Refreshing Handjob

paul.skibum

I have brought my old Cove Handjob (2006 edition I seem to recall) to Canada with me following a recent trip home. Plan is to rebuild it, respray it and give it a new lease of life.

This is how it looked a couple of years back (not ridden much since then as it sbeen in UK and I have been in BC)


Here's how it looks out of its shipping packing


Spec wise we are looking at some pretty high end stuff!
Frame - Cove Handjob XC 16"
Fork - Marz MX Comp ETA 2003
F Brake - Hope M4 Braided Hose
R Brake - Magura Julie
Cranks - Deore Hollowtech 2
Rear Mech - Shimano LX long cage
Front Mech - Shimano Deore
Shifters - Deore
Seatpost - Race Face Evolve XC
Saddle - SDG Bel Air
Stem - Club Roost Conrod
Bar - Easton EA70
Grips - Worn Tokens
Wheels - pretty buckled
Tyres - pretty worn

So I am thinking:

Strip and respray
XT 10 spd groupset
Wheelset (not sure - Hope 2 with Crest?)
XT brakes
RS Recon U turn forks off my Heckler
Gravity Droper Post

Colour wise I am thinking either yellow, green or orange (all with black finishing kit).

Thoughts?

Anonymous

Team green Kawasaki..

cat_with_no_tail

Orange

paul.skibum

http://www.advanced-metal.com/colors.html

RAL 2005 - orange
Or
RAL 1026 - Yellow
or
RAL 6032 - Signal Green /RAL 2011 Deep Orange (from http://www.hanepowdercoating.co.uk/ral-colour-chart.php)

cat_with_no_tail

RAL 2011 Deep Orange

The Rookie

Purple......metallic of course. Looks like it will be a nice bike....

paul.skibum

The plan is to consolidate my biking a bit - I currently have the Handjob, 2001 Heckler and 2009 Big Hit. I figure my main riding is trails/all mountain with the occassional bike park day so I am going to sell the Heckler and the Big Hit and get an all mountain bike capable of standing occassional bike park days.

I have ridden the heckler in the park and its ok with most of what I ride, a bit out of its depth on the blacks and a bit too flexy for the berm to berm trails.

So the Handjob is going to be winter trail riding and for those days I cant be bothered to haul an AM bike up the hills. Plus it is still a firm favourite of mine to ride (did the Marin Trail on it 2 weeks back and it was just great, wobbly wheels and all!)

paul.skibum

The Beginner wrote:

Purple......metallic of course. Looks like it will be a nice bike....

I was considering RAL 4011 from the first link (Metallic signal violet I think)........

EH_Rob

I presume an additional motivation for doing this bike up was to allow you to create a thread with this title.

Which is completely valid.

Look forward to seeing it refreshed!

70\ʹspenguin

I much prefer the look of the older model Handjobs than the newer because i prefer the seat-stays in line with the TT. Ive always liked the pixie blue they did, so my choice would be RAL6027. However, of the choices you present, personally id go for the green.

paul.skibum

Not a big fan of that pale blue. Got an email out to the local company to check on colour availability.

ilovedirt

I say orange. Looking forward to seeing this done, I love those frames

fat_homer

Orange gets my vote as well

paul.skibum

Orange it will be I think, powdercoaters have confirmed they have the orange (2011) in stock.

Stripped averything bar one stubborn BB cup and the heatset cups off last night, decals and odd bits of tape covering bare metal bits peeled off and she is ready to head off for blasting and coating......photos in due course....

paul.skibum

So after a quick budget re-assessment I am looking at:

SLX groupset and brakes
FSA Orbit XL2 Headset
Crest on switch evo in black from Superstar
Race face stem and bars
Probably keep my old RF seat post for time being - gravity dropper will follow eventually
Still uncertain on the forks - if I sell my heckler it might be better with its U turn fork on it so I either buy a new fork or stick with the old faithful bomber.....

Anonymous

Any updates yet!

I know a bloke who is selling a mint set of revelations in back 140mm travel

paul.skibum

I am dropping it into the powdercoaters tomorrow - got a before shot so when I have an after as well I will get them on here. Not sure how long its going to take to get back.

Revs at 140 would be far too much for what was a 100mm recommended travel frame. The new ones are 115mm so I am figuring my version might be good for that but its such a sweet handler at 100mm I will prob stick to that.

paul.skibum

So a RAL 2004 (Orange) with glitter clear coat is being applied - should get it back Sat week, people doing the work showed me frankly vast varieties of colours and finishes that were all order in but they could do the colour I orginally picked and a clear coat finish pretty much straight off so I went for that. The range of colours available for powder coating are endless its amazing!

paul.skibum

So after something of a delay caused by illness at the powder shop and then work interfering with my ability to pick up the bike then a misplaced facing tool, my frame is back from the powdercoating.

Before:


After:






It's really nicely finished. Very happy with it.

I am not hurrying to build it due to the white stuff in the first photo inhibiting riding but I am planning to order the parts after new year and get into it. Target finish date is mid March for spring riding in the valley!

JMcP92

Progress - good
Thread title - fantastic

paul.skibum

After a 3 plus month hiatus during which time my frame sat on a bookcase looking all forlorn, I finally found time and impetus to get it built.

After some soul and bank searching I decided that my consolidation of my bike collection was going to have to wait. In a change of plans I am back in the UK and riding here and have brought my Handjob back with me. I built it up back in Canada using primarily parts off my Heckler so its not as high spec as originally planned but looks pretty good to me!

paul.skibum

Want to get some Slikgraphics decals for it - mainly the Cove wording for the downtube and the skull for the headtube.

Also need some bottle cage bolts and I am thinking of some new tyres probably in a 2.1 flavour as those make it look like a fat bike !

The Rookie

I'm liking it as it is actually, very understated!

Have plenty of cage bolts, flyweight nylon or lightweight stainless steel if you want to mount a cage, drop me a PM if you want a pair cheap.

paul.skibum

Went into Crank Cyles in Alton and the very friendly chap in there gave me an old tube to make a chainstay protector and 4 bolts to fill the bottle mounts. I bought a fender bender for the coming weekend in Wales but looks like the rain might hold off!

paul.skibum

Some updates for the hardtail

Its will be getting the SLX drivetrain off my Bronson and going 1x10 shortly. I bought a 36t narrow wide which combined with the 11-36 cassette will suit easy valley trails in Whistler whilst still giving road top end. Will fit a bashguard as the ring is a little bigger but its a shame to hide the Raceface ring as its kinda nice looking.



Awaiting that CRC delivery now - should be here midweek....

ej2320

Nice handjob!

paul.skibum

Getting bored waiting for my CRC order to make its way through customs so I can 1x10 my Bronson and trickle down the parts from it to the Cove so decided to chuck the Raceface NW ring on the Cove now and run it 1x9 for the time being.

Chain set had been 2x9 with retainer device and bash for a while now:


Bars suitably cluttered:


Whipped off the 2 old chainrings, mech, chain retention device and shifter - total weight 444g including cables and chainring bolts. Chucked on 36t NW (weight - 50g) for a total saving of 394g.







Will ride to work on her tonight and see how it feels and works - bench test suggests quieter gears and good chain alignment.

paul.skibum

Road ride in to work and she runs smooth - gear ratio is easy for road 36t to 11t gives a decent amount of grunt on my commute and never needed anything beyond the 15t - ran it through thte rear cog twice in both directions just to check shifting and chain retention, all good and didnt shake the chain off dropping it off a well gnarly kerb!

The Rookie

Nice mods, looking like a sweet fire road + bike...if it's 1x9 isn't that a 34 largest on the rear?

paul.skibum

Was a 9 speed but I upgraded the Bronson to XT mech and cassette when I went 1x10 on there so the SLX 10 speed kit trickled down to the Handjob. Still a great ride, will probably see some use early winter once my thumb is better.

paul.skibum

Couple of winter "upgrades" for the hardtail - made myself some DIY snow tyres for winter trails and commuting - grabbed some old used tyres off a mate and chucked a number of 5/8 and 3/4 screws through the nobbies, lined them with a sliced inner tube and voila - job done. The front is a High Roller DH casing so on the bike with the screws and liner it weighs a ton. The rear is a Nobby Nic folding bead.

The front had a little contact with the fork arch but I trimmed the screws with a pair of side cutters and its good now - noisy as hell on the road but seems to work well enough. Considered the DH for the rear but it definitely would have interferred with the frame.

Also chucked a light on the bars - basic chinese number, got the same one on my lid. All set to go!