Servicing the drive train of a Cube Reaction Hybrid / Bosch CX

SquireRides

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Sep 4, 2018
540
555
UK
With the family away for a week I could bring the Cube in to the kitchen for some end of season TLC.

With 1500 miles on the clock and one motor replaced in the last year, it's had some wear and my chain was almost at 1% stretch.
I was also getting a clicking noise from the chaining for the last couple of months – a symptom of chain stretch.
So, new chain, new cassette, service the Bosch CX seal, and I was going to change the Bosch chain ring (but…)

Here’s my bill-of-materials:
  • KMC X11E E-Bike 11 speed chain £30
  • SunRace MS8 11-46t 11 speed cassette £40 (great discount!)
  • Bosch Miche 14t chain ring £14
  • Bosch lock ring tool £27
It was hard to pass up the Sunrace at that price, compared to a like-for-like XT cassette replacement, also I couldn’t find an 11-46t SLX anywhere (my default choice) so I took a punt on this.

TOP TIP I wished I’d realized before I started: Leave the chain *on* when you want to unlock the Bosch lock ring. You need it there to hold the chain ring from turning when you use the reverse-direction locking ring tool.

Removing the locking ring was probably the hardest part. It required a huge amount of force. The lock ring tool’s teeth are only a couple of mm deep so keeping it on the ring at the same time as applying so much force *and* trying to keep one foot on the wheel to tension the chain… not easy.

So lock ring off, the chain ring area was really messy but – good news – things looked pretty clean behind the seal. Cleaned everything, packed grease behind the seal and reassembled… with the old chain ring. I bought a new 14t but the old one was 16t. I wasn’t willing to drop 2 teeth up front. As it turns out, the old one seems to be working ok anyway…

Next, chain off and in the bin.
Cassette off and in the bin.
Jockey wheels off the rear mech, cleaned and put back possibly the wrong way around (?!?!).
Sunrace cassette goes on. Easy.
New chain shortened to same length as old chain. Wrapped around and Missing Link clicked on. Easy.

RESULT: After a bit of tweaking and a few miles, the shifting seems good – it always takes a while to bed-in a new chain and cassette properly.
The clicking I had recently started hearing from the chaining has gone.
Everything looks clean and my Bosch motor is a bit better protected from the next seasons yuk weather.
 

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