used cove stiffee or new cannondale trail sl4?

gregcox451

Hi, I'm looking to buy my 1st hardtail and for me its a toss up between a 2nd hand cove stiffee or a new cannondale trail sl4.
the cove stiffee SPEC is as follows:
Cove stiffee frame.
rockshox pike 140mm travel fork with u turn.
hope m4 hydrolic brakes 200mm front, 180mm rear floating disc rotors (old m4 design).
mavic xc321 rims 36 spoke
hope p20 2 hubs
shimano xt shifters and xt crankset 3 ring.
shimano slx rear mech
shimano xt cassette
sram 971 chain
spank bitchstick 700mm bar, 100mm stem.
hope headset and bottom bracket.

what do you think? £600 for it.

looking forward to everyones feed back
cheers

rockmonkeysc

They are very different bikes. The Canondale is a very poorly specced xc bike . The Cove is a much more heavy duty hardcore hardtail designed for much more aggressive riding. Very harsh ride on the Cove as well.

Long_Time_Lurker

What riding are you doing?
The Cove is a hardcore trail bike. Heavish frame, good for ragging over trails.
The Cannondale is one of their entry-level bikes and is specced accordingly (basic forks etc).

And how old is the Cove? Do you know the owner, and has it been well maintained?
Of the two, I would rather own a Cove, but it is dependant on age and condition (especially of the fork).

rockmonkeysc

If it's an dual air u-turn Pike fork, forget it. They can be a nightmare for seals popping out of the air spring.

gregcox451

I will be riding with friends mainly cannock chase, clent etc. Cove is about 5 years old, its my boss' bike and know someone who rode it for a weekend but the spec was higher! When he sells the cove he said his down specing it slightly. How much better is the spec on the cove compared to the cannondale? I'm 6 ft 3 and about 15 stone so abit of weight in the frame doesn't really worry me.

thanks for your feed back

rockmonkeysc

How much better the components are depends entirely on how worn they are. Low spec new parts will work better than worn out high spec old parts.
The Cannondale frame is more than strong enough.

dmorton

The ruggedness of the Cove is a bit overkill for Cannock Chase but it would be fun to take around there, it's not too long a trail. Going any longer distances the Cove might become uncomfortable.

For £600 I'd go and look at what Halfords can offer. Seriously. You want to look to get the best Fork you can for the money too.

supersonic

'Downspeccing it'? I would be wary of that, impossible to say how good value it is!

If you like the look of the Cannondale, consider an older one like this:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b65s2p36 ... %282011%29