Walmart MTB Upgrades! Will it explode or improve?

You guys wanted me to upgrade the Kent Trouvaille, and so that's what we're doing. We started with a brand new Walmart Mountain bike that LOOKED like it had a lot of potential. After fixing some serious problems with the assembly, we took the Kent Trouvaille for a ride only to blow the bottom bracket bearings. We also dropped a chain or two, and found out that the brakes aren't all that great.

Today, we install a new crankset, bottom bracket, and front chainring. This will obviously solve the blown bottom bracket, but also improve chain retention with a machined aluminum front chainring. Yes, a derailleur with a clutch would be nice, but in my experience the chain will still drop unless you have a proper chainring up front.

Next, we installed Zoom hydraulic disc brakes off Amazon so we'd have a fighting chance on a long descent. All in all, the bike and the upgrades now cost $521. For a bike with a 1x9, hydraulic disc brakes, and a Suntour fork with a lockout, that's a pretty impressive price. Will the bike perform impressively?

Videos 2 weeks early • Exclusive articles • Discussions • You’re in control!

Keep in mind I have not long-term tested these hydraulic disc brakes. Also I had to swap the levers because they were set up with the front and rear swapped. If you live in Britain or a lot of other places this will be fine right out of the box.

This is a crankset, external BB, and machined aluminum chainring. As long as you keep your expectations realistic for $55, this is pretty darn impressive.

Berm Peak Hoodies, Beanies, Jerseys, Shirts

Music in this video is from

[BermPeakExpress]

I’m also attempting to buy a set of Shimano MT200’s from a “questionable” seller for a really good price. I placed the order and should have them by October! Historically I have been able to get these super cheap, but lately there are a lot of scams. From Jenson you can get the front and rear separate for a bit more than the Zooms, but you need to wait a few months. I’d love it if this seller comes through with them because Shimano is a lot more reputable!

[GokkunGuru]

I rode a DH trail yesterday on mechanical cable brakes. The amount of arm pump and wrist pain by the end of the ride was unbearable. Definitely hydraulic brakes!

[jackpiki]

I would absolutely love to see the 180$ Amazon air fork! Great video as always Seth, cant wait for the new updates 👍😁

[jaredturner]

I would be interested to see how that bike would compare to an entry level trek or giant!

[krunkikrofna]

Seth just sending everything on a walmart bike while i wouldn't try half of the features on a 10k dollar bike. Pure skill

[arterca]

Just a heads up, Suntour has a trade in program for their forks. Your XCM forks would be good for that. You can get higher tier forks for a pretty substantial discount (need proof of purchase ofc). Cheapest set they would have is around $200 so a little more than the $150 Amazon ones but i really dig the program. It's a great way to help people on a budget. I bought my bike years ago and wish i still had the receipt otherwise i probably would take advantage of it. If i had the budget though... Right now i would be buying the SR Suntour AXON WERX F RL-RC 15QLC-TI sitting at a cool $1000 discount on their site.

[aaronswope]

I would be curious to see how the suntour fork upgrade program compares to a cheap Amazon air fork

[Haydenismyusername]

It’d be so cool to see a whole series on the premise of “best bang for your buck”… Move over ‘Flip Bike’, here comes ‘Cheap Bike’! Love what you all are doing. Keep it up!

[ryanmarotta]

Hey Seth, if you want to upgrade the derailer, microshift makes that same advent nine speed derailer but with a clutch. I’m running it right now, and the clutch is damn good for $60!

[xavierhulbert]

I would really love to see how one of those Amazon air forks holds up. I’m delaying getting one for my budget hardtail.

[tmitche]

I think that buying second hand still beats out this. I bought my boardman mtr 8.6 (with a fork upgrade) for £550

[chuckdaley]

Always fun stuff, Seth! I think that an interesting continuation of this video - at least for people looking to get into mountain biking - would be to compare it to an entry level mtb from Trek, Giant, Specialized, etc etc. For instance a Marlin 4 is about $625 and a Talon is $600. Is it worth spending the extra $75-100, or is purchasing the Kent and doing some minor upgrades a better option? Either way, you're a had working man and we appreciate the great content!

[willlange]

You can ride super bike you want, but this experiment really speaks to a huge group of folks. Congrats for not losing touch with the community. And just a really well produced video. So entertaining. Beers on me if you ever get to Bentonville again 😉

[Valentin]

I also have a history of a bike for the best price, but my budget was about $1, 000. I was able to buy a brand new Trek marlin 7 for just 720$, and then +50$ for a new Air Rockshox Judy (in addition to amount from selling stock fork) and +$60 for good tires. As a result I got my dream bike, and I still have some money to upgrade)

[Alttabbins]

You should find one of those chain guides you talked about in your old videos. That might be a good solution. For the next upgrades, I'd look at touch points. Those pedals look barely good enough. It would be interesting to see some budget minded grips and pedals and if it would be worth it.

[jerryzheng]

Personally me, I think a “Flip-Bike” approach would be as good/if not better than a Kent Trouvaille build. I recently bought a Trek Xcalibur for $200 and it was a steal, and I can put even more new parts on it and have it better than the Kent. But it is completely just luck when you go on Facebook marketplace - sometimes for $200 you can get some awful department store bike, or like a slightly dated entry level hardtail.

[mountainbikeman.]

Hey Seth keep up the good work I love your channel

[RinoaL]

Looks like you can get a lot of fun out of it for that price.

[allanreyes]

Decent upgrades Seth! You are correct, the fork needs to be changed to an air fork and probably change to a decent set of tires meant for the type of ride you have done or you are about to do when there is reasonable wear and tear on the tires. However, it might be better to get a $1, 000.00 built bike that may have all the upgrades that you are looking for since the additional upgrades may be close to the $1, 000.00 price tag. I don't live in the US and I may be wrong with my estimate price wise. Nevertheless, great content! Cheers!

[SlowDelSol]

I had a RockShox Judy Silver TK on a similar build, really nice fork for under 200. Tires would also massively improve it. I’m so stoked for this build.