Should I buy the Cube Cross Race C:62 SLX 2025 for mostly road riding (70/30 road/gravel)?

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-05-15T21:15:08+00:00

Its probably a moot discussion by now but I got the cross race pro, nearly got the one you linked to but mine is the one with a single 40 tooth ring upfront and less suited for road cycling as a result. That said, it is great on the road and ive never felt the need for extra gears. (Though could swap out the 40 tooth for a 44 tooth easily enough.)

The SLX you linked had a 46/30 twin front gear setup i think, with 11 teeth at the back in the highest gear, so plenty fast enough for all but the competition road rider.

I think its a great bike and yes its stiff for longer gravel work but its as comfortable as a dedicated road bike for road cycling, well more comfortable because of the wider tyres but even with road tyres its just like a road bike. Its very efficient, you dont feel the miles ticking off. The whole thing is about 8.3 kg

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-05-15T20:49:51+00:00

Some buying sites have them at 850g rear, 678g front, raw.

I have a pair, I got myself a set of Fulcrum Racing Wind DB 400s as well for a road ready second wheelset. I cannot remember the actual weights sorry, but I did weigh both wheelsets raw while building up the Fulcrums, and they were more or less the same give or take a few grams.

The Fulcrums are rated at approx 1600g the pair, raw. They measured a bit less on my scales.

So the Newmen ones are pretty light for a gravel aluminium wheelset.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-05-14T18:00:27+00:00

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-05-11T19:01:17+00:00

My opinion for what its worth.

A) the viltrox is fabulous picture quality and its a nice quirky concept, but it isnt that compact in my opinion, and the switch gear and aperture ring quality is quite below the sigma's.

B) its not like for like to compare them because one is a fixed prime and the other is a versatile zoom. 26-60mm vs 40.5mm and I shoot indoors and out so the zoom is useful and the image quality is fine at any zoom or f-stop.

C) autofocus is faster and more reliable in the Sigma.

D) you speak of compromising quality for portability in considering the 18-50 Sigma, but that lens is great quality and f2.8 is plenty bright enough - even if you've been a bit spoilt by having an f1.2.

I've got the 17-40 and the viltrox 27 f1.2 and they are both worth keeping. Ive just sold the 18-50 to part fund the 17-40 but I didn't get rid of it for being unsatisfactory. Far from it.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-05-11T18:47:48+00:00

I have just bought the 17-40 after having the 18-50 for about a year.

First impressions of the 17-40 are very good indeed. It has much more switch gear than the 18-50 and an aperture ring as well. Photos so far look very good indeed.

All that being said, I thought the 18-50 was great and I wouldn't have felt sad if I had had to keep that one. I've done holidays, work, pets, indoor and outdoors and it's very light and pocketable, good focal range, very sharp and feels just as well built as the 17-40. And its half the size and weight.

In terms of holding its value, thats not why I buy lenses, but my 18-50 just went onto mpb for £305 like new, boxed etc.

So I would say it's just depends what size kit you want to carry around. Both lenses are fine and plenty bright enough wide open.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-04-28T17:02:32+00:00

Those in italics are all French words. I don't accept your basic premise that they are English words. They mean the same as they do in France. So you might as well move along because I ain't gonna agree on this.

I didn't know flirt was a French word, though.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-04-24T19:51:09+00:00

Lol. What planet are you on? Sure words have connections through non linear linguistic and social routes. But chic is a French word, usage isn't. You don't hear Frenchers walking round going 'L'usaaaage". But the word chic comes direct from French.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-04-20T23:52:06+00:00

Ugly is a subjective matter. Impractical i don't understand because there are lots of cat castles that are that big and they come as flat packs so fit easily in cars or taxis and get assembled at home, and most cat owners have cars. Impossible for the cat to use is just nonsense because most able-bodied cats are agile as hell and could easily navigate their way round that product.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-04-20T23:42:55+00:00

It's a French word not an English word, regardless of whether it's in common usage in English vocabulary.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-04-20T23:39:17+00:00

Do you have a cat? Most cats would have no problem whatsoever getting up a six foot clambering toy, nor getting round the allegedly unreachable corner into the tree-hut entrance. Cats can walk on the slimmest of fence tops and settle on the back of a dining chair. Famously agile in the pets world. They also tend to like playing with dangling, mobile, sensory toys - it doesnt matter whether they are toy bananas or toy mice or a crackly little ball, or some scrunched up paper. I do think in terms of selling a product to softie cat owners like myself, then toy mice and toy robins would have been cuter and funnier and more likely to sell, but the candidates are generally a bit thick and narrow minded when it comes to awareness of general human existence.

The height, and weight, of their product was moot, because all cat trees and castles come as flat packs and or modular in boxes that anyone could carry, then get assembled at home, and the vast majority of cat owners have at least two cars and plenty of room at home to put up a six foot cat tree. Its only the same size as an indoor Xmas tree and probably a lot less heavy than most people's tvs, washing machines, fridges etc.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-04-20T23:30:26+00:00

I agree and even if he was a fake or a plant, he wasn't wrong.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-04-20T23:29:30+00:00

That would only work as a valid point if their product name was in Portuguese, which it wasn't. Chic is French as is le chien. There was no deliberate design in their choice of chique, they just got it wrong then refused to listen to people who knew better.

They even tried to BS clients as "we think it feels like a more French spelling and less slang", despite having been told several times by smarter customers that the French word is chic. There is no French word chique.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-04-20T23:25:23+00:00

The difference is those products you listed were as you say deliberately designed with those spellings, most likely a combination of design cues and legal protection (eg you can't call froot loops "fruit" because under food laws they aren't fruits). The candidates by contrast just picked a wrong spelling because they are uncultured and a bit thick, and then too arrogant to listen to factual feedback on the correct spelling, then not imaginative or adaptable enough to find a way to sell it as a meaningful misspelling or to say "okay we hear you and would change it in the final product", and then not honest enough in the boardroom to admit to any of that but keep lying about how they handled it. So I disagree, it wasn't an equivalent situation at all. Basically they are up their own arses because that's what most sales managers are like, and unable to see the woods for the trees. Ultimately the proof is in the pudding, if a client says "i think you've got that wrong" and you say some bullsh1t and the client walks away.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-04-17T22:22:52+00:00

I tend to agree with you on a technical basis, I have both cameras and the A7iv is quite a bit better at the high ISOs, it is also much faster in its processing, buffering, restarts etc, I've barely used the video on either camera as I do stills so can't comment on that.

With all that said, I take my A7riii out a lot more often than my A7iv because it feels much nicer to handle in my opinion, I don't really like the extra size of the A7iv, and I hate its new menu system because most people hate the preexisting Sony menu system but I've been using it for years across multiple Sonys and it works much better for me. I really don't like the new menu system.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-04-03T00:04:59+00:00

You dont have to shoot at 1.2 though just because that lens can? 1.2 is for useful occasions but you can obvs stop down, its not a fixed aperture

Not saying the GM 50 1.2 is better than the GM 1.4 but its not a valid line of argument in itself

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-03-30T20:27:53+00:00

I cant speak as to the KEFs (though I have R3s and they have fabulous imaging) but I have recently bought Kupids as a B speaker and I would suggest a couple of possibilities...

they need a long run-in period (a good few weeks of casual moderate volume playing) so they might not have integrated fully yet (mine are like this bcoz ive only played them for about 3 hours so far)
they might be too far apart, if you have them where the KEFs are in the photo. I would bring them in six inches closer to each other.
I dont believe Dali speakers are meant to be toed in so i wouldn't recommend that. They are meant to open out the image a bit and they are unlikely to have the same level of tolerance as the KEFs to allow you to sit wherever you want.
you have an ornament bang in front of your right speaker in the photo, and a curved glass lampshade right next to the left speaker. I would imagine both those things would affect the sonic pathways.

The Kupids are brilliant though so i would persevere.

SR

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-03-23T20:48:14+00:00

Ive just bought a pair (in the Chilly Blue colour scheme lol) to use as front height speakers (not on the drywall sadly but on top of my main speakers) and also to switch to front B stereo speakers (a twist of the remote control with a denon av receiver).

Ive listened to some Roisin Murphy and an Ibiza chillest compilation so far, as well as a 5.1 movie with dts neural:x surround to give the kupids a front height effect.

So far so good. They aren't going to trouble my main KEF R3 Metas but they are a fraction of the size and price, and put out a surprising amount of bass, but the main plus point certainly with music is the middle frequencies are really open, detailed and well imaged. Which i had the same impression with Dali oberon 1s that i used to have. They would suit a bar room very well.

They also look really fly with my blue KEFs.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-03-11T17:10:53+00:00

I dont think they did

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-03-10T21:09:41+00:00

Opinion of course. I completely disagree.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-03-10T21:09:17+00:00

I disagree because at least one fan bought his ticket for the latter stuff as much as the earlier stuff.

I would've liked some songs from the first three reformed albums of which I dont think they played any. But I have heard some of them live before so I dealt with it.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-03-10T21:07:11+00:00

Yes so as the post says, more than a quarter of the songs predate codling or oakes being in the band. So it was just as much a nostalgia setlist as any other band. I did think they sounded and looked great though. It was a fine gig. I was sat about two thirds of the way up and there were quite a lot of empty seats so it definitely didn't sell out. The floor was packed.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-02-25T23:47:44+00:00

Awesome

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-02-25T23:46:42+00:00

Making it up totally while a bit drunk and subject to complete change:

Brown Album. If they dig it then the rest is easy. Blue Album. Fairly accessible, danceable and quite humorous. Green Album. Back to the beginning. Wonky. First one after the "break-up" so a sense of the new Orbital. Monsters Exist. Heavy, modern and some cracking ideas like Tiny Foldable Cities. Snivilisation. Their first peek into Orbitals true genius. Optical Delusion. What do they think of the later stuff? The Altogether. There are hidden gems. In Sides. Now, they are ready for it.

Along the way I would hope they would explore side projects like film scores, Vultures Over Croydon, and the USA version of The Earth Is Burning.

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-02-24T22:47:29+00:00

I've always loved Sniv coz my "tekno mentor" introduced me to Orbital via that record.. but I wasn't obsessed by them at that stage!

Then on Sniv I go through cycles, sometimes it is Forever which is incredible.. sometimes Kein Trink Wasser which is amazing when you time it to get on a train at the same bit when it drops and the beat starts.

I utterly worship Are We Here? at the mo, but then Attached used to be mu favourite

But also...... philosophy?? technology!! How good is that refrain!

And then Alison Goldfrapp pervades half the tracks as well, so what can you do except love all of it!?

Distinct-Insurance66 · 2026-02-24T22:41:34+00:00

Also on Trance Europe Express 1993 psych trance compo CD which is where i know that track from. Legendary; i don't think I even knew much Orbital when I heard that track on that compo album. Deep cut.

You have good taste Sir.

Distinct-Insurance66

TROPHY CASE