Hydraulic disc brakes on a race bike? The Attain SL Disc proves that this needn't be a contradiction. Its braking performance - assured, and with the minimum of effort - is a match for its cornering ability on narrow, tight turns or its climbing prowess on steep mountain passes. As you'd expect from a bike in the Attain Disc series, its ergonomically balanced and comfortable ride position is the perfect setup for any adventure on the road.

Our engineers dug deep into their bag of tricks for this frame. To improve its rigidity, they treated it to X12 quick releases front and rear. Both frame and fork have been specifically developed to work with disc brakes. And for the frame material, we chose our formidable Superlite aluminium tubeset, joined with our Smooth Welding process and featuring internal cable routing for clean looks and minimal maintenance. The Flip Flop adaptor means that either 140mm or 160mm discs can be used on the front wheel. For winter training, there's even the option of mounting mudguards to keep the spray off.

The Attain SL Disc features a whole range of technical highlights. Shimano's proven 105 groupset new delivers the shifting performance you've come to expect in 2x11 format. The compact chainset with 50-34 chainrings drives a cassette with 11 to 32 teeth, while newly developed Shimano BR-RS505 disc brakes with 160mm rotors front and rear bring it all to a halt. We opted for the superb Racing77 Disc system wheelset from Fulcrum, and shod it with Continental's grippy Grand Sport Race SL tyres.

We optimized our new dropout design based on the Syntace X12 through-axle system, enlarging the area of the frame where the hanger is mounted. We can now fit the longer Direct Mount hangers. Shifting precision and stiffness is therefore improved. With the new design it's also possible to swap the whole contact area of the axle with the hanger should the system be worn out.

With our Advanced Mechanical Forming technology we can mechanically transform different frame tubes and thus optimize them without material-wearing welding work for the respective requirements. Along the obtained organic look, the production method is primarily motivated by functional reasons. Multiple converted tubes enable us to manufacture lighter and also stiffer aluminum frames.

Extremely high tensile strength heat-treated 7005 aluminium alloy is developed for the highest requirements. It is very stiff, fatigue resistant, corrosion resistant and has high elongation. Our Superlite tubes are double butted, giving very light tubesets with a high level of stiffness.

Internally routed cables offer many advantages. Cables are protected from dirt for longer life, weight is saved thanks to the absence of external housing and the bike has a clean, sleek appearance.

With Press Fit bearings, the bottom bracket bearings are pressed directly into the frame and not screwed in as usual. This gives a wider bottom bracket shell and allows us to build a wider down tube and more broadly-spaced chainstays. Every millimetre of additional width gives a significant improvement in lateral stiffness.

This steerer tube design is stiffer than a conventional straight steerer and yields a more secure ride feel even in difficult terrain. Minimal flex at the front of the frame means the greatest possible steering precision. With the larger steerer, the forks become more rigid. At the same time weight is saved due to the absence of bearing shells as the lower bearing is fully integrated into the head tube. On all of our CUBE carbon models the upper bearing shells are also directly in the frame, so that once more a few grams are saved and the energy transfer is very direct.

On polished, brushed aluminium and all HPC frames, the logos and graphics are applied in multi-layer wet paint. We use this surface treatment technology mainly to save weight.

In this system, a cone is used to form a play-free connection. It is only necessary to tighten the axle from one side. The position of the wheel is done by an insert in the right-hand dropout which is secured by a bolt. The main advantages of the Syntace system are quick and simple changing of the wheel, reliable position of the brake disc and higher stiffness of the rear of the bike. This allows the assembly to be made lighter than a conventional through-axle.