Submitted by
Regan Arthur
a Weekend Warrior
from Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Date Reviewed: May 18, 2004
Strengths: Light for DH, good suspension action, Pedals fairly well
Weaknesses: Weak frame, a bit flexy, Linkage hits frame, rear dice tab on mine was not strait, forks and wheels not that strong.
Bottom Line:
I do every thing on this bike from XC, DH, DJ, BMX and it is not too bad. I have broken the swing arm 5 times though so I am always a bit worried when it will break again. But it is a fun bike to thrash around XC stuff as is climbs really well and it is fun burning of XC Rider on the Downhills bits. It would be a great first DH bike for the lighter/younger rider but any one over 130Lb would properly have trouble keeping the frame in one piece
Bike Setup: 1999 NX 9.5, Psylo SL, grimeca System 12's, Dice EFD/DT wheels, pro tapers.
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Submitted by
Reagan Higgins
a Downhiller
from Adelaide ,South Australia
Date Reviewed: December 10, 2001
Strengths: I'm talking about the 2000 model not the 99 full 7 inches of travel Manitou forks were good but now I have Boxxers Hayes 8 inch that I have now are very powerfull XT components Mavic 321 rims Blackspire Chain thing I got stable cornering light weight and PRICE!!!!!!!!!!!
Weaknesses: Back suspension bottoms out really easy even when it is set up well, there is alot of chain slap and the rear swingarm is not strong enough
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the price with good quality components. Frame is not the best but it works pretty well. I recommend it to anyone who wants a good downhill bike at a great price. Boxxers make it heaps better.
Similar Products Used: NX DH, Craftworks DHR, Mongoose 99 model 9.5 and 9.7 and Other stuff
Bike Setup: Hayes 8 inch front 6 rear, 7 inch Boxxers, FSA headset, Blackspire chain-thing and standed other stuff
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Submitted by
Steve Kaufman
a Downhiller
from Orange, California
Date Reviewed: November 7, 2001
Strengths: Excellent geometry & adjustability. Affordable - great price for the equipment on board. One-Finger stopping with tht Hayes disks. Lightweight and easy to translate your body language into tech riding.
Weaknesses: Haven't found any, yet.
Bottom Line:
This is the perfect dual-purpose bike for trails and downhill. Just enough suspension to be plush on the way down without wasting your legs on the way up. I've been downhilling on it for two years in Big Bear (NORBA Courses) and never had a problem. Big drops, washboard, hairpins - gimmie more. A quick readjustment on the rear linkage and your in trail mode.
Submitted by
Intense
a Downhiller
from Lower Hutt, Wellington, new Zealand
Date Reviewed: July 23, 2001
Strengths: Brakes, fork, shock, specs, frame. Also got it cheap as i work at the shop and its old stock.
Weaknesses: The cross-link wheel set bolts that hold the hayes rotor to the hub keep coming loose, even with loc-tite. Had to up-grade the bar to a amoeba dh riser, new pedals (mosh bmx style platforms), new seat as it snapped and new tyres (Maxis 2.5" high rollers) as the standard ones were WAY to skinny
Bottom Line:
As far as I'm concerned this bike ROCKS! I use it mostly for freeriding, and has stood up to everything that I've thrown at it, including a 7 foot drop off. The bottom line is, its not gonna stand up to a bomb hitting it, but for average level freeriding its more than enough. And also, for the price, its a bargin!
Bike Setup: Maxxis High roller tyres 2.5", Maxxis DH tubes, BMX seat, amoeba dh riser bar, and standard specs (ie. XTR/XT drive train, Cross-link wheel set, Hayes hydrolic brakes f/r, Kore stem, Fox vanilla rear shock, Manitou X-vert r fork)
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Submitted by
Ben M
a Downhiller
from Adelaide, Australia
Date Reviewed: March 31, 2001
Strengths: Keeping in mind this is the 2000 models I am talking about, not the 1999 model. As for the frame, it looks almost indestructible, and obviously Mongoose have put some time into the development of the frame. Reinforcements everywhere!! I haven't taken the bike to any hard core tracks yet, but it will be tested in a few days. The parts on the bike show bloody good value for money with names like 'Hayes', 'Titec' and 'Deore XT' all fighting for recognition. The rims are hell strong and good luck to anyone who wants to bend them.
Weaknesses: As of yet I have only found a weakness in the chain guide that I added, namely a Mr Dirt USA. It has given me a bit of grief, but hopefully all that will be sorted out fairly soon. Other then that it has been smooth riding. When doing big drop offs the bike makes a noise like the chain hitting something, but I think that is the chain hitting the Mr Dirt USA chainguide.
Bottom Line:
An all round bargain. No weaknesses found yet, and the lifetime race warranty on the frame means scratches and dents aren't a worry. This bike is good for anyone from mid-class downhiller to pros, although there are not many around here.
Similar Products Used: Kona Stab, Craftworks DHR205, GT XCR5000
Bike Setup: Standard except for platforms instead of clips, a Mr Dirt USA chain guide instead of the XC style triple.
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Submitted by
Dave
a Weekend Warrior
from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Date Reviewed: March 12, 2001
Strengths: Awsome component mix for money, versatile bike, good for downhill, great for XC, lightweight DH bike.
Weaknesses: Tyres - had to change to Tioga DH, tyres supplied from new were far too light weight and prone to pinch flats. Bars - Wanted Hi-Riser bars, supplied with standard XC Titec which is a good bar, but not for DH. Grips - there is nothing like Oury Grips
Bottom Line:
I looked at bikes available for the dollars, but kept coming back to the NX 9.5. I do mostly DH riding and wanted 6" travel with quality components and great brakes, this bike has it all. I was a little concerned with the Fastrax rear but have had no real problems to date and it performs well. All I can say is it is a great pitty that Mongoose have decided not to continue with DH bikes, as I will have to upgrade to a NX-DH with "one carefull previous owner" when I decide to go full DH.
Great looking bike; Super adjustable rear linkage system; Boffo spec-brakes, fork, shock, wheels. Too bad the frame can't take it. I busted two drive side chain-stays and one main frame crack at the seat-tube/top-tube junction. No extreme juicin'-both stay failures were like watchin' paper rip. Mongoose warranty service is A-T-R-O-C-I-O-U-S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
out of the box this bike was nice on trail , but 6 months down the track & the busher on the rear shock mount started to have some play, so next 2 cracks show up on the underside of the bottom chain stay I return to mongoose. After riding my AZONIC DS.1 off the same drop my swing arm returns go as new. Back to the mongoose I go 3 ride later the cracks are back .This bike has not been rid'in hard & has been well looked after.The 9.5 is great for single track & fast downhill but not suited for anythig technical or Extreme over 10'foot.
Similar Products Used: mongoose 9.5 2000 ,k2,atx,uzzi.
Bike Setup: Xvert DC, hayes discs, Azonic bar, stem, crosslink rims, fox shock, xtr rear & Black spire Dual slalom chain ring
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Submitted by
Jeff
a Weekend Warrior
from Narvik, Norway
Date Reviewed: June 24, 2000
Strengths: Adjustability, Price (got it on Closeout), very plush rear end, some of the spec'd parts.
Weaknesses: Wheels too flexy, Fork too small, stem too long - why 4-5.5 instead of 5 - 7" on the rear??
Bottom Line:
I really needed a DH bike so maybe this isn't the bike for me, but I figured I might go out for the occasional 'freeride' so went for the 9.5 instead of the 9.7. The bike is super adjustable front and back which makes it a great freeride bike cuz you can set it up from 4 to 5.5 in the back, change the tires and you're good to go. I pretzled my front wheel on 3rd ride - who the hell thought of putting 28 radial spoked wheels on a freeride bike?? Right now I'm riding our DH course (which isn't super tech) nearly every day and the bike works great. As a 'light DH' bike it's an awesome ride and with a 6 inch fork and bigger wheels and tires I have no problems to ride with my 7-8" friends. It's lighter weight makes it fun to ride and if you're not racing World Cup DH on crazy Euro Courses you probably don't need anything more.
Favorite Trail: Selfbuilt 500m vert lift accessed DH Course
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Similar Products Used: Old Proflex, K2 Animal, FSR Elite
Bike Setup: Switched to Mavic 321/Hope wheels and going to 6" forks + having a 5-7" rear linkage plate made.
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Submitted by
Simon Head
a Weekend Warrior
from USA
Date Reviewed: February 27, 2000
Strengths: Good brakes Good components (except fork)
Weaknesses: Frame quality Bearing quality Longevity of fork-whats up with having elastomer in a fork in the 21st century?
Bottom Line:
The bike was nice to ride 'out of the box' but the forks performance reduced over a period of 4-5 months and the bearings are stuffed already. Its got lots of nice stuff on it but the frame and fork aren't up to much.
Strengths: Great specs - Hayes, XT/XTR, Mavic Efficient Pedalling Adjustable ride height Easy to manouvre Sealed pivot bearings Killer looks
Weaknesses: Could be softer for descending
Bottom Line:
I use the bike for downhilling and single track - it's not really made for one or the other...it's made for both. If you want the best of both worlds you couldn't do any better than this. It's so adjustable.
Bike Setup: Tioga Factory DH on front HutchyOTR II on rear
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Submitted by
Fernando
a Weekend Warrior
from Sydney, NSW
Date Reviewed: March 29, 1999
Strengths: Very smooth, easy to pedal, great suspension travel (5.5inchs)
Weaknesses: Can't really say just yet, although rear shock has no compression adjustment.
Bottom Line:
So far so good. I'm no xpert but I do ride motocross (Husqvarna WR360) & the goose feels pretty good the way it's set out (frame geometry). The Hayes hydraulic brakes r great true 1 finger operation & real stopping power!
