QUEEN OF THE ROAD
“Ignore the ‘Race’ name: Cube’s Axial is built for all-day comfort, hilly riding and practicality”
• OUR THREE WOMEN’S road bikes take in one Shimano 105-equipped aluminium machine and a pair of carbon bikes with Shimano Ultegra, one with mechanical shifting, the other with Di2 electronic gears. This being 2022, all have hydraulic disc brakes and thru-axles.
The Axial WS Race is a well-priced bike from Cube, a German company known for its well-specced, high-value bikes, though in spite of the ‘Race’ in the name, we think it’s more of an all-round bike than one designed for the competitive rider. It’s up against the Langma Advanced 1+ Disc lightweight all-rounder from Liv, the ‘women-powered’ arm of Giant. This accompanies Shimano’s Ultegra with a Giant carbon wheelset that comes tubeless out of the box. The final bike in our trio is Scott’s Contessa Addict, a bike that has set alight the women’s professional peloton. But will the overtly racy bike work just
