Matt Vandart Posted September 17, 2011 Report Share Posted September 17, 2011 (edited) Whats it like? Is it any good as a free ride bike? Edited September 21, 2011 by Matt Vandart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike_dummie Posted September 17, 2011 Report Share Posted September 17, 2011 I had a cove Sanchez and it was very good workmanship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted September 18, 2011 Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 It's more of an XC bike really. Having said that, Cove are known to be fairly hardcore and it's got fairly relaxed geometry (head angle is 67 degrees) so should be OK for a bit of abuse, but the G-spot is Cove's freeride bike and would be a better option. It depends what you actually mean by freeride though - The bike industry seems to define bikes like this: XC (100-130mm) Trail (120-140mm) AM (140-160mm) Freeride (160 - 180mm) Which would put the Hustler in the trail/AM category (its 5.5" equates to 140mm rear wheel travel). A lot of what americans call freeride is sort of mini-DH uplift stuff, whereas razzing around in your local woods would be called AM or trail riding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Vandart Posted September 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 Cool, that sounds like exactly what I am looking for, at the end of the day I can do all that shit on a hardtail, just want a bit of sus, to give the old bones a bit of help. I'm after something that would be ok for drop offs about 3-4ft to flat and maybe a bit bigger to a bank. I was looking at the hooker too, I know its a 4x but I reckon it might be pretty good for what I want, I like to hit the dirt jumps on my BMX (and my Zebdi) sometimes also I spose 6" of travel would be a bit of a drag for that. The thing about the hooker is that it has a 1.5 headtube, whats that all about? Can u fit 1" 1/8 forks in there? Havn't had a full sus since about 2000ish, had a kona stinky 24" prototype back then, it had shorter chainstays and more travel than the stinky at that time. I think it was about 6inch travel. Was looking to make a bike similar to that but not so gay on uphills. I've heard that shocks have improved greatly since then and suspension doesn't suck up all your go on the uphills/flat. Is this the case? Thanks for the replies so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted September 18, 2011 Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 Yeah, there are a lot of 150mm bikes that pedal uphill really well - It's mostly due to more advanced suspension design rather than better shocks. Having said that, the Cove is not the most advanced suspension design (it's basically a Kona-style 'faux bar'). Yes, you can fit 1.1/8th forks - you'll need a reducer headset though (Hope do one, not sure about cheaper alternatives). Not sure about whether a Hooker would be good for you. It's not a bike that looks like it would climb particularly well, don't think it would be much fun on an all-day ride. Horses for courses, you'll have to decide whether it's what you want. How come you're fixated on Cove? Nothing wrong with them, I'd just suggest you work out what kind of bike you want, then choose the best one, rather than choosing the brand before you start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Vandart Posted September 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 I am not fixated with cove as such I can just get a frame chaepy cheap innit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Vandart Posted September 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 Ok, what I like doinmg seems to be this ALL MOUNTAIN thang, so I am gonna go for the hustler. My next question is what forks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew62 Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 Fox 36 - the particular flavour is your preference. I run the Talas's on my full-sus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Vandart Posted September 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 What sort o travel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 Something 140mm +/- 10mm will be OK. Any bigger and the front end + BB will be too high. Any smaller and the headangle will be too steep. Given the choice, I'd go for some 140 or 150mm Revelations (with at least some sort of bolt-through axle) to keep things light without losing much stiffness. Or Pikes / Sektors if you want something a bit more hardcore (but heavier). I don't know much about recent Marzocchi forks. If you want Fox, I'd probably have 32s rather than 36s for that much travel. But buying new Fox forks (forx?) aftermarket is craaaazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew62 Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 (edited) Not always....I bought some Fox 36 Talas R's as i mentioned (2011) aftermarket. I think the RRP was in the £800's somewhere, but I wen't to order some 2009 off a website (at a pretty good price) and after ordering a few days later I got an email of apology saying they didn't have the 2009's in stock so offered me the 2011's for about £20 more..... Think they were around £600. To be honest I have no idea what other forks cost though, so that might still be expensive? Edited September 23, 2011 by Matthew62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 That's expensive if you ask me, compared to lyrics or similar. Bike vendors obviously get OEM Fox Forx for a hell of a lot less money than they cost in the shops, which makes me think they're overpriced. Plus, the gold stantions turn silver over time and the final inch of travel is inaccessible. Having said that, I've never actually used any for any length of time, and I know a lot of people like them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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