Building my Sister her First Mountain Bike (and testing it)

If you remember my old Trek Hardtail, you might remember that I gave it to my sister. Well, I have another sister, and she recently asked me for a mountain bike recommendation. Let's build her one!

I used a Diamondback Sync'r Pro alloy frame, which we had converted into a single speed and used for various experiments. This bike was also my daily rider at one point, and had seen a lot of action.

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[NatetheAceOfficial]

"I wanna make it cool. I wanna make it personal. I wanna make it a business expense." Ha! Good on-ya for helping out how you can! Being a good brother!

[Dreamweaver]

For someone who doesn't seem to like to paint, Seth does a pretty damn good job painting frames lol

[phoenixGrassl]

Hey Seth wet sanding works better because the water is acting as a lubricant, so it’s less abrasive than dry sanding, and results in a smoother finish

[wadestewart]

I work in a bike shop and the comment about how dropper posts work just office chairs is something I'm definitely going to use to explain how they work. Thank you.

[sirmyself]

Watching your videos gave me the knowledge and confidence to fix, adjust and clean my parent's bikes as well as my sister's. I may not have the proper setup to true wheels, but I could make do with the brake pads and a ziptie and when they brought it to a bike shop, apparently, they were told there was not much to do with the bike. I discovered your channel in May this year when I was looking for a review for the Trek Marlin 5 and stumbled upon your flip bike for the 29er. I then proceeded to watch almost all of your videos just because of all the high quality content you make.

You keep saying you hope we learn something or at least find your videos entertaining. Let me tell you: it's always both.

Thanks Seth.

[jordanbentley]

Sanding or sharpening with water makes it so the particulate coming off forms a slurry that helps with getting between the cracks/bumps of the surface (i think)

[snbsmtb]

That paint looks sick!! Hope to see more of it in the future Seth!! And that bike deserves to be ridden rather than sitting in a storage unit. Great video though!!

[cgstadler]

Seth- another possible tip for your sister: is that a push shifter? Where you use your thumb to shift both up and down (vs the pointer finger on the other side of the grip).

[ez]

Great build. Your daughter clearly has an eye for color! It’s killer looking. Would you do a parts value breakdown of it similar to what you do for flip bike videos?

[joshuatatro]

As someone who switched to a SRAM 1x11 from a MicroShift 1x9, I can totally see the allure of the Advent setup. I have to adjust the SRAM every so often, but the MicroShift seemed to just stay put and was rock solid in operation the whole time it was on the bike. If you want simple and reliable the Advent 9 or 10 is amazing (not to mention inexpensive).

[bryanwagnerseniormtb]

Nice job Seth! That color reminds me of my wife’s Liv Intrigue with the chameleon galaxy paint, love the color shift. I’m 100% confident your sister will be blown away by your efforts. I’d love to see a video of you and your sister going for a ride together.

[lynxg]

Not one to normally comment, but this deserves one. 100% think that the build you did is perfect, that 9spd Microshift drivetrain, CST BFT tyres, Shimano Brakes all super good, super reliable, your sister will be stoked. Oh also love the colour shift paint, so sweet.

[oldshovel]

Always good to go with the advice from your daughter. 🙌

[ainteasya]

I love how you kept this build battery free. Im sure your sis really appreciated that ❤

[gioac]

Seth, I need to thank you. After watching your videos for a while I started looking for mountain bikes on eBay. Eventually, I found one for very cheap which was exactly the same model of the bike that was stolen from me 8 years ago, and I knew I had to get it right away. Better yet, the bike was in good condition but was clearly overdue for maintenance. I spent an entire weekend fixing the bike and replacing some parts, and you wouldn’t believe how happy I was to get my old bike back in perfectly working condition. I don’t really do a lot of mountain biking, but I like to go for bike rides in the evening while listening to a podcast and hitting a few obstacles like stairs and small jumps around my neighbourhood. It’s a new habit that I’m trying to build that adds a lot of value to my days. Thank you for inspiring me to get back a piece of my childhood that was taken away from me a long time ago.

[pokeypaul]

I hope you remembered to put a Berm Peak sticker on there...

[konishiwoi]

Your daughter was right on the money with the purple accents

[jorgemarquez]

I just spent the previous few days binge watching your videos from most recent to this. Life got in the way and i was unable to keep up. It makes me smile that you send your sister a bike. I remember one of the first videos you made reviewing walmart bikes and having your sister ride them as well when you were in Florida. I've learned from you over the years and its great that you're still doing this. Keep up the great work!!

[JanarTp]

I've been following Seth's videos since way back in Florida and boy, has this guy evolved. From a nerdy car stereo fitter to a professional storyteller, bike mechanic, trail builder, businessman and the doer of good deeds. The most honest and straight forward guy I know in mountain bike business. If you get an advice from Seth or from his videos, you shouldn't get second thoughts, that's the best advice you can get, period. And helping others along the way, no matter if they are siblings or just random active people, that's so cool to see. Seth, you're doing all the right stuff, keep doing it!

[theoutlaw_]

Got my baptism of MTB 2 days ago and absolutely liked my evening. I proceed with the easiest trail then a fast one with nice little berm (did 3 nice run on it) then just went for a higher level one, of course I did avoid the drop and mostly pumped the jumps at the beginning but I started getting some height after a couple ones and took the berm like a champ. I will definitely work hard to get to a good level and build more confidence in my riding. Thanks for all the advices you gave through your videos and as a mechanic, you're a reference for certain hacks that I use myself personnally. Continue your great work and continue sending it like you're used to !