Are upgrades worth it on a budget Walmart mountain bike?

Most of my expensive parts won't even fit on this bike without heavy modifications and stripping this bike all the way down to the frame. Let's get started. All the big parts are removed and there's just two things left that can be pretty difficult to take off. This one is called a square taper bottom bracket. The stock bottom bracket won't work with the cranks that I'm putting on because the cranks have a large through axle and use external bottom bracket bearings. I recommend this tool for removing the cranks and the bottom bracket, although you can get creative like the Tik and I have done by grinding a slot in the bottom bracket and using a big pair of pliers to take them off, although you will ruin the stock bottom bracket. This tool is only $12 on Amazon and it is totally worth avoiding the hassle. Link will be in the description. The last thing to remove are the headset cups. This stock headset won't work because the race that comes on these forks is made for a straight steer tube. These cups can be difficult to remove, but I just splurged and bought this cup removal tool for $19. You can also use a screwdriver and a hammer, but it has potential to scratch the inside of the frame. I picked up this sealed bearing headset for $18 on Amazon. There was a question as to what headset size to use on this bike. The top measures 44mm and the bottom measures 55mm, but check this out, there's some weird ripples on the inside of this head tube. Maybe it's paint drips or poor machining. Now with the difficult parts removed, the frame is completely stripped down and it looks like the frame weighs 4lbs 9.3oz. So let me know in the comments if you think that's heavy. But now, let's install the new headset cups with the plastic mallet. So usually tapping these cups in is not this difficult. Maybe it's the gummed up head tube. I'm sure a headset cup press would make this a lot easier, but I don't want to buy two specialty tools for this build. Now we can start putting this bike back together with all of my overkill parts in no particular order starting with the cranks. I'm going to use the 10 speed Dior groupset that came off the Vitus Mythique. Another strange thing with this frame is the bottom bracket is only 68mm wide instead of the normal 73mm. And that's the normal width of a BMX bike. But it's an easy fix with a few spacers between the bottom bracket cups and the frame on both sides. The Mongoose came with a 7 speed freewheel rear hub that goes up to 38T. Today's mountain bikes come with cassette rear hubs that look like this. So if I want more gears in the back, this rear hub is not compatible with upgrades. Most people would just get a new rear wheel that has a cassette. But in today's climate, they're hard to find right now and a little bit expensive. If you've watched my channel at all, you'll know that I have no problem swapping out hubs and spoking up wheels. It's super easy with a little bit of camera magic and boom! It's complete! Wow! Very nice! I couldn't use the stock hub from the Vitus Mythique because it's 148mm wide and a through axle. The Mongoose can only take 135mm wide hubs with a quick release axle. This rim has a little bit of spray paint on it from a mishap in a recent video. But I think it's going to add to the bike's color scheme. Speaking of which, I really like the color scheme of this bike. When I was buying colored components for this bike, I originally went with orange parts but they just did not match the stickers correctly. So if you're upgrading your Ardor, I recommend red parts because they match the Mongoose sticker much better. This bike's seatpost diameter is 27.2mm, a major misstep by Mongoose in my opinion. They decided to go for a skinny seatpost, which severely limits the dropper seatpost options. The 27.2 dropper posts are more expensive and they're harder to find on the used market. I found this used dropper post for $100 but it's only 100mm travel. The longest travel 27.2 dropper post that I found is 125mm. I'm 5'9 and I'm starting to think that 125mm dropper posts are just too short for me. This skinny seatpost might severely affect my recommendation for this bike. It is time to upgrade the fork! The stock fork feels like a pogo stick and doesn't provide any bump absorption at all. Remember the title of this video is Insane Ardor because in some eyes, putting these parts on a Walmart bike is absolute insanity. But I have to know the full potential of this Ardor. I'm going mullet! Sure this RockShox Yari fork retails for double of what this Ardor costs but I asked the Saga Squad about this and they voted to go mullet. For those that don't know, making your bike a mullet bike means having a taller wheel in the front and a shorter wheel in the back. I've never done it before and I guess it will slacken the headtube angle and make the bike way more fun and stable on the downhills. So the Saga Squad has spoken and I cannot wait to see what the new headtube angle will do. A subscriber commented that the Ardor has a low stack height, which is the measurement from the top of the headtube to the ground minus the bottom bracket height. Which would make the handlebars seem like they aren't high enough which could potentially cause neck and back pain. Luckily the mullet conversion made the stack height 619mm. If I didn't go with this mullet conversion I'd probably get taller handlebars and put more spacers under the stem for a more comfortable ride. The stock bars are nice and wide at 735mm and I want to put on 760mm wide bars because they make the steering less twitchy and more stable. The stock mechanical brakes did not stop very well at all and it was downright scary at times. I picked up these used Magura MT6 brakes for $40 off Facebook. I'm not really sure how old they are but they probably need to be rebuilt. But everyone is always ranting and raving about Magura brakes so I'm pretty pumped to try them out. Plus I'm upgrading the rear rotor size from 160 to 180mm for more stopping power. With the build all complete I'm super curious with what the new geometry will measure out to. The old headtube angle was 66.5 degrees and with this mullet conversion it is now 62.5 degrees. Which I think is as slack as like a downhill bike. And the seat tube angle was 73 degrees and it is now 69 degrees which will recline the seat a little bit and make it a little bit less comfortable while climbing. The stock bike used to weigh 35.8lbs and it is now 30.0lbs. We shed nearly 6lbs off this bike. Alright that's enough building and talking, it's time to go ride. So I'm at the top of the hill again and I'm pretty nervous to hit this drop with this drastically modified geometry. But I gotta know if this bike is worth upgrading or not. I hope the forks don't just snap off.