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Both Intermarché-Wanty and the Cube bikes that they have ridden since 2015 have flown mostly under the radar. It was only last year when the team’s headline sprinter Biniam Girmay launched himself to three stage victories and the green jersey at the Tour de France that both the team and the bikes they used caught much attention.
Cube is better known for its lower- to mid-tier bikes aimed at recreational cyclists. Cube is actually the largest bicycle manufacturer in Europe with a lot of emphasis on e-bikes in recent years.
The Litening has always been part of the brand's road range however it was back in 2019 that the brand added the Litening Aero to its portfolio. This bike was designed to be as aerodynamic as possible, focusing on this more than dropping weight. Since then the brand has released a Litening Aero SLT however the chassis of the bike has remained unchanged since its launch six years ago.
That being said, the Litening Aero C:68X has the hallmarks of an aero bike and doesn’t look out of place lined up next to the rest of the WorldTour field even if some aspects, like 28 mm tyre clearance are beginning to look long in the tooth.
Something that is worth making some noise about is the price of the C:68X. Van Rysel seemingly broke the cycling world last year when the RCR Pro was launched, heralded as the cheapest bike in the WorldTour. At £9,000 / €9,000 / US$11,000 it certainly undercut a lot of its competitors by a significant margin. Even so, Cube has been silently going about its business with a bike that trumps even Van Rysel on that front.
Intermaché-Wanty runs a Shimano Dura-Ace-equipped Litening Aero C:68X SLT however consumers have the choice of this or SRAM’s Red AXS-equipped models. Both of these models have a modest price tag of £7,300 / €7,300 which undercuts some WorldTour bikes by 50%.
Arne Marit to whom this bike belongs has come tantalisingly close to victory at this year's Tour Down Under. On stage 2 Marit missed out on victory with a charging Sam Welsford taking the win. 2025 marks Marit’s third year with Intermaché-Wanty and with the signs of some good early season form, he looks to be close to taking his first WorldTour win.
Before the racing got underway down under Dave Rome took to the paddocks, camera at the ready, to get a closer look at the bikes of the WorldTour. He also took some time to look beyond the bikes at some new parts and trends for 2025.
The bikes of Intermarché-Wanty have undergone a facelift for 2025 trading in the dark green colourway for a red gradient. Although from afar it looks like the red fades to black, taking a closer look reveals that it fades to a deep maroon with lighter red speckling.Cube's own brand ICR Aero Cockpit is used on the Litening Aero. Unlike most other one-piece bar and stems the stem section is clearly prominent where it joins the bars.Something that is bound to split opinion is the design of the stem. The stack height of the clamping area is incredibly slim and only just makes space for both bolts to fit in its profile. The result is a minimalist front end with no large stem jutting up from the top tube.One area that the Cube does lose out to the competition in is at the head tube. The recent generation of dedicated aero bikes is playing around with deep section head tubes to increase aerodynamic performance. This has only been possible since the UCI relaxed the 3:1 aero profile regulation in 2023.Viewed front-on the Litening Aero C:68X head tube tapers in aggressively between the upper and lower headset bearings.Intermarché-Wanty is not an official Shimano-partnered team making the choice to use the widely criticised Dura-Ace R9200 power meter an interesting choice.The design of the Litening's rear triangle sees the non-drive side chainstay extend all the way along the base of the down tube, creating a prominent ridge above the bottom bracket.Contrary to popular belief, Newmen is not an in-house brand from Cube. Newman does however have a long history of supplying Cube's premium bikes with its wheels. Intermarché-Wanty is using the flagship Streem S.60/66 wheels. The team is also using Hutchinson tyres moving from Continental for 2025. The Blackbird tyre has been around for a while now but these Racing Lab versions are currently only available to Intermarché-Wanty.An intriguing feature of the Newmen Streem wheelset is the use of a hidden valve. Instead of using valve extenders that place the valve above the height of the rim, this system keeps the valve hidden, requiring a specific valve tool to be used when it's time to inflate the tyres. Typically used with a plug to fill the hole, Newmen claims that this design helps to reduce turbulence.The Streem S.60/66 wheelset uses carbon spokes (15 front/18 rear). The hubs themselves are low profile with minimal flange height, helping to keep the wheel's total weight down. Newmen claims that the Streem S.60/66 wheelset weighs 1,355 grams.For a full-on aero bike, the Litening has very slender frame profiles towards its rear. The area around the rear axle is very clean and aesthetically pleasing. The design in this area also allows for almost no brake hose to stick out from the chainstay.One place the Litening does show its age in relation to the competition is in regard to tyre clearance. The current generation officially only has clearance for a 28 mm tyre putting it a long way behind the likes of Specialized, Trek, and Canyon.As Intermarché-Wanty is a Prologo-sponsored team, Marit has chosen the brand's Dimension 143 CPC saddle. This features a 3D polymer with hollow cones that help to hold the rider firmly in position on the saddle. This is said to help reduce fatigue and protect muscles and tendons from 'road stress'.Cube has used a similar design to both X-Labs and Pinarello for the Litening's integrated seat clamp. It uses a stacked two-bolt system that clamps the rear of the seat post.Marit has a modest name sticker on his bike along with the flag of his home nation. Just above the name sticker is a rudimentary number holder that is held onto the seatpost with a simple zip-tie. If it ain't broke, as the saying goes.The silver Newmen logos on the wheels give the bike an extra pop, along with that red speckled paint.
