I have read the review on STW and it looks like a good bike. I own a Stiffee and it is a great bike to ride.

Does anyone own one or has ridden one? What are they like from own experiences? Thinking of possibly buying a frame and building it up.

Thanks

Not owned and missed out on the deals that where about but from what I know and have heard there a nice frame, bit old on the sizing by today’s long and low numbers but at the end of the day a good frame is a good frame.
If your a medium or small in frame size check out these guys bloody bargain.
https://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/80054/Cove_Hustler_275_Frame

That’s what i saw hence the question. Seems like a good price for what could be a great bike, albeit not like the bikes of today as you said.

I bought one a while ago from Winstanleys.

Had a medium (18″) raw frame and built it up with 2 x 10 XT.

I liked it allot, as said, nothing radical but a good solid 160mm trail bike.
Need to be a little careful on the cable routing to avoid any rubbing etc.

Wish I hadn’t sold it to a mate of mine. he is still riding it very hard, fantastic value for the money.

My mate has one and loves it,his riding has progressed a lot since he got it

They look great value and I’m a serial Cove buyer – is this actually a Cove frame though? I seem to recall they took a lot of flack of selling a generic Taiwanese frame with perhaps a home brew linkage as a Cove a while back.

They were doing low and slack way back when so I’d be surprised if it’s that far from fleek.

Didn’t know about the taiwanese thing P-Jay.

It was suggested i look at the YT Jeffsy, although slightly over budget and i really like the look and spec of that bike. Been looking at the Aeris too, but this is a lot over my budget, again great bike. My thinking is if i bought the Cove (based on my Stiffe being great fun) i could get the parts as they came on offer or could afford them and get a decent-ish spec bike.

Is this the way to go or do i save for the Jeffsy or save longer for an Aeris, that is the question. Seen quite a few good deals on ex demo and shop soiled bikes on Hargroves cycles too, would one of these be a better buy?

I’ve got on of the 29er versions that crc were doing, running it with bigger fork and 27.5+ on the front and wide rim with 27.5 on the rear, slightly rejigged version of various other frames but it rides well and it was a good price. Might drop an angle adjust headset and new shock in it at some point but I’m very happy with it.

Wasn’t it the Hammerhead Thumper albeit that is a 29er? Certainly share a a lot of similarities but cant say for sure

Kona satori as well I think plus probably others. Think Cove got a few bits and pieces changed.

Looking online it seems the name Cove Hustler was licensed to CRC from Cove who used it on a 29er frame which started life as a Kona, the a Caribou then a Hammerhead, then a Switchback and finally a Cove via CRC. Not identical frames, they seemed to have a slight redesign every time and it’s said that one of the redesigns was done by a Cove guy, but ironically not the Cove version. Of course this is a 650b but does look similar so I suspect it’s have a similar birth.

So I doubt it was hand welded in Deep Cove with Easton tubing and all that, but it’s still cool and very good value.

Sadly it seems even though it’s a 2017 website, they’re still advertising G-Spots, Shockers which are ancient now, I bought a Shocker in 2008 and it was a bit retro then. I think they’re probably out of the bike making game, FS frames anyway – I think they sank a lot of money into the G-Spot (awesome blood and guts Enduro bike) but it came out just before the 650b revolution and that probably hurt them.

Very pleased with mine (a 20″ model). I’m going to ramble on here a bit, but as an owner, hopefully you guys will be interested in my [good] experience.

Overall, it has changed my riding considerably, but that’s partly due to moving to 650b and my suspension parts.

I too have good experience with the Stiffee H/T (still use it a fair amount) so was tempted by the Hustler, and glad I took the plunge in moving to 650b.

This new Hustler isn’t built the same way as the old Easton RAD ones, but still very solid, and at least with the seat-tube brace tube, there’s no chance of it cracking on the top-tube weld like the old Hustlers used to.

Compared to old RAD frames, there’s no super-tough machined/faced headtube, but the press-in cups it takes are fine (and it’s a standard size now). Same with BB shell, but at least its threaded. Yes, the frame is not Easton tubing, and definitely not made in Canada. However, it’s still burly, especially the chain/seat stays, and built as an AM machine, not XC.

Cable routing is a bit of a squeeze, but with a bit of creativity around the shock link, it’s OK, though if you care about the paint, you’ll need lots of protective tape.

The angles/dimensions seem a bit ‘2014’ but that’s only because of the recent long and low trend that picked up about that time, and if I didn’t have friends with new Nicolais and Yetis, I’d probably not notice.

The rear shock setup is excellent. It floats over rough ground and rocky climbs, yet never bottoms out on really heavy bumps/jumps. On really steep grinding climbs, the rear never sags. There’s no pedal-bob at all. And this is all with the switch left in the middle CTD trail-mode (never bother changing to climb/descend as it’s so good already). So this suggests the Float shock is well tuned to this frame, which is always better than having to compromise by fiddling with CTD settings out on a ride. Needless to say, it goes very well with my 36 RC2s but I’m sure other forks would make this a top bike too. But the way the rear-end complements such good forks does suggest Cove have got the linkage/Float shock setup spot-on.

Shame mine came with no instructions on bearing/bushing service. I’ve serviced swing-arms before, so not worried, but considering the end-caps are titanium, I’d have expected some similarly nice user-manual 😉

Oh, and the blue is actually a lovely inky/indigo, really natural looking.

I’ve had the Hammerhead Thumper 29 version for a couple of years and with angle sets it rivals any of the current crop of progressive trail 29ers.

Everything’s external so maintenance is easy. I’ve only had to change the main pivot bearings so far. Echoing other comments, shock movement is very refined up and down hill, it’s a great bike.

Thanks for that, The button has been pushed.

I had the Thumper as well. It was a really good bike, albeit a bit short and high in the BB.

However I’d get one of these instead, for not much more moolah…
https://www.airdropbikes.com/collections/airdrop-edit/products/sale-edit-v1-frame-with-rockshox-monarch-rt3

Anyone know the size of the pivot bearings to order,

I live in two places that are 100+ miles apart and I keep a seperate hardtail and full sus at each place, because I’m single and there is nobody to tell me no!

I have the 29er Hustler that CRC were selling for £650. I built it up with an old Trace RL2 fork and really liked it. So when I saw the 650b Hustler going for £700 I bought that and kitted it out with a new Roughcut Sweep fork.

I have a prejudice for 29ers but having ridden both I probably prefer the 650b version. The new roughcut damper might be part of that because it is superior to the old RL2 damper and I’ve got better tyres on the 650b.

Be that as it may the 650b version seems to take a lot more strain out of the rougher sections I do on the same trails, and I don’t really notice a lack of speed compared to the 29er version. Least ways not until I’m riding next to my mate with a Cube Stereo ebike, then it does seem easier to keep up with him if I’m on the 29er.

Both climb well with 140 and 160 forks respectively and neither have any vices that I’ve noticed.

I’m 60 and if I get airborne nowadays it’s a mistake. Maybe a more adventurous rider would give a different opinion, but I’m ok with them.

If you are buying one, I’d recommend that you start to try and find a spare mech hanger as early as you can. There were none available in the UK that I could find and it ended up taking me about two months to get one!