Cube Litening C:68X SL 2020 Road Bike

Cube Litening C:68X SL Carbon / Red 2020 carbon, red

A bike so fast it'll make your eyes water sounds like an impossible dream, but that's what we set out to build with the brand-new Litening C:68X SL. You've probably already spotted the Shimano DuraAce Di2 disc groupset and the DT Swiss ARC 1400 DICUT 62 carbon wheelset. They're specially chosen to help you achieve new personal bests, give the competition a hard time and generally raise your game a notch or two. But the secret to the Litening C:68X SL's success is its brand-new aero frame. A full 30% more aerodynamically efficient than before, it makes full use of the all the experience we gained building our record-breaking Aerium bikes. Beginning with a blank sheet of paper and a lot of computer time booked in, the CUBE engineering team set about examining every single part of the frame ? individually and collectively ? to minimise wind resistance. Computer Fluid Dynamics, backed up by extensive wind tunnel testing, allowed them to refine each iteration until they were happy that they'd created a fully UCI-compliant, ultra-slippery race frame. Details like the disc-specific design and full integration of the frame, fork, stem, handlebar and seat post combine with our next generation C:68X carbon technology to create a new generation of peloton-leading bikes. It's power meter-ready, accepts tyres up to 28mm and offers multiple bottle positions. It is, in short, designed to get out of your way and let you ride. Really, really fast.

Remarks

A road race bike needs to be fast. That much is obvious, but how to extract more speed from bike and rider? That was the question our engineering team asked themselves at the beginning of the design process for the brand-new Litening. And the answer? Make the frame as slippery as possible through the air. It's a familiar concept for time trial and triathlon bikes, but not so much for race machines. The new Litening re-writes the rules by borrowing from our experience building the standard-setting Aerium C:68. Making extensive use of Computer Fluid Dynamics ? backed up with wind tunnel testing at every stage of the design and production process ? our engineers were able to finesse the frame's design to realise a 30% reduction in drag. In the world of marginal gains, that's enough to make this a genuine breakaway machine. The fully UCI-compliant chassis design integrates frame, fork, stem, handlebar and seat post into a structure that's as efficient through the air as possible. Beautifully crafted from our next generation C:68X carbon, it's even designed to be minimally affected by crosswinds. The integrated headset features an aero top cap and we were able to reduce the frontal areas of the head tube and fork crown by using disc brakes. It's also highly configurable to suit every race and rider ? internal cable routing for Sram and Shimano electronic gears is standard, as is a removable front derailleur mount, and there are multiple bottle positions available. With clearance for tyres up to 28mm and power meter-ready, it's the speed machine you've been looking for to maximise your chances of success. Don't chance it on race day. Ride the Litening ? and just go.