This $130 MTB Air Fork works great until it doesn’t 

I put one of these forks on my 12 year old son's bike and it has worked flawlessly for his riding. Most spring forks are too stiff for light riders, this fits the bill perfectly for them.

Might be a good idea for the next iteration of the Smeasher to put the weight into some sort of a guide to ensure precise falling and hitting in the same spot

This fork is basically a meme in the Philippine biking community.

I love these budget builds and I’ve ran many of the typical budget parts myself but the fork is something I definitely recommend saving up for a good entry $200-300 name brand fork.

The BOLANY brand of fork here in the Philippines is considered a joke of a fork (arch breaks easily, stanchions breaking in half, very hazardous, etc.) -- ppl here tend to lean towards the Suntour Epixon or Manitou Markhor .. or if futher in a budget, the XCR Suntour fork non air, coil version (those 3 i recommend for the walmart bike you bought recently heh) love watching your vids!

I hear $130 fork. I’m buying now.

I"m so glad that you will be giving Suntour products a decent run in future videos instead of beating on their least expensive offerings. That seems important for educating new riders.

To really make the Kent trail ready you should put a PNW dropper on it

Love these videos with the budget bike! Definitely interesting to see you ride it and upgrade it. Great work!

Dude, your cinematography on this video was awesome. You could definitely make some cool short films in the future!😉

Love how Seth kept the dork disc on in keeping with the bike's roots.

I miss the trail building videos!! When are we gonna see more of that?

When you settle on a 'this is good enough' upgraded build of this bike, you should total it all up and see what you can find on the new and used market around that price and see how they compare.

I love that you take the time to investigate these. Btw when you say the SR Suntour can be left in the backyard for 10 years... some of their new forks degrade very quickly under normal use, stuck wheel axles because of rust are common after a few weeks.

Just like you mentioned, the suntours will bend bcoz they have steel steerer tubes which is also why they are heavy, they will bend but it will allow you to get home...those balony forks tho have been known to snap at the stanchions...i am not sure tho if they have addressed that issue with these new versions. The prices are also a lot different, the balony retails for around $80-90 here in Asia...the xcr air around $120 but i guess shipping them to the US is more expnsive than frpm Taiwan to us neighbor countries

Love this series on the Kent Trouvaille....and upgrades.

LOVE your videos! Prob some of the best editing too!!

As this is a budget build, I think it would be interesting to make a cost rundown at the end, to get a reference vs other entry bikes from major MTB companies. (Edit : typos)

Amazing videos, thank You for the detailed part reviews !

Those Bolany, ZTZ, Lutu, and Bucklos forks seem to use the same parts. I had a Bucklos air fork for my 90lb son. It was smooth out of the box, but it got lots of stiction after 1 trail ride. I tried regreasing the stantions but that only helped for a really short time. The stiction is even too much for little kids and exasperates the small bumps. If going budget fork, go for the Suntour air fork. My old Epixon is still working flawless and smooth as ever...I did regrease the stantions and oil the foam rings and put 5ml of oil in the air chamber. It feels smoother than my Rockshox 35 Gold.

Sweet work there. I really enjoy your videos. Thanks.

I love all the Kent stuff. I'm trying to get my kid to pick one up so we can follow along with your upgrades. It's looking pretty sweet already.

Thanks for giving us your imputs about low cost bikes and parts for those who want to enjoy the trails but can't afford a better hardware... now this Kent Trouvaille will be almost at the same level and configuration my GT Avalanche 2020 has, with the XCR32 .. I like the bike the way it is right now, but I'm looking forward for your impressions! Best regards from Brazil, I love your channel Seth!

Honestly pretty excited to see you build the Kent up. I have a similar bike I am building up for friends to ride and needs alot of the same type of upgrades.

I have a set of those Suntour forks on my trike and they’ve saved my wrists from so much pain. My trike, while fully suspended is a Land Cruiser, it’ll do asphalt and dirt roads with corrugation but won’t do mountain trails but that’s okay since that isn’t what I built it for. I’ve had these Suntour forks for 2 years so far and I’ve had zero issues with them. They’ve definitely got my stamp of approval for a budget set of forks

That Snake Pit shirt is the first youtuber swag that has actually tempted me. Well done!

Great and useful video, thanks A LOT!

I rock the Zoom brakes. They've been flawless for 2 years with regular maintenance

Just went hiking in Pisgah for the first time this weekend! Was awesome to experience your neck of the woods, so pretty especially this time of year.

Love your videos Seth 💙

Excellent B-Roll in this video 🙌🙌

Good to see the xcr air. I've been running it for 2 years on an upgraded rockhopper and it's been fantastic

The production quality on this video is amazing

Hell yeah, the trade-in program rocks for the air-fork upgrade. Did it for my old Fuji and it feels pretty damn good.

Here in Philippines, the Bolany forks are cost around 2,000 Philippine pesos higher, ( almost like 34 US dollars higher ) but there is alot of rumours that it can break easily around the crown arch.

Ty for the video Seth n_n Love the Ken trouvaill videos lol

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Keep up the good work Seth

2:19 Oscar is so deep in thought right there, maybe "I can't put up with his suspension shenanigans any longer, i mean look at this"

Seth, I threw one of these Balogna forks on the wife's Diamondback Lux and it stayed for less than 2 miles around the neighborhood. During normal light braking to slow down for a 4 way stop, the fork lower and upper juddered uncontrollably. I did a full tear down and rebuild thinking it was maybe just a loose top cap or seal somewhere. Nope. Just terribly fitted seals. Returned and threw on a $200 Manitou Markhor. Completely day and night difference for the better.

I really like this series

Im glad to hear you're still liking the zoom breaks. I just picked up the one's you linked on amazon for my girlfriend's Liv tempt we bought her this past summer for about $600

Excellent vid Seth! I hope Walmart are watching this and put all these components together on a new bike for less than we can buy them all individually for 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Great info on the forks, now i'm thinking of buying a Kent and using it on some local trails that aren't too gnarly. Good budget ride .

Seth putting his life on the line to test a 130$ amazon fork for us 😂

that bologna will be perfect for me currently...im glad you did this, im gonna get one

Love these video wonder what is next for the bike

I enjoyed the “Seth you should use a snatch bolt” part… I didn’t even make the thing and I was annoyed with all the “experts” that showed up in the comments of the “making of the shmeasher“ video. You could be dropping an apple down on these things and you’d still be MY hero ;)

love your videos hope you have great day!!!

I just put that Microshift derailleur on one of my bikes, and it has been fantastic! If you are just a weekend warrior who does primarily intermediate riding, save some money over the Shimano/SRAM alternatives and look at Microshift.

Love the content and some great trails. Might run into you one day on them!

Great video as always! I bought the 26" 120mm travel version of this fork a while back and was able to roll up small logs and even curbs with ease. Great for all but the gnarliest jank, but maybe not for jumping.

The Bolany fork might not be a good choice for extremely technical, tough downhill like you put it through. BUT, for the price, it's probably good upgrade for someone doing light XC and mostly green trail riding. I'm sure it soaks up the bumps a lot better than a spring fork.

Love the channel, birthdays on the 12th!

I use to have one of those generic air forks, one thing is for sure, if it has the same compression switch same as yours then it is definitely a generic "rebranded" air fork which doesn't last long. You can check every generic fork in the market and you'll see that they all have the same compression switch and built. They just change the sticker brands 😅 But yeah they are good for kids bikes which doesn't get that much beating. Now I upgraded to Suntour XCR airfork which is quite known for durability and it works very well. Thanks for the good and honest review.

Love the videos!

I’m loving the b-roll with Oscar, such a cute French bulldogs

4:10 I swear the beat and his words had me thinking he bout to spit some fire

Hi Seth I have the same fork as you do and for the long term review is the lock out is not the best but that all of my complaints now the lock out is not working but so far it's still good af after 2 years I only service it once

You’re definitely working under laboratory conditions. This is science at its finest.

That final xcr 32 came with my bike, I thought I'd swap it straight away but 18 months later and I can't fault it, rock shox equivalent would be a little lighter but can't fault the performance!

Great video !!

Number 1 Channel ever!

May I give you props for the purple ano cable end on the kent? Judging by the grey streaked through your beard and head... We shed some blood in the same late 80s to 90's mud... purple ano is the symbol of OG.

Oscar munching down grass to help Seth mow the lawns, very thoughtful of you buddy.

When you're done building this, you should tally all costs and compare it with a factory bike of equal price. Is it worth it ??

Today I covered over 8,000 km with this shock absorber. Go for it without servicing. I only cleaned the shavings with a cloth and sprayed some silicone from above onto the seals. After winter riding, the gold anode began to come off the leg where the fork works. But it's not the fork's fault, it's the snow and salt on the roads. I have it installed in a 500w electric bike. My weight is between 75 and 80 kg. The fork also survived many trips with panniers and luggage on the handlebar. For this price, if it falls apart, I will gladly buy another one just like it.

Seth- I’m loving this series. As you take the the bike to its final form, can you list the new total price at the end of each episode?

Dude I love the t-shirt design. I’m going to pick up a sweatshirt forsure!!

Seth! I have had that fork on my bike for 2 years. I bought it mid 2020 to get me through the season. I wish I could send you my bike to review. It’s the mega budget bike

Love to see these budget builds. Not all of us can afford 5k bikes every 6 months like you see all of these people doing. I myself have done a VERY similar build on an old DB hardtail and I DO ride it on just about everything except large jumps. My budget air fork has held up at bike parks and everywhere else. Very impressed with the difference between it and the suntour coil that used to be on it. That coil fork was junk and failed almost immediately (or maybe I'm just too hard on it). If I have one complaint about the budget fork it is this, the amount of flex it has when doing extreme riding scares the hell outta me. Granted, I do not have some tremendous amount of experience with a bunch of different forks like Seth to know how much flex is considered "normal". If you are riding greens then a budget air fork is a great upgrade for you. But if you are doing more blues and blacks then I would strongly suggest getting something maybe a bit more expensive that HOPEFULLY will be stronger, even though I myself have done these with my budget air fork and it didn't kill me... yet... Pray for me boys 😆

Oscar the lawn mower at the end. So content.

its great to see the smeasher back😁

I love how you kept the dork disc on there. haha

Love the fact that Seth is using mm as a unit of measurement. Much more scientific and accurate, not to mention easier to understand.

Love the shirt 🤘❤️

ive had 2 of these bologna forks and they are a great cheap upgrade but the magnesium lowers arent very strong on one of the forks I snapped off where the quick release skewer goes but that was after some jump trails and rocky downhill they're a great cheap upgrade for a light to intermediate rider

That was a great vid! My son rides my old ‘Trek 3500’ bike (the fork has had it’s day). I may look for a new fork for it. 👍

900k soon 🤩👏🔥

Ahahaha, that Snake Pit shirt is epic. I love it.

That merch is METAL AF!

I ran Bolany before. Even I rode with it for more than 1 year without issues, I will not recommend it. There are lots of videos showing the fork break easily, particularly the steerer tube. SR Suntour is a trustworthy brand, I trust it more on lifetime than the Bolany even it's heavier. Also, Bolany on Amazon costs higher than on Aliexpress. On the latter, it costs around 60 USD.

That first drop hurt my soul! 😂

Starting out in MTB, my first trail ride destroyed by cheap coils. So I bought a Bolany air fork. It actually did last I guess a few months. I started getting better at mountain biking but the fork was a clear limit. Being very gentle with it and constantly maintaining. One day I decided all caps are off, I'll send it throughout the entire 4km trail. I did (with only one little jump as it's mostly an XC trail). It came out no good at all. It doesn't lock anymore, it barely compresses and when it does it just snaps back up. I tried to look into fixing it, but the cost of fixing it is so close to buying a new one I ditched the fork entirely for an SR Suntour Epixon. The SR Suntour Epixon, right off the bat, is definitely a waaaaaay, waaaaay superior fork than a Bolany. Not to mention insanely easy maintenance and if anything goes wrong parts are so easy to find. Plus shops are familiar with it and it does have official support. TLDR, go straight for an SR Suntour Epixon or RockShox Recon I guess... skip the Bolany because you'll just end up going with an Epixon or Recon in the end. My Epixon have been going strong even with some jumps and red trails for 5 months now with no real maintenance required yet and still feels as good as it started with. Same for my friend's Recon as well.

I waited 3 weeks for an update on the Kent was worth it👍

Took that fork to a jump line (was a broke highschooler) after 3 fun laps, it bottomed out and locked out permanently on the 4th lap . Ended up getting thrown over a berm and tacoing my rim that cost more then the fork… it was during covid and one of the only forks you could get but definitely learned my lesson

Another enjoyable and informative video, thanks crew! Nice relaxing music at 4:05 🙂 I have a bit weird question: can a cheap budged fork likewise XCM30 itself be reconfigured into something better anyhow (like air, oil or better coil system at least)?

Dude!! Bennett Gap on a Walmart hard tail!! Seth, you're a beast!!

I have that derailuer on my mtb and it has treated me well

Oscar's definitely lovin' the grass😁

The kent is dope with the amazon fork and all the other upgrades. You've made the best out of the "worst" parts. Cheapest dropper next?

I'm running a Himalo Drift on my shitbike. Its kinda impressive how passable the cheap stuff is getting now. I swapped out pretty much everything on the department store frame I bought all for less than an entry level hardtail and it performs better than the few I've tested. Probably won't last as long as good quality stuff but honestly the building, servicing and testing out these things is more fun than just regular riding lol.

As I was watching you, you uploaded

OMG, kast 20 secondsa are priceless!!

That suntour XCR fork is a great option. We have them on a few of our rental bikes and they are bomb proof. They will do thousands more km that the coil suntour without any servicing and still work like a dream.

Awesome video, stoked to see the Suntour installed too. One thing though, can you start selling hats? I'd totally rock a berm peak hat.

nice review and comparison... i used bolany fork

1:24 dog thought: "I got nothin to do with this wonton destruction of perfectly good equipment"

the new background music is lit

my canyon stoic came with one of the beefier xcr's and its handled everything I've thrown at it although it might be a bit heavy it definitely gives me more confidence than the cheap amazon fork i had on another bike