[Closed] Cove Hustler

I have an '05 model i bought 2nd hand last Sept.
I am runnimg it with a set off Z1 Freerides taken of my Stiffee and a Fox float with lockout it climbs well and goes down even better as it covers for most mistakes i make 8)
Two small things i can fault it for are the, rear mech bangs against the chainstay in most of the lower gears on fast rough descents and the rear gear cable has a tendency to jump out of the cable stops after a biggish hit, cured this by drilling the stops out and using full outers.
But overall i like it.
If youre thinking 2nd hand i would go for the newer model as they use a 190mm eye to eye shock which are easy to obtain should you need to replace, mine takes an obscure size, 185mm

Got one. Had it for almost a year. Ride in the north of Spain on very rocky, steep, rooty technical singletrack. Ride the local DH tracks most weeks on it too. Although I have a STD for that sort of thing if I'm in the area I sometimes swing past the DH tracks on the Hustler because it's more than capable.

Some pics of some rides here: [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/basquemtb ]photos here[/url]

Pic of my bike: [img] ?v=0[/img]

My thoughts. I absolutely love the way this bike rides. I do a lot of miles and a lot of steep climbing and whilst it's not race-bike quick it climbs no prob's at all. If it gets really steep I wind my pikes down and it climbs until I can't. Then the descents! It really rides nicely on these obviously, on the really steep stuff if feels good and stable and it just feels nice and sturdy on the fast descents. I'm not a bike reviewer by any stretch of the imagination but to me it rides like a nice sturdy bike should do: it's a blast on the DH's and isn't a chore on the ups.

One slight niggle. My chainrings wore out and I got bad chainsuck, not the bikes fault obviously but the position of the driveside chainstay means that it marks the frame quite badly.

Other than that all good. I'd buy another one straight away and don't have any prob's recommending it to friends!

Not had any prob's with the mech / cables either. It's the new model though.

Nice pics sounds like it might just do the job.

Anyone else?

a mate has a small 07 i think. Cables pop out ocasionally and frequent mis/ghost shifts. And rear mech bangs the chainstay a bit too. On the small size frame, the rockers go so high up the seat tube at full travel you can't use a qr seat collar. Otherwise it is great, and a capable and versatile bike.

Have an 06 which i really like, was thinking about buying a new
frame recently but after looking/riding quite a few different
things decided it would be a waste of time so have bought an 09
rp23 and new bearings and am just about to get it repainted!
As above it rides everything great and would def recommend!

Cables only jump out when too long and sram mechs dont
bang.

Had mine since Sep 08, no issues with qr seatclamp, or rear mech noise. You need to get the cable length right to prevent ghost shifts, but no issues since I changed the cable routing.

Handling is really spot on, and the bike feels very "solid". It has a long wheel base for a 5.5" bike, longer than a Nomad etc so is super stable also has a lowish bottom bracket and perfect head angle (IMHO). The medium is perfect for me at 5.10" ish and I'm normally in between sizes. Only thing I can fault is the frames not the lightest, think it's around 7.5 pounds with shock, but at least it should last, and most people aren't bothered about that. Oh and the top tube slopes more than the crappy frame pics you often see such as on Silverfish. Here's a pic
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apparently the seat qr thing is only on the 15.5" frames, but what a pain in the ass it is.

One of the best bikes I ever had, I cried when I had to let it go

Get one, you wont be disappointed

Great bike does everything that you want. Climbs great and decends better. Get one

best bike i have owned but miles... climbs well, fast on the dh's and strong enough to take a kicking without being too heavy.. I will never sell this bike, and if i break it I will get another.

oh and to fix the seat clamp qr annoying cable hook up thing... age a salsa clamp. the curve in it lets the cable role over it.

got board with the black, and got it powder coat in green / cream.

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I got a 2006 one while I still had a fivespot. I soon sold the fivespot as the Hustler just put a far bigger grin on my face. I've also tried Commencal Meta 5.5, Santa Cruz Heckler, Orange 5 and ST4, Yeti 575 on various demos, but still prefer the Hustler.

Pushed Pikes and RP23, XT Shadow rear mech and carefull cable routing = crisp changing and no ghost shifting.

You won't be dissapointed if you buy one.