Mongoose Quality Through the Years in General?
08-20-15, 03:14 PM
#26
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Picked this 1996 Sycamore SX a few days ago for cheap. Seems like a very solid bike, TIG welded with shimano, even the old rock shox still holds fluid!
edit thanks, you are right elasometric or whatever they called these ones. I tend to avoid all non rigid forks generally.
edit thanks, you are right elasometric or whatever they called these ones. I tend to avoid all non rigid forks generally.
Last edited by dailycommute; 08-21-15 at 06:08 AM.
08-20-15, 03:33 PM
#27
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Same here. My dad bought me a Mongoose Expert in 1983 and I'll never forget how awesome it made me feel at the time.
08-20-15, 03:34 PM
#28
cowboy, steel horse, etc
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08-21-15, 08:30 AM
#29
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I'll contribute to the zombie thread -- my first "real" bike was a $300 Mongoose Switchback, 18-speed MTB my dad bought me from an actual LBS when I was about 12 years old. This would've been in the early 90s.
At the time I didn't pay much attention to things like indexed shifting and cantilever brakes, but it had those things. I put hundreds of miles on that bike on the gravel farm roads where I grew up. That bike even went to college with me for a couple years, although by that point I think the seatpost was a mile high. I can't recall ever doing any maintenance on it, although I'm sure it went to the shop from time to time.
I'm not sure exactly what happened -- I think when I got deployed overseas all my stuff was stored at my parents' and it might have gotten sold at a garage sale. I had hopelessly outgrown it by then and probably consented but I don't recall.
I keep an eye on CL for one -- for purely nostalgic reasons. It was a workhorse but not a particularly remarkable bike, and I'm not nostalgic enough that I'd spend a lot of money on one, but if I could pick one up for next to nothing I wouldn't mind adding it to the collection -- assuming I could sneak it in the house without my wife seeing it.
At the time I didn't pay much attention to things like indexed shifting and cantilever brakes, but it had those things. I put hundreds of miles on that bike on the gravel farm roads where I grew up. That bike even went to college with me for a couple years, although by that point I think the seatpost was a mile high. I can't recall ever doing any maintenance on it, although I'm sure it went to the shop from time to time.
I'm not sure exactly what happened -- I think when I got deployed overseas all my stuff was stored at my parents' and it might have gotten sold at a garage sale. I had hopelessly outgrown it by then and probably consented but I don't recall.
I keep an eye on CL for one -- for purely nostalgic reasons. It was a workhorse but not a particularly remarkable bike, and I'm not nostalgic enough that I'd spend a lot of money on one, but if I could pick one up for next to nothing I wouldn't mind adding it to the collection -- assuming I could sneak it in the house without my wife seeing it.
08-22-15, 08:16 PM
#30
Thrifty Bill
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I had a 1995 Mongoose IBOC Crit road bike (I got it secondhand as a frame only) and enjoyed it while I had it. Did its job, but can't say it was anything special. A local rider has a Ti road bike and loves it. My only issue with mine was the odd sizing. It required a 28.0 seat post, almost unobtanium [I used a shim with a "standard" size post], and I never did really figure out the clamp size on the FD. A 32mm was too small, a 35mm too big. So I used a braze on with a 32mm clamp adapter, but removed part of the shim that was in this particular adapter, effectively making it larger.
The Mongoose name is associated with Walmart with many people, including bike shop managers. So they can make excellent donors, or keepers. Price was pretty ridiculously low, and they had it for a while.
I recently parted out a 1985 Mongoose ATB. Chrome bike, but it had terminal rust. But the parts were all desirable, Sugino triple crank, thumb shifters, Mongoose Pro Class wheel set, Dia Compe canti brakes, etc. Relaced the Pro Class wheels (rusty spokes).
12-19-21, 04:22 PM
#31
Newbie
Anyone have any recommendations about a late 90’s mongoose pro rogue (BMX), my son purchased it back then from Dicks sporting goods in the $400. Range and I was thinking of a restoration project and give it back to him. It’s missing all its brake hardware but the rest is all original with some normal wear. I will post pictures once I am able. Thanks for any insight.
12-23-21, 11:53 AM
#32
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I'm currently working on a cromo IBOC resto from the late 80's. Seems like a nice frame with a somewhat weird parts spec, including some Suntour.
