Building my Sync'r Carbon Hardtail from Parts

This is Diamondback's new Hardtail, the Sync'r Carbon. It will be available later this year, but for now it's just a frame with no

parts

. Diamondback hasn't figured all that out yet. If you've ever built a bike from the frame up, you know it's easy to forget

parts

and tools. I mean, look at all this stuff! You'll inevitably forget your seatpost clamp, grips, or any number of special wrenches, and you'll surely find out when it's too late to do anything about it. But today we are taking this to the end. This will not be a detailed tutorial, but rather a synopsis of the build of this bike.

Some of these parts are from my official channel sponsors, Diamondback Bikes, Box Components and Slime Sealant. The rest of the parts were contributed by other friends of this channel. To be transparent, thank these companies for their support and reduce the number of "what part was that?" comments, I will go into details as construction progresses. That being said, get ready to have fun. It's new bike day and this time we can build it. The first thing I like to do is set up the wheels. These TR41 wheels were provided by Box Components. Box also provides this 50 tooth cassette.

As with any metal-on-metal interface, we will apply grease first. From there, the cassette simply slides on and stays in place with a locking ring, tightened with a cassette tool and a large wrench. Now, install these 2.8” Havoc Pro tires provided by Kenda. Because these rims and tires are tubeless ready, I leave a section open for sealant. Many people ask if this is the same Slime available in auto parts stores, and the answer is no! This is their tubeless formula, available online and in bike stores. It's not always easy, but with a little gorilla action most tires can be installed without a lever, reducing the risk of damaging the bead or rim tape.

With a burst of air, the tires snap into place and we are ready to mount the brake rotors. I'm using 180mm slotted rotors, provided by TRP. But, but, you're not supposed to use a drill because... I know. I just screw them in most of the way with the drill and then hand tighten them. Nothing is going to explode, everything will be fine. Next, I'll lightly clamp the frame to the stand so we can get to the good stuff. Let's start with the bottom bracket provided by Raceface. Although this frame is

carbon

, the bottom bracket shell is machined from aluminum, so we can apply grease and thread these bearings as usual.

I am using a spacer on the side of the drive to achieve the correct width. And of course I'm missing the right wrench for this bottom bracket. So I'll do what everyone else does. Raceface also provides these Next R

carbon

cranks and this 30-tooth wide and narrow chainring. Coupled with that 50 tooth cassette, you should be able to climb very slowly. From there, the crankset slides into the bottom bracket and over the axle by simply turning this 8mm hex bolt. Next, more bearings. I bought some headphones online but forgot to order racing, so I stole them from another bike to make this build a reality.

After applying some carbon paste and lining up the tracks with a mallet, I'll use a press to sink them into the frame. In the absence of a crown tool, I will carefully tap it into the fork with the plastic side of my mallet. Let's talk about this fork. This bike originally received an MRP Ribbon coil, but it didn't appear in time for this build. That was my fault. So I took a Fox 36 off another bike, took it to my friends at Squatch, and asked them to reduce the travel from 160mm to 140mm. The fact that they had the parts in stock and were able to verify over the phone that they fit is a testament to what a great staff Squatch has.

The result was a great fork with the perfect setup for this frame, but I'm still hoping my Ribbon arrives in time to ride this bike. Installing a fork and installing a headset are actually the same task. The large bearing goes on the bottom, the small bearing on the top, then the compression ring, then the dust cover. Finally the spacers, the stem and the top cap. Now we're ready for these Box One drop bars, but first we need to reduce their width to 770. To do that, I'll clamp them to the work stand, line up my hacksaw, and prepare to be careful.

According to the safety enthusiasts in my comments section, coal dust is like anthrax. With the bars in place, we can move on to the fun stuff. I just received the derailleur hanger this morning, which fortunately came with the correct screws. For shifting we'll be using the Box Two 11-speed derailleur, a less expensive version of its Box One counterpart. It works with that 50-tooth cassette, features an all-new clutch, and a unique cage style. I'm excited to try this long term. To link the drivetrain, I'm installing this rose gold Box Hex Lab chain, which already appears to be the right size for this gear combination.

Now we can set up the cockpit, starting with all the levers and these Box One grips. First we'll set up the dropper post which is routed internally. I'm using a 150mm Raceface Turbine R seatpost and a thumb lever. Thanks to this access port at the bottom of the frame, hooking everything up is pretty easy. With a seatpost installed, we no longer need to attach the mount to the frame. Now for some stopping power, courtesy of TRP. These Slate G Spec 4 piston brakes have tons of modulation, use mineral oil, and come with really long hoses ready to go.

Of course, they also come with everything you need to shorten them. Simply unscrew the hose, trim it to size, fit a new insert, slide in the bolt and then the olive. I'll bleed them later since we probably introduced some air into the system. Let's move on to the calipers that simply bolt onto the frame and fork. To align them, leave the bolts slightly loose to allow the caliper to move, hold down the brake lever to center it, and then, while continuing to tighten the lever, tighten the bolts to hold the caliper in place. Perfect. While we work on the cabin, it's time to dial in the changes.

Back on the derailleur, these limit screws determine how far up or down the cassette you are allowed to shift. Screw b determines how close the top pulley can get to the gears. This bolt holds the cable in place and this barrel adjuster on the shifter can make precise adjustments to the tension. Of course, it changes like a dream. And with that, we get to the fine details, like adjusting the lever angles and installing all the other things I forgot. There are also these pedals. Raceface was completely sold out of black Chesters, so yeah. I haven't even crashed this bike yet and it's already black and blue.

And look what just appeared. My Ribbon coil fork. Alright, let's do this. And with just a few hiccups, we've built a killer

hardtail

bike. If you could rank all the bikes in the world by their beauty, I'm sure the top spot would go to a

hardtail

. They look incredibly good. But we can only look at this bike for so long. I would have done a real test for you, but it's getting late and I need to pack this for a trip. By the time this video airs, I'll be pushing this hardtail to its limits in the Rocky Mountains.

Stay tuned next week for an all-day ride on the longest day of the year. Oh yeah, and let me know what you think of the blue pedals. Thanks for traveling with me today and we'll see you next time.