Cove Foreplay MX - pic heavy ;)

[mamadirt]

Been playing away on the BMX for a few months - sold all my MTB stuff back in April (all that squish and those big-ass 26" wheels - no thanks) - but couldn't stay away for long, besides which, I love a project

Spotted this recently for not too many $s and as I'm a sucker for all things orange and Cove, decided to go for it. No gears, one brake and 24" wheels (so hopefully I can cram it into my BMX bag for the next US trip)

Paint has cleaned up a treat - stripped the bars black to silver and I've started removing the black respray from the rims and sprocket . . .

Think it's a 2008 or 2009 model (I had a silver grey one - https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D_m6p4mXkAIP48u.jpg). Even wondered if it may have been my original under that orange powdercoat but the welds on this one are a little cleaner. I've contacted Slik Graphics to try to get hold of some older style Foreplay MX decals but have yet to receive a reply. In the meantime it's wearing a set of (crudely made out of paper and lacquer) modern decals to save its modesty

Forks, I think, are Rock Shox Tora or Recon U Turns - work really well but there are cracks starting at the corners of the brace so I've been on the search for a replacement. Just picked up a pair of older Pikes with a bit of stantion wear so a parts swap is on the cards - need to source some 20mm adaptors for the front hub too. This isn't going to be cheap is it?

Welcome to the Hotel California, indeed :facepalm:

 

[stevet1]

Re: Cove Foreplay MX

Lovely, I do like a 24" wheel hardtail.
MD have you ever seen these bikes - http://www.commongroundbikes.com/tech
Really dig the concept

 

[mamadirt]

Re: Cove Foreplay MX

Wow - they look great - cheers for the heads up You had me at "Perhaps most importantly, commonground bikes are made in the USA by FBM." My best achievement was when I made the front page of the FBM site https://www.fbmbmx.com/mamadirt/ - can't believe that was 2012 :shock:

Enjoying a bit of squish up front at the mo but I may well fit a pair of short rigids in the future for a more bmxy feel. Those Commonground bars look perfect though - I have a nice Shadow Conspiracy stem which would compliment them a treat

 

[stevet1]

Re: Cove Foreplay MX

My best achievement was when I made the front page of the FBM site
Awesome Nearly bought an FBM Steadfast frame a few years back but went to Standard Byke Co. instead to get a custom Trail Boss.
Yeah the Commonground stuff all looks good, bars are made by S&M I think. There is a review here and one of my favourite riders Garrett Byrnes seems to get on with it pretty well.
http://canyoudigitbmx.com/creating-new- ... und-bikes/

 

[mamadirt]

Re: Cove Foreplay MX

 

[mamadirt]

Re: Cove Foreplay MX

Rear wheel also cleaned up a treat . . .

Pike resto is well under way too - took days to clean out the grit from inside the lowers but surprisingly the bushings are pretty good. Wish I'd taken a photo when I first opened them up but here's the ebay pic . . .

I was under no illusion that they were sold just for spares and I'd planned on just using the internals and lowers but can't accept that the stantions are toast just yet so I'm going to attempt a resurrection. New decals and a little bit of attention with the wet and dry and nail polish and they're looking loads better already (still need a few more coats but they feel pretty smooth - gotta be worth a shot).

20mm hub inserts have proved to be a problem - the hub is an old NS Bikes non-disc and current inserts don't fit. As it's currently running Hope push-in q/r adaptors (do the job but don't quite cover the bearings) I took a gamble on a used pair of Hope 20mm convertors - with a pair of 3D printed retaining washers/bearing covers they fit perfectly

 

[mamadirt]

All done and running great!

Pikes went back together with no leaks and 3D printed bearing covers were a perfect fit. We'll see how the stantion repair holds up - fingers crossed.

 

[mk one]

that looks loads of fun, where do you ride it? or i should say, on what?

And im interested to know how the forks hold up

Mark

 

[mamadirt]

Cheers! It'll get ridden pretty much everywhere my BMX does in addition to my local woods. I did wonder how I'd fare on the steeper stuff with just a rear brake but it's been fine so far. I'll update later on how the stantion repair holds up.

 

[vtwinvince]

Cool project. I'm on the lookout for a decent Hummer. Just rode by these guy's shop today on the 'shore.