Oh no, another what bike thread!

I'm still shortening my long list, and have just seen the deals Merlin are doing on a full build Hustler. Interested in peeps views as a 1 bike option, living in the Lakes. Also, would a large suit 6'3" / 34" inside leg, as they don't stock the XL. What does it do well/not so well?

Others under consideration: Chumba VF2, Zesty, Trek EX something, Stumpy etc.

Cheers all

I had one, and liked it.

Having said that I prefer the Heckler that I replaced it with..

Dunno why, I just do..

I have had one for a few years now, its built solidy if you are a big fella it should be fine.

I run mine with 130mm revelations but I suspect with longer forks it would be ok also.

Have changed all bearings once, think the guy I bought it off was jet washer mad. No problems since.

I seem to keep up with my mates who have had hecklers, fives, patriot, etc so happy enough, climbs well with pro pedal.

my mates linkage plates hit his seat clamp, the gears changed everytime his sus moved. apparently a common problem the supplier told him (afterwards)

Had a chat with owner of local bike shop before buying mine. He sold them in the past, and deals with a lot of high end bikes. His opinion was that EVERY person he knows that bought one loves it, and they generally keep them for years. He basically said apart from bearing changes every couple of years (like any other fs frames) their ultra reliable bikes, handle great, are quiet and last for years.

The owner/manager? of the bike shop at Laggan also has one, which says a lot considering the trails there (and the other brands they sell like Turner). If you look at the reviews on Silverfish again they're all very positive.

Have heard a few older frames in the small size had clearance issues with some seatclamps. This also affected the rear gear cable as it got caught on the seatclamp lever when the suspension compressed, but it's not an issue on any newer frames medium sized upwards as far as I'm aware.

love mine… it is a mk1, got it in early 06. If i break it I will get another. I have had a load of other bikes alongside it… none have bettered it.

One of the surprising things is how well it climbs, yes, people will tell you it descends well.. and it does… but what gets me is how it tracks the ground, esp on climbs.

PROLINE85 .. is right… the early ones did hav an issue with the gear / brake lines getting caught up on the seat clamp under compression, just turn the lever round and I have never had a prob since.

a real do it all bike… built to last… not to much, but just enough. I have ragged the crap out of mine, I will never sell it… when it does die it will go on the wall. Love it.

edit- as you asked… i ride a 17.5" and I am 6ft, a large will be fine for you… the xl is like riding a 5 bar gate.

the chumba looks nice, haven't ridden one tho. Only other bike to catch my eye recently in the new transition covert.

I have one its running 140 revs uturn. I have an early 1st gen one and its true as stated above that the cabling gets snarled up on the quick release clamp lever. I had this. A zip tie seems to sort this though (but when funds allow a gravity dropper and a non quick release should sort this).

But I can tell you one thing I don't feel like I need to buy another bike for a very long time. I may ride like a snail, but the buzz I get from riding this is euphoric. It climbs well and goes down the hills pretty confidently. Leaves me with a mighty grin. Takes most knocks in its stride. I don't have bling kit, standard old XT fair and I just get out and have fun. You've only got to look at the frame design revisions from cove, they've pretty much remained untouched. I just love it. I love Canada, I love Chaz, I love Cove. A proper mountain bike company.

Big respect to the others out there…Intense, Cannondale, Orange, SC.

I have an 05 medium bought 2nd hand and yes the cable routing can be a pain!
I dremelled the cable stops out and run full length outers, problem solved!
It climbs really well and descends even better and as suggested build it burlyish!
I have 140mm Pikes on mine which feel about right,
Would buy another tomorrow without a doubt.

nigew

Just curious. If you have removed the cable stops how do you hold the cables in place. Zip ties?

Got one! Got pikes, 819's, king, thompson. full length cables just mean drilling out the centre of the stops so you can fit the cable right through.

Ride mine every day more or less and the trails here can be pretty full on. I ride local DH courses, big mountains all sorts. I'll need to replace the bearings but they've lasted 18 months through a winter in Scotland and one here. It just rides fantastically I think. I regularly ride with guys on bigger bikes and I never feel that I'm 'underbiked'.

I think that the biggest testament to it is that I have a Cove STD too and swap between them and never feel like I'm struggling to get used to the 'wee bike' again!

my buddy got his last year. so problem not solved yet but his is as stated above a small frame.

loving the transtion bikes atm

the cove hustler is a kona dawg with an expensive 'made in canadiana' badge.

it's a great bike, and it's no different from a kona.

(more or less same geometry, same square tubing, same single-pivot-faux-bar-design-that-doesn't-work-when-you-put-the back-brake-on)

it's the same, only it's twice the price.

The large VF2 would suit just you just fine, i also believe they are one of the stiffest frames in it's class.

Proper four bar too, stays active under braking. The frame is very versatile, can be built up light ish or with a coil shock and 6 inch fork for a tough trail centre Alps bike.

I am about to stick a CCDB on mine, The suspension is designed to be very linear and works really well with a coil shock like the CCDB or the RP23.

I've had two(still got the 06 one)and get the bike buying bug every year,only problem is can never find anything that i would replace it
with!guy above obviously not a fan, but his argument could apply to lots of bikes and with regards the hustler i have ridden similar travel kona's and nice as they were they didn't come close!
Great do it all bike, oh and 6'3" on a large.

ahwiles you welcome to try mine when you've stopped sniffing the glue.

rumbledethumps, i wasnt very clear,sorry, what i meant was i drilled the stops out so the outer cable fits through.

ahwillys – i tried a Kona dawg before i got the Hustler and it felt horrid and im far from a bike snob, i onced owned a Planet x Armadildo 😀

Leisure lakes at Breaston (Derby/Notts) have an orange 17.5" going cheap at the minute (about £1100)- they've had it a while so may take an offer.

They do ride differently to Kona; whether that's down to diffeent tube spec, or some subtle geometry change, I don't know, but they do ride differently.

I would say go and ride one, but then be prepared to buy one!
I love mine, it inspires so much confidence, and like everyone says, goes up just as well as it goes down. Might not be to some peoples liking so go and try one, thats what I did and I bought it. Oh and i had a kona before that and it blows it away. Can't see me getting rid of it ever, but if I did it would only be replaced by another one. They are just a joy to ride.

There's a gert big one on ebay at the moment. I had a 17.5" one (5'10") and loved it, but i have a Cove obsession and have had most of their bikes. Prob best bike i have had and it felt like it could take the big hits same as the G Spot i had before it.

Did Strathpuffer on it with light wheels and hammered it everywhere else. Great descender – went to DC and the Cove guys ran them with DH wheels and 36s on the front chukicng them off everything the bigger bikes go off.

Sold it when i had to raise cash…. looking to replace it at the moment.

A friend has DH rims/tyres, lyrics and a dhx coil on his, and it absolutley flies downhill.

Thanks NigeW. I thought so in the end. Just curious, but how do you stop the rear gear cable flexing against the QR seat clamp under compression?

rummbledethumps…I had a few probs with ghost shifting and seat clamp catching cables at first. The cable length and curve are critical in that area, but once I got right, it never ghost shifted or snagged the seat clamp again. The pic is of my 06 med. Later 07-09 models have the cable guides under top tube, which might or might not help 😕

I've got an '08 and the cables go under the tt and there's no issues at all with the routing; it's all very neat and tidy.

Really liked mine but felt it was too much for the south downs. Changed it for a Pace 305.

fivespot are those ti bolts? if so where from?
Ta.

Cheers fivespot for the pic. Like you say, if you cut the outer cable to long, you bring too much flex and rub, too short and it pops out of the cable stops when the shock compression returns back. Its just getting that sweet spot! I also use a TranzX seat clamp too that does not help as the lever is large.

gamo…yes, the pivot ones are from here http://www.tastynuts.com/, some of the others from ebay. nearly 40 of them altogether 😀

I love mine, it climbs rough stuff really well and handles techy singletrack well too. Descends fine but the chain rattles the frame quite easily(fit a stinger).
As has been said already I also can't think what I would rather have!?

Had two.

The first was great and got me riding faster and more aggressively than I had done before with trail centres, Alps trips and the occasional downhill. To the point that I thought I'd outgrown it. I sold it and replaced it with a G-Spot, then a Meta 5 and now I'm back to another Hustler as I found the others were significantly less capable for my regular riding – they were very capable bikes but heavier and less nimble and didn't give me anything the Hustler didn't already have.

I'd reccomend a shadow mech on the rear – much cleaner cable routing, greatly reduced chain suck and no ghost shifting.

I love my Cove Hustler. Like the comments above, I find it difficult to fault how it climbs/descends/handles and am pushed to think of what I'd want to replace it with. I run it with Pikes & reasonable kit (raceface/xt) that does the job well enough for me. As for it being your sole bike, I sometimes miss my hardtail (Stiffee) but would not want to back to having only a hardtail and no Hustler. My only criticism is the paintjob/quality of decals being a bit pants for a frame of this price & calibre – but with it being a Cove, that shouldn't be breaking news!

Good luck with it!