Cove Hummer

[malk]

Getting back into biking after 20 or so years and saw a titanium bike for sale which I'd always dreamed of. So I'm now the proud owner of a Cove Hummer of unknown vintage, but guessing it must be a fair few years old as it's still got v-brake mounts at the back (if anyone has any idea I'd be grateful!).

I'm not sure if it's blasphemous here but it's a bit of a franked bike with a mix of more modern kit, e.g. a 1x10 Zee drivetrain, certainly not a concourse bike. Even for a short dude like me it feels compact at 16" so there's a bit of playing around to be done there to get it set up for me. That said, I'm an awful rider so it'll take a good long while before I have any clue whether anything is down to the bike or to me. Well, it's definitely going to be down to me.

With the standards having moved on and no parts bin to speak of I'm interested in seeing what I need to consider to keep it running for the long term but other than that it's just been a blast throwing it around the trail centre next to all the fus suspension bikes. Fortunately I've got a decent collection of body armour from skiing so I'm covered a bit against how often I've been hitting the deck.

 

[malk]

Need to take more pics really but here it is.

 

[Mikey08]

Nice bike mate. I always fancied one of those back in the day. Maybe add a dropper post and set the tire's up tubeless if they're not already. Also when the chainring and cassette wear out consider a larger range cassette and smaller chainring to help you up the climbs.

 

[kanerdog1x1]

I'd love one of these, it's true my heart skipped a beat when I read the thread title!

 

[malk]

Nice bike mate. I always fancied one of those back in the day. Maybe add a dropper post and set the tire's up tubeless if they're not already. Also when the chainring and cassette wear out consider a larger range cassette and smaller chainring to help you up the climbs.

Dropper post is on since I took that pic, a brand x ascent. The rest are good suggestions, tubeless is definitely on the list but I might wait until the existing tyres are won out, I'm not sure how happy they'd be being swapped over to tubeless at the moment. The chainring isn't n/w so that'll get changed up, perhaps even before it wears out depending on how often the chain drops. Still got to work out where my bike fitness is before deciding on what rings to go for!

Really want to start changing up some bits but I really don't need to yet. So tempting though! Already wondering about the forks longer term...

 

[Mikey08]

Ive got a Zee mech on my bike and its only rated up to 36t but I've read on other forums it can manage 42t with a longer B screw. For now Im on a 36t cassette and a 32t chainring and Im finding myself reaching for another shift on some steeper climbs. About to order a 30t chainring.

For forks check out Pinkbike there's usually a few decent mid 2000's straight steerer 26er forks. A really nice FOX 34 Kashima popped up there a few days ago for £150, that got snapped up fast.

 

[malk]

Ive got a Zee mech on my bike and its only rated up to 36t but I've read on other forums it can manage 42t with a longer B screw. For now Im on a 36t cassette and a 32t chainring and Im finding myself reaching for another shift on some steeper climbs. About to order a 30t chainring.

For forks check out Pinkbike there's usually a few decent mid 2000's straight steerer 26er forks. A really nice FOX 34 Kashima popped up there a few days ago for £150, that got snapped up fast.

I'm a bit worried about working out what would be a good replacement without getting something that either just doesn't fit or else screws up the geometry. Looking forward to having a hobby where I can work with my hands a bit but that doesn't mean that I'm not fairly clueless about it all...

 

[malk]

I'd love one of these, it's true my heart skipped a beat when I read the thread title!

I've been having a look at the builds from your sig, impressive stuff, I don't think this is going to end up like those!

 

[Madmax1993]

Ive got a Zee mech on my bike and its only rated up to 36t but I've read on other forums it can manage 42t with a longer B screw. For now Im on a 36t cassette and a 32t chainring and Im finding myself reaching for another shift on some steeper climbs. About to order a 30t chainring.

For forks check out Pinkbike there's usually a few decent mid 2000's straight steerer 26er forks. A really nice FOX 34 Kashima popped up there a few days ago for £150, that got snapped up fast.

I'm a bit worried about working out what would be a good replacement without getting something that either just doesn't fit or else screws up the geometry. Looking forward to having a hobby where I can work with my hands a bit but that doesn't mean that I'm not fairly clueless about it all...

I've got an excellent condition fox Float 32 fork that I would part with. It's for 26" wheels with 15x100mm thru axle. It's a 140mm travel fork, but I believe it can be internally lowered to 130, 120 or 100mm if 140mm is too long for your frame. I've also got the front wheel I was using with it. That's a stans ZTR rim laced on a hope pro II hub. I held onto these parts because they were the best 26" parts I ever owned, but I replaced my Orange Five with a 29er Orange Stage Five, so they are redundant. I would part with both for £175 posted if you're interested? I can pm or post photos here upon request.

 

[jimo746]

Re:

Brilliant! I love my Hummer, I had a Stiffee before it and the Hummer is just as much fun, but lighter and more forgiving, with a 140-150mm fork it's really capable on the downhills, or with less travel it's a great trail bike for longer rides too, I've been using mine as a Singlespeed with a rigid fork up front recently
I think mine is 2009-ish and a Lynsky made frame, yours must be earlier if it has brake bosses on the frame.