AustinFitz

Thanks guys! I'm having fun with it so far. I cleaned up the chrome using aluminum foil and water just because the rust wasn't super bad, and I am currently out of oxalic acid. I've yet to try naval jelly, but I am always trying out new rust removal techniques. I'm not dead set on any one method. They each have their pros and cons. I'm also out of actual chrome polish at the moment, so I just wiped everything down with some wd-40 after the foil rubdown. I'm sure the shine would look much better with a quick chrome polish.

I removed the rust from the wheel spokes using a brass wire brush, and a whole lot of time... Normally I would have just replaced them, but it was only light surface rust. The nipples were all still in good shape, and I really didn't want to spend any money. It was worth the effort in my opinion even if I have to keep up with them to prevent re-rusting. As you can see they look MUCH better.

Before:


After:


The blue rim strips are just ribbons lol. I took a good pic of the decal color with my phone and went to the craft section of my local department store with it. Found an 18ft. roll of 7/8" wide ribbon with a cool sheen to it. The color was basically an exact color match, and it was only like $2... 7/8" turned out to be too wide to lay down nicely inside the rim though. The original strips were more like 1/2" or so. The extra width of the ribbon made it a huge pain to get it to lay down without tons of wrinkles and folds. I finally got it all worked out though. I then just used some of the standard thick rubber rim strips over the top of the ribbon, and installed the tires and tubes!

I probably am going to rebuild it with most all of it's original parts. It definitely is a cool bike in stock form, but I can't ever leave anything stock for some reason haha. Living in southeastern Louisiana I don't really have anywhere near me to actually mountain bike anyway. Just lots of dirt/gravel roads that aren't so conducive to skinny tires. I think I'm going to be reusing everything but the stock handlebars. They'll be swapped out for some bars I just recently got on a freebie junk Schwinn. They have a bit more rise, are are a little more swept back. Upright cruiser type bars. The freebie Schwinn also provided me with a nice set of 26" aluminum fenders I'll be using on the goose! So yeah it will be pretty much all original minus the handlebars and tires, plus I'll be adding front and rear racks and fenders... Should be a pretty sweet ride!

beicster 

I had the red version of that bike and I used it as my main commuter set up with an Albatross bar and bar end shifters I had sitting around. It was great for that right up until it got stolen.

I love that biplane fork and I am envious of yours.

mijome07

Wanna ask any owners of this bike if the quill stem is in fact, 21.1mm? Thanks.

belacqua

My '87 is 22.2. Only weird measurement on mine is the 126mm rear dropouts.

bikemig 

I thought that the weight was high as well but that is likely around par for bikes of that era. I haven't weighed my two 1987 Specialized MTBs (one stumpy, one rock hopper) but neither is a light weight. I reckon that those early MTBs used relatively thick double butted tubing but I'd like to read some documentation on that. By the 90s, they certainly became lighter. My 1993 Bridgestone MB 1 weighs in at a svelte 25 pounds but that uses thinner walled ritchey logic prestige tubing and relatively lightweight parts throughout.

kc0yef 

Love mine 1984

mijome07

Yeah, the 22 won't fit my '85. And the rear is 130mm as I can spread them by hand and fit a 135mm hub/wheel.

1984? All I've read indicates 1985 being the 1st year Mongoose made the ATB. Unless I'm missing something. Still nice bikes, regardless of year.

beicster 

My 85 did not work with a 22.2 quill stem.

mijome07

Yep. Mongoose was still using BMX size with the introduction of the ATB. I assume this because a 22 didn't fit for me either. So I guess it's the next size down, 21.1mm. Wanna make sure as I wanna order a NOS stem. Thanks.

Oh and the '85 catalog says these took a 24.8mm seatpost when they actually take a 25.8. Minor typo I guess.

kc0yef 

maybe?

AustinFitz

Man it's been a while since I've been on here! Had a bunch of life stuff happen, and my bike hobby was put on pause for a while. Things seem to be settling back down to normal now though, so I'm going to start digging back into my projects right where I left off. My Goose is in the exact same state as it was in the last pictures I posted!

Speaking of pictures, I see there have been some really sweet bikes posted in here since the last time I was on! That's awesome! I also noticed some questions about stem quill sizes. My original SR MTS-100 is clearly stamped 0.833 which as I'm sure most of you know is 21.1mm.

My plans are pretty much the same as before. Clean up all of the original parts, reuse most of them, possibly change the bars, and add fenders and a rack or two. Maybe even some lighting. We'll just see how it goes!

kc0yef 

can't wait to see the build

AustinFitz

Since it originally came with a Mountech RD, and I have this guy hanging around, I might just put it on the Goose! Needs a good cleaning up, but I think it would be cool!

mijome07

Some of the original brake housing got stuck inside the top tube. I was able to remove most of that and and cable when I got it. The last piece was about 5 inches long, sliding back and forth inside the TT.

However, I was able to flip the frame back and forth a handful of times until it poked through the hole leading to the seat tube. Now I'm thinking of plugging the TT holes and running the housing on top the TT.

I did this with a 1997 Trek 820 I built up in 2015. Shaved off the hideous TT cable stop before powder coating and got some NOS Dia-Compe cable clamps. So much better as I don't like exposed cable on the TT. Couldn't even tell the cable stop was once there.

DMC707

Even with my attempts at downsizing for 2020, i would still love to have one of these big Mongoose ATB's

AustinFitz

Haven't posted in a while, but I did eventually get the Goose up and running with the 3 pulley LePree rear derailleur. Of course it's not 100% where I want it to be as far as parts, but at least it's complete, and rideable now!

mijome07

Looks like a grocery-getter. But that saddle looks pretty low. I'm 5'9ish and have the saddle pretty high on a 19" ATB frame.

Hudson308 

Very nice!

AustinFitz

Thanks man!

Well it is a grocery-getter, which is why the saddle is low, and the stem is at max height... I like more of an upright riding position when just cruising around town. Eventually I'd really like to get some taller riser bars for it. That way I could raise the saddle some without being so hunched over. I'm not very tall myself though. Only about 5'10". Like I said, there is still a lot I'd like to change on it, but it's coming along!

Classtime 

Nice resurrection of the bike and the thread.

madpogue 

That "grocery getter" should have its own VIP parking INSIDE the store! Dayyyy-um! Interesting how you lit the photo shoot; the way it reflects differently based on the angle, it almost looks like one of those "trompe l'oeil" car paint jobs.

Is that a Pletscher on back?

BTW, there was a nearly-bone-stock version of this bike, must've been the same year or very close, in the corral at the big bike swap here in Madison last Saturday. Seller dropped the price mid-morning from $500 down to $300, still didn't sell. Just got a lot of bike porn attention from, er, well, my generation of guys. There's no / little love for old MTBs here, esp. for those maintained for appearance/historical reasons.

BTW2, is your member name a reference to the economist, by any chance?

AustinFitz

Thank you! I'm really liking the way it looks myself. Most of the ones like this I've seen for sale have been pretty expensive too. Especially if they still have the original Pro Class wheels on them! I could never afford to buy them at those prices. I feel lucky to have found mine at the price I did!

To answer your questions, yes the rear rack is indeed an old Pletscher. It's not my ideal rear rack, but it's what I have for now. (Already had it laying around) While it's definitely not the prettiest thing, it does get the job done. I'll eventually find a nicer one though.

Also my member name here is just my first name (Austin), and half of my last name (Fitzmorris). No reference to any economists lol.

mijome07

Does anyone know the stock BB spindle width?

Devilmedic

For the love of chrome! Nice!