Review: Great value gravel bike, with excellent Shimano GRX components cycling
The Cube Nuroad EX is a solid, versatile, and comfortable aluminium-framed gravel bike. While it might not sit among the veryIt feels surprisingly nimble and lively when you take it out for a fast blast on gravel or forest tracks. It weighs in at 10.32kg – in line with other aluminium gravel bikes at this price – but is still perfectly chuck-aboutable when you want to dodge holes and bumps on the track surface or crack through tight twists and turns as quickly as possible.
A gravel bike will almost inevitably see action on the road at times, whether that's on your way to and from tracks and trails or when linking up different sections. The Nuroad EX transitions naturally to tarmac, allowing you to get down into a reasonably efficient riding position on the drops – although the geometry is more relaxed than that of a typical road bike.
The hose for the front brake runs through the fork leg while the rear hose and gear cable take an internal route through the down tube before emerging just in front of the bottom bracket and going externally from there. The stack on this size is 609.5mm and the reach is 388.7mm, giving a stack/reach of 1.57 . As mentioned above, you can still get into a reasonably flat-backed riding position on the drops for the fast and open sections, but when your hands are on the tops you'll take a lot of wind on your chest.The Cube Nuroad EX is built up with a mix of Shimano's gravel-specific GRX components, and they all worked superbly throughout the review period.