With an aluminium frame of the simple variety and high-quality equipment, the "Soleil" is somewhat unbalanced. The head tube stiffness is at the lower end of the test, but should be sufficient for most cases. Nevertheless, the result is somewhat surprising because the frame is one of the heaviest in the test and the material is therefore poorly utilised. The result for the equipment is far better: the tried and tested Ultegra SL groupset is joined by Ksyrium Elite wheels, which are among the best on offer in this test; other options are not a problem with the modular system provider Sporthorizont, which is behind Cucuma. The bike proved to be well-balanced in the ride test, with a total weight of just over eight kilos. However, when it comes to the price-performance ratio, it is noticeable that Cucuma, atypically for a mail order company, just misses out on a "very good" rating.
PLUSvery good wheels; top equipment
MINUSheavy frame
Web: www.cucuma.com
Weighted weights; **Test frame size greased; ***Projected dimension from centre of bottom bracket to top edge of head tube; ****Saddle to head tube rise at 75 cm seat height (centre of saddle frame - top edge of headset cap)
