needed unless you have some issues you are trying to correct and make better.

Jimi1977

It is a trekking bike yes and that’s exactly what I will be using it for. Just gentle rides out with my partner through country paths.

I just thought as it’s 10 years old nearly it may benefit from newer tech but thank you for the information, that was very helpful. I shall leave it as it is.

James

Kai Winters

Does everything work?
If so you are better off leaving it as it is and give it a good going over. Replace the bottom bracket, headset, chain, cables and housings, brake pads, etc. Thoroughly clean the crankset, cassette, rear and front derailleurs. Spray a bit of a good lubricant in the shifters...they do dry out and become stiff so a bit of a lube can do wonders.
Check the cassette for excessive wear...if it is too worn a new chain will skip when you install it.
Give the frame and wheels a good cleaning and polish the frame.
You may wind up with a bike that works and nearly looks like new.
Be careful when replacing derailleurs as they have to be compatible otherwise they won't work as they should.

Jimi1977

Thanks Kai,

I can do a fair amount of cleaning but I’m a bit dubious about taking off the chain and doing the rear derailleur. If I take those off then they need to be set again to align with the shifters and tht don’t they? I remember trying to do that once years ago and messed it up royally.

is wd40 any good for lubricant or do I need a particular kind?

thanks
james

Jimi1977

Would you say the chain rings and chain need replacing? They need cleaning that’s for sure but don’t wanna go through all that if they just need replacing

Canker

They look barely used to me

Jimi1977

Ok thanks,

I was watching a YouTube vid and the guy said when the chain rings stater looking like sharks teeth then it’s time to replace. The looked like sharks teeth to me, longer one one side but all good then.

I am taking it in to be serviced on Saturday anyway as the chain isn’t dropping into gear on the cassette and the chain itself is rubbing on the front derailleur so I guess the gears need indexing. Not a job for a noob.

Darth Lefty 

That's true but it's hard to judge on a derailleur bike from the last 30 years or so. The teeth are short and funny-shaped in a repeating pattern to help with shifting. Especially on the middle ring of a triple, which has to shift either direction. The real tell is "chain suck" where the bottom run of the chain hangs onto the ring and it makes a rumbling noise as you pedal. If it's not doing anything like that you have nothing to worry about

veganbikes

WD-40 in it's normal state is a water displacer (it is the first part of the name) so it is really not designed as a lubricant. They do make some bike specific lubricants (or at least did) but honestly any bike specific lubricant will work well. I personally prefer wax based lubes they tend to keep things cleaner. Some people do use WD-40 to clean the chain a bit but honestly I like citrus degreaser for that, it works well and doesn't smell bad and is potentially a little less toxic.

Yes if you do start removing parts they may need to be re-adjusted but if the bike is 10 years old and hasn't seen maintenance in a while that is not a bad thing. Remove it all replace or overhaul any bearings as needed clean everything and regrease and then new cables and housing of course. It will improve your bike without costing a whole lot and you might even say wow these are my 10 year old parts?

Jimi1977

Well, I took it to get serviced and I’m not sure if I got seen coming or not. The service itself was £80 and then parts took it up to £120. They did everything in this screenshot plus the below





They took off the Lx rear mech and changed it to an Altus as they said the spring was worn.

They replaced the pads on the back brake.

They said they couldn’t index the gears properly as someone had taken off the smaller ring and replaced it with a bigger one, which looking at it now I can see.

They also didn’t clean the frame or the fork which makes me think they didn’t check the fork either. Could be wrong though. I called them and they said to bring it back and they will clean it, they said “oh sorry, I didn’t know cleaning it was in the website as part of the silver service” hmmmm.

they said that to replace that ring you may as well replace the whole crank set as the front mech is too big for the frame as well. They said all that will cost about another £100. I’m glad I only bought this bike for what equated to £60.

I am thinking of taking it to another shop though to get it done. But depends on peoples thoughts who are in the know like yourselves. What do you think?

Other than that everything is sound on the bike.

veganbikes

So the bike cleaning is really not about cleaning, it is about looking at the frame for any cracks or dents or issues on it. A clean bike is important but that is something anyone can do at home, the shop really should be doing it with a standard tune to see if everything is safe. Those prices seem pretty low so not a bad deal if the work is done reasonably well. A suspension fork would be wiped down but there is really not much that could be done for that low suspension stuff generally needs to be serviced and that is a separate job and one many shops don't do as the equipment isn't cheap and having someone trained up can also get expensive. For shop like that I would guess it doesn't make sense.

You may check with another shop but it does seem like that shop is pretty low on pricing so something to consider.

Jimi1977

Thanks for the reply but what you have said that cleaning is, that sounds like inspecting to me and it defo says “cleaned and inspected”

To anyone reading that it means cleaning it and inspecting it.

veganbikes

Yes the words on the page got it I am talking about the real reason why a bike shop should clean every frame and it is not for cleanliness. They list both but it is really only inspection but you cannot accurately inspect without cleaning. Is it a streak of dirt or a crack or both?

Russ Roth

Ideally I'd have to see the bike in person and more pics would help but the bit about the crank seems like nonsense. If the chainring isn't rubbing on the frame it fits fine. This isn't an old square taper where someone shoved on too big a bottom bracket, this is a 2-piece crank with outboard BB. That means it sits where its supposed to unless someone left out a spacer or moved two to one side, the difference would be a couple MM and effect your stance on the bike more than the shifting. Easy to check if the crank is sitting properly, put a crankarm parallel to a chainstay and so how much of your finger fits in between, do the same on the other side, if the results are close to the same then its good enough and the crank is fitted the way it needs to be. As I said, if the crankarms are centered to the frame and the chainrings aren't rubbing then its fine. The smallest ring being taller won't really effect shifting, the derailleur should have no trouble handing that either. It way be that someone went from a 24/34/44 crank to a 26/36/46 or even 28/38/48 but a mtb front der can do a decent job of handling that kind of change, though at the 48t it may start to struggle if made for a smaller crank, it wouldn't be cause to drop 100 on a new crankset. I assume that 100 is including install? I just paid $120.00 at the LBS for an SLX 12sp crankset, did the install myself, but that same crankset easily sells for under 100 in the UK assuming they were even quoting that level of crank, if they went to an alivio rear der they're liable to drop to that level on the crank and that would be crap pricing.

Jimi1977

In that case the didn’t accurately inspect it as it’s filthy underneath.

veganbikes

Quite possible, Their prices seem low however different areas do have different pricing but it just feels low in 2023. Maybe confirm with them what was done and if they are able to go over it again have them do it otherwise find a shop that can look over it and expect to pay more generally.