So today was NBD, and like most things it’s about want vs need. When I got my Electra 7D about a year and 1/2 ago I wanted the Fat Tire version but being the end of the year they went NLA and I wanted a bike so I picked up the 7D and I’ve been happy and with no real complaints. Hasn’t stopped me from changing things but its a really nice riding bike.
I do think some of the roads where I live are a little tough on it, the tires are definitely not up to snuff and even with the 34 tooth rear ring It could go a little lower. On the paved paths in town and the hard packed trails by the river its perfect, but out where I live its a little hillier and there is limited pavement.
Sooooo I’ve always like the look of the Fat Bikes but A) The Electra seems to be discontinued, B) hard to justify almost essentially the same bike just with wider and similar smooth tires and C) the lower priced Fat bikes were really heavy (more so than the 7D) and had limited gearing - actually worse than the Electra.
A few weeks back I saw the KevCentral review on the new Mongoose Dolomite ALX. He does reviews mostly on big box aka “Walmart bikes” and I’ve watched his review on the Original steel Dolomite/Malus and its limitations. Even with the negative reviews on a lot of Walmart bikes (they’ve gotten better) if you step away from the true cheapies and He, as well as others have given this one glowing reviews.
I’m sure I’ll get asked “why post a Fatty in the beach cruiser section”? Partly because I really want a Fat Tire Cruiser-eqsue bike Like the Electra and at a similar price point
( actually $100 less than the 2019 version) with a few mods it could be cruiser-esque. At least for me Im not going to racing this thing down the mountain side more so just on the crappy roads and trails were I live and I’ll make a few adjustments to make it a more comfortable ride.
I had a Moto 3i a few years back and while a great bike, but for a few reasons - Me, tires and gearing I think this will make a better off road cruiser with is what I want. The Moto 8I looks good on paper but when it was available it was double the price of the Mongoose at almost $1K and it was like my 3i and was a little big. The mongoose is sized S,M, and L
That was a lot to get to this point, I was asked for a review and since I really like the group here I'll review it here and hopefully the mods won’t delete this.
Going in, knowing what I saw there were a few things I was going to change right out of the box. The brake levers, like on the Electra look pretty cheesy and I bought a set of Shimano levers and they came with cables and housings. The Grips while meh would’ve sufficed but lock ons are easier to work with and inexpensive and the ones I got have palm support. The Biggie for starting is the stem I bought a 45mm shorty vs the longer 85mm just to eliminate some “the lean” and give me a more upright “cruiser’ seating position and take some of the stress from my wrists, shoulders, and neck. Ill probably have to replace the seat, and I would like a Brooks Flyer with the spring. I guess I could take the B135 off the Electra but I really like that one on there. I also like grippy pedals like bear traps but I’m going to ride it as is and see.
That said I had it delivered to my buddy’s shop. While FedEx says they deliver the world, tossed my last delivery over a fence 20 plus miles away and didn’t seem to care at all when I tried to get it rectified so with this I didn’t take chances.
In the box it felt like it weighed a ton but after getting it out of the box and built it feels freakishly light. It looks like it should weigh a lot and I test rode the old Malus single speed inside a Walmart a few years back and it felt like a brick, just soooo heavy and while I’m sure tire pressure (at the time) and gearing were not great (compared to the 7spd) it felt brutal. Later reviews said the same thing.
I just assembled it and took a quick spin and its a very weird feeling and was surprisingly nimble for its look and those tires seems just ridiculous. They look far bigger in person than in the picture, But I love it.
Its going to take some fiddling to get the levers and shifter positioning right along with the seat but thats to be expected. The cable routing seems off and one of the clips for the front cable broke out of the box (fixed with a zip tie) and I put on a Plant Bike water bottle cage $5 and it looks crooked. I’m not sure ATM if its the bottle holder or the positioning of the mounting holes but again I’m sure its just going to need some fiddling.
So far Its it looks like a lot of bike for the money and probably overkill for the type of riding I’ll do but like I said it was more want than need and something fun for a spring time/ summer bike to play with.
I’ll report back as I get a chance to ride and play around with it and gets some pics as I get some time on the bike.
Here are some pics for comparision.
I was going to upload some pics but an unknown error prevents it
