Kona Scrap '04 Ultimat.E

Final evolution of my Kona Scrap!
Ultimat.E stands for Ultimate Enduro, a rather fitting name if you ask me ;-)

I'm kinda proud of what I accomplished with this build.
The bike as come a long way since I first bought it in 2008 as a dirt jumper. Literally all the parts, aside from the frame itself, have been changed, and I think I achieved my objective: a hard-tail that can do everything and is a lot of fun to ride...even with very old school geometry (68º head angle, 71º seat angle) and a short dropper post that doesn't allow me to have the seat as low as I would wish (only 100mm drop)...ohh and also 26'' wheels!
This bike descends well enough and as taken 15 years of beating without a single crack on the frame.

Since the last iteration of the bike, it as been improved with modern drive-train, 4 pot brakes and wider rims.

The fork's steerer tube was cut too short by the previous owner and I couldn't increase the stack height up front. I found a solution with a steerer tube extension made by Oliver @blueliquidlabs. The bike is now a lot better in the steep sections! ahah

Since the bike was full of chips and scratches, I sought out to fix the paint myself, using spray paint. After some sanding, I used a primer first to protect the aluminium and a protecting coat after painting. I tried to match the original color as best as I could and, although it's not a perfect job, it's still a lot better than before. Some scratches on the forks and on some logos were fixed with black nail polish...it did the job well.
Also made my own chain-stay and BB shell protector out of thick 3M mastic rubber and covered some parts of the frame with foam and thinner mastic tape to avoid accumulated dirt and mud but mainly to try make it look Pro. (ahhahahaha)

I also added a modern Black Kona cog head-tube badge since the original painted one was badly scratched. Also added some custom decals:
Ultimat.E - the rather fitting name...#longlivechainsaw (don't have to explain that one) and ♥mountainbikecuredmycancer♥ CR, in honor of my wife, who named this bike "the cancer bike" due to the fact that I always fond that there was always something to fix or to improve.

She can rest assured now, this project is complete!
On to the next one!! ahahhahaha