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A mate of mine bought a Cove Hustler from BaseCamp at Laggan last September.
It's a great bike, decent spec, but he's complaining that it's too sketchy on the decents. He also has an 04 enduro and rides his son's Stinky, which he says he prefers.
He's tried different tyres and pressures to no avail. My suspicion is that the bike is just too light for him (16st without kit). Is there anything else worth trying - sag settings perhaps, before he trades it in?
Bar height, stem length and rise, suspension setup, fork length can all be fiddled with. A hustler is a fun, reliable bike.
what slw said.... and try about 25% sag, & check the main pivot bearings (the ones behined the bb) my bike seems to get through a set every 6 months... but the rest of the bike needs bearings once a year...
bar all that... i reckon your mate needs a coil shock. An air can with enough pressure to hold up 16+ stone wont perform that well... The stinky will have a coil, what shock does the enduro have on it?
The Spesh and the Hustler will be in the same ball-park weight wise and also geometry wise. The Stinky will be heavier and more relaxed which is the reason I believe he likes that the best. Light bikes do get knocked about more as I much prefered my Turner at 30lb for going downhill than my Yeti 575 which was 25lb but they did have totally different rear shocks, coil v air.
Too long a stem.
One thing a Hustler ain't is 'lightweight'.
depends how he built it I would not say it is not that light when you start at a frame. I have a Stiffee and a G Spot both of which can be relied on to do as your handlebars when it gets steep unless you are on very slow sharp corners, I would doubt the bike that lies in between them is the exception to the rule.
An air can with enough pressure to hold up 16+ stone wont perform that well...
Really?
There are lenty of us on here that are more than that weight that may disagree.
Teetosugars - Member'An air can with enough pressure to hold up 16+ stone wont perform that well...'
Really?
There are lenty of us on here that are more than that weight that may disagree.
fair - i'll rephrase - a coil shock or a large volume air can would perform better than the standard air can for a 16+ stn rider.
I had my rp3 pushed, and it made a big difference. Shock didnt heat up too much and had much better mid range performance. He could try that.
I would say a nice coil shock, and maybe some heavier more planted wheels, depending what he currently runs of course.
how slack is the head angle ?
sx trails are nice and low feels like a bike you sit in compared to my stinky which i sit on
Agree with mk1fan. It aint no lightwight bike by a country mile. I've come off my Hustler more times than I can remember, but thats my crap riding ability not the bike at fault. Tell him to stick with it.
tell him to just ride the damb thing
Amen to that.
tell him to just ride the damb thing
Sounds about right - but he now has his eye on a Giant Reign 🙄
Is he the kind of guy who also has one of those hammers that can't hit nails in straight, and a saw that cuts wobbly lines... the problem might not be the tool at all... I'm sure there are many out there who would be willing to help take it off his hands and make it do what it was built for.
Definitely wouldn't ever describe the Hustler as sketchy! I ride it back to back with my STD and never feel constrained by being out on 'the wee bike'! Plenty steep nadgery stuff and fast open stuff to boot. Maybe he just needs to play about with the set-up of swap about his bars/stem to get something that suits.
Hmmm, not quite lightweight either is it... 🙂 Mine is definitely on the wrong side of 30lbs!
What fork is on it?
To be fair if they prefer the slacker angles of the Stinky then the Hustler is always going to feel too XC - after all it's an XC bike.
Perhaps a G-Spot would have been a better buy - from the Cove range (other manufacturers are available).
I've run my Hustler in the Alps and on uplift days without issue.
but he now has his eye on a Giant Reign
Having owned both a Hustler and a Reign, he will probably find the Reign more planted than the Hustler. Heavier, slacker head angle (with a proper length fork), more travel and a fantastic suspension design on the Reign. The Reign isn't as engaging though for general riding - it sort of obliterates everything in its path on a normal ride. I also didn't find the Reign to be any more or less reliable than the Reign, and certainly not as stiff in the rear end.
The Enduro and Stinky are both in the same sort of 'family' as the Reign for riding, whereas the Hustler is more like the Five, Dawg, 5 Spot etc type of riding.
Reign's are great VFM too, but you need a big fork to do them justice 🙂