Cube has brought out a new electric urban bike called the Editor Hybrid. And what’s exciting about this one? It’s using the latest lightweight mid-drive motor from Bosch, the SX.
Mid-drives are becoming increasingly common within the urban e-bike sector. For example, just the other day we reported on Orbea’s new Diem e-bike which uses a Shimano system. But do you need this sort of power when buying a bike that’s likely going to be used as a runaround or commuter?
The Bosch SX makes an excellent argument for mid-drives in this instance, given it only weighs 2kg. Given the batteries used are generally smaller, you can easily grab yourself an e-bike under 20kg and still have the boost of torque a mid-drive offers. If you want to learn more about the Bosch SX motor, we covered it in detail last year at the launch in Germany.
In this instance, the Editor Hybrid comes with a 400Wh Bosch CompactTube battery across the range. There are five models, with prices starting from £2,299 and rising to £2,999 for the SLT 400X.
The range
The biggest differences between the five bikes are the drivetrain options and the accessories included with the bike. Most of these accessories look to be available after purchase, so it comes down to what you want equipped when you buy the bike.
The drivetrain options include Shimano 8-speed hub gears, Shimano Alfine 11-speed hub gears and a Gates belt drive, and Shimano Cues deraulleur gears. All frames are aluminium with a carbon fork, and use internal cable routing to keep a level of minimalism about the design.
Depending on the model chosen, it may come with mudguards, a rear rack, lights and a kickstand. Each model also has its own specific colourway, so you’ll be able to identify fellow Editor Hybrid riders by the paint, and suitably nod or ignore depending on how posh the model is. We jest, of course. But that ‘goblin ‘n’ glossy’ paintjob on the SLT 400X is rather nice.
There’s no word yet on availability, but given the bikes are already on the Cube website, we’d say it’s safe to say dealers should be able to order them soon. Whether they add anything to an already crowded e-urban market is yet to be seen, but the use of the SX motor and the fact that all the bikes weigh under 20kg is interesting enough to make us keen to have a go on one.
