Cove Stiffee Build or move on?

tjdixon911

Hi I recently purchased a 2005 Cove Stiffee frame to build up whilst I waited for a warranty issue to go through on my Hustler, the fact is I like the Stiffee alot and am thinking of keeping it to build up gradually, but, I'm not sure it'll be suitable for what I want or it will be so good I'll end up using it instead of the Hustler....

Any way the frame is a 19" and I am just over 6ft, before I bought it I was thinking of buying something to use locally on BMX tracks, and genneral hacking about woods / learning to jump etc on, is this going to be suitable or should I be looking for something else? I'd imagine a slightly smaller frame would be better but is it going to make that much difference?

If I should change it, I'd maybe look for an off the shelf bike but if I built it I would maybe look to do so on a budget..... anyway, it'd need to be good enough to do a few miles on too.

So suggestions please.

Any help much appreciated.

peter413

Get some light but strong wheels like hope hoops with stans rims, a decent drivetrain that isn't going to break and is reliable, a comfy saddle that isn't to big and some travel adjust forks and you will be laughing.

Was considering buying a stiffee myself but decided to get an on one 456 for a lot less money (I still don't have that much to spend on the 456 :roll: )

vengeance111

im gettin a 456 as well
im putting some marzochi 44 rlo on it

peter413

vengeance111 wrote:

im gettin a 456 as well
im putting some marzochi 44 rlo on it

I'm putting my current Fox F100's on but will be getting some (hopefully) Fox 36 Talas'

vengeance111

cool, i havent got enough money to get 'fox' forks at the moment

covelove

if you are using it for all round hacking it might be a bit on the heavy side (depending on the build) but i would definitely recommend it for jumping or hard trail riding! it just wants to take off at any opportunity!

tjdixon911

covelove wrote:

if you are using it for all round hacking it might be a bit on the heavy side (depending on the build) but i would definitely recommend it for jumping or hard trail riding! it just wants to take off at any opportunity!

Thanks, I really do just want to use it to learn some skills on it, mainly jumping and manuals, I'm hoping that will then make me a better rider generally, my only concern is that I'll end up spending too much on it when I could go buy an off the shelf bike that may do the job better for less money. Or could I realistically do it all on the Hustler?

BG2000

tjdixon911 wrote:

Any way the frame is a 19" and I am just over 6ft, before I bought it I was thinking of buying something to use locally on BMX tracks, and genneral hacking about woods / learning to jump etc on, is this going to be suitable or should I be looking for something else? I'd imagine a slightly smaller frame would be better but is it going to make that much difference?

I've just replaced my Trek 8500 frame with a brand new 17.5" Stiffee. I'm exactly 6 ft tall.

I have a 120mm stem and find the bars just about right, although they are a couple of inches closer than on my Trek using all the same bits. But when I hit the rough stuff the frame size feels perfect, although I wouldn't want it any smaller. I did look at the 19" size, but the top tube is only about 1cm longer, which you can easily make up with a different stem, or even the angle of your riser bars. So I don't think you need to bother with a 17.5" size, although the top tube does look much lower, giving the whole frame a more 'FR' look to it.

So I reckon your frame sounds just the right size for you. What I like about the Stiffee is that it's bomb proof, and very stable, yet agile at the same time. So you can make it into a brilliant XC bike as I have, with fairly lightweight components as the frame only weighs about a pound more than a lightweight XC frame. Or you can give it super tough free ride components and throw it anywhere.

It's worthy of the best components and I don't think it'll ever feel like a compromise choice, as in "maybe I should have got something more expensive" etc...unless of course you start considering a Hummer :shock:

You've made a good choice, so I'm not surprised you want to keep it.

paul.skibum

BG2000 wrote:

I have a 120mm stem

Seriously?! Is it 2001 again?

I dunno about the sizing of that frame but the Stiffee is pretty much perfect for what you want to do on it - get a cheapish 130 fork second hand, basic groupset (deore sounds ideal) and piece the rest together off ebay and bingo - yeah it wont be that light but who cares - for hacking and crashing you odnt want light you want cheap!

tjdixon911

paul.skibum wrote:

BG2000 wrote:

I have a 120mm stem

Seriously?! Is it 2001 again?

I dunno about the sizing of that frame but the Stiffee is pretty much perfect for what you want to do on it - get a cheapish 130 fork second hand, basic groupset (deore sounds ideal) and piece the rest together off ebay and bingo - yeah it wont be that light but who cares - for hacking and crashing you odnt want light you want cheap!

I was thinking of maybe this fork http://www.evanscycles.com/products/roc ... 719#guides seems good value but don't know what they are like or if they are suitable for what I want....

paul.skibum

Tora is supposed to be a good budget fork - Supersonic talks well of them - I went for the u turn recons on my SC Heckler - pretty good and weren't too pricey.