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Submitted by
Mike
a Weekend Warrior
from Bethesda, MD
Date Reviewed: March 2, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Rock Creek Park | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Free from my neighbor | | Strengths: | A great no frlls ride. | | Bike Setup: | New seat, the stock seat hurts | | Bottom Line: | My neighbor was giving away a Mongoose Sycamore last year. It looked like it had been stored in an outside shed for years, everything was frozen up with rust and grime. I spent some time cleaning it up and oiling it and everything came back to life. I've been riding it regularly ever since. I did have to get a new seat, the original was painful. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paul
a
from Fargo
Date Reviewed: September 21, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$380.00 | | Purchased At: | Albuquerque bike shop | | Strengths: | Reliability | | Weaknesses: | Crappy stock plastic pedals, poor index shifting. | | Bike Setup: | Stock Shimano Exage with Deore XT pedals, big T-bone stem, and Shimano 600EX free wheel, Specialized ground control tires. | | Bottom Line: | I bought this bike in 1987 and its still going strong. Road Moab in the 80's, idle for a chunk of the 90's but it has put a lot street miles in the last few years. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott
a Cross Country Rider
from Portland
Date Reviewed: December 23, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Newberry Crater Rim | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | Used off Craigslist | | Strengths: | Solid compoments (Alivio), old-style cantilever brakes instead of the crappy new v-brakes, tough wheels (take two and three foot drops on a regular basis). I've given it several good trail beatings, and aside from routine cleanings and adjustment, it's never given me a problem. The frame is fairly light, but heavy enough to keep you grounded. The price was quite nice (and since you'll have to get it used, it probably will be for you as well). | | Weaknesses: | The wheels are tough, but they're single-walled, so they're not unbreakable. They sometimes need truing after heavy trails and bumps, but never enough to even rub my brakes. By no means is it a true racing bike, and it certainly won't take 5 or 6 foot drops without complaining a lot. | | Similar Products Used: | Mongoose Switchback, old Mongoose BMX, (really) old CyclePro BMX, Specialized Stumpjumper and Rockhopper | | Bike Setup: | I didn't add anything of much significance (toe clips, side bars, , WTB saddle), so I'm riding it basically stock with the Alivio derailers and brakes, stock Shimano wheels, Mongoose off road (2.3") tires. | | Bottom Line: | I've always hated suspension on my bikes (ridden too much BMX, probably), so I get rigid forked hardtails whenever I can. This is a good and solid suspension-less bike that'll treat you right on x-c and trail rides. It's not a race bike, but it certainly doesn't claim to be. If you threw slicks on it, it'd probably be a good commuter bike, too. If it's less than a hundred, even if you have to throw another hundred in to get it looked over, it's still a good deal. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
RT
a
from Denton Tx, USA
Date Reviewed: January 11, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | anywhere | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$10.00 | | Purchased At: | impound auction | | Strengths: | This bike is light and agile on the trails. It climbs hills very easily. The best way to describe it is nimble. | | Weaknesses: | None that I have found so far. | | Bike Setup: | All stock components so far. Shimano acera model. | | Bottom Line: | I only paid 10 bucks for the bike. It was stored in an impound lot for about a year enduring the weather. It only needed some oil and air in the tires, and a new saddle to get it going. I prefer riding it than my full suspension on difficult trails. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Angelo Rodriguez
a Weekend Warrior
from New York
Date Reviewed: August 24, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Cunningham Park Trail | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$500.00 | | Purchased At: | Buddy's Schwinn | | Strengths: | The Bike is Very Reliable and has lasted 3 years now. I am a large build man and this bike takes my weight on both the trails and the pavement...I Love this bike. | | Weaknesses: | The Fork, Neck and Handlebar assembly are not easily upgradeable | | Similar Products Used: | 1984 Mongoose Californian BMX Bicycle....Small but still Kicks Butt | | Bottom Line: | Mongoose Rocks And the Sycamore was a great buy | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a
from Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Date Reviewed: December 25, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | very light and rigid frame,good components(alivio hubs,sun rims),brakes are very easy to squeeze and smooth(the frame was designed to allow the cables to run on the top tube without the cable covers, thus minimizing friction.) | | Weaknesses: | The front gears are thin and bend a little over time. The screws holding the front gears round off easily while trying to remove them. Pedals are plastic and don't provide good grip. | | Similar Products Used: | Python,Bianchi,Specialized | | Bike Setup: | original setup including the rigid fork | | Bottom Line: | The Sycamore is an excellent value for the money. The cro-moly frame, aluminum Sun wheels, and the Alivio hubs make the bike light enough to accelarate fast and climb very high hills easily. Lightness also makes it nimble and easy to handle. Yet, the whole bike is TOUGH. A 250 pound person can ride it. The Sun rims are aluminum, but are hard to bend. I'm 190 lbs.and while riding very fast I accidentally ran the rear wheel over a deep pot hole while sitting on the seat. I thought after such an impact, the wheel would have been bent. The wheel was fine, just the tire bent a little. This means the spokes, and tires are good quality (tires absorbed all the shock). Sycamore is great at the factors that are the most important, but is weak at fine details. You need to replace the plastic pedals, which shouldn't cost alot to replace. Sycamore is a great bike for being able to ride in trails without paying too much. Remember, it is just an entry level model from Mongoose, and you shouldn't expect it to be perfect at every factor. The bottom line is that Sycamore is better than other companies' entry level bikes at the same price range. Where Sycamore excels from the others is mainly in lightness, and quality of the frame. Having Alivio components at this price is also great. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jim
a
from vancouver wa
Date Reviewed: November 29, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | 170 | | Strengths: | light,rugged,durable | | Weaknesses: | rigid fork | | Similar Products Used: | specialized, daimondback, huffy | | Bike Setup: | standard parts, with longer crankarms for uphill mountain slopes. | | Bottom Line: | takes a beating on the most rocky downhills, leaving other more expensive bikes trailing parts behind them. Easy to accessorize for camping, riding on errands. Goes for a long time between tuneups. Hard on the butt, although a good seat solves some of that. Too bad Mongoose doesn't make em like this any more. Anyone just starting out should try to find one of these at the local pawn shop, untill ready to upgrade to suspension bikes. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve
a
from Roanoke
Date Reviewed: September 12, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Explore Park | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Durability, versatility, indestructability | | Weaknesses: | rigid fork, canti brakes, grip shifters | | Bike Setup: | Giant Warp full susp | | Bottom Line: | I rode this bike for 5 years and put it through all sorts of tortures from serious, hard-riding, downhill to outside storage and endless Michigan-winter miles as a college ride.
The thing's still going strong. Wouldn't recommend it for any serious trails but if you put a lot of miles on and hit the dirt once in a while, this bike won't let you down.
We only part now since I'm really only doing the trail stuff now and have upgraded to a full suspension with better shifting and breaking.
Five chilis since it meets or beats any competition in it's price range (you've gotta be fair). | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bruce D. Johnson
a weekend warrior
from Gainesville, FL
Date Reviewed: April 16, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Now I know that this isn't a serious bike, but I had to share my enthusiasm for it. I'm a large guy. We're talking 64, 230 lbs, and this bike has held up beautifully (40-60 miles per week). It's been to Tsali, Cape Cod, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Hard Rock in Ocala, and has emerged victorious at the olympic course in Conyers, GA on multiple occasions. My serious bike cohorts can't help but be impressed by the resilience of my Mongoose. And unless I win the lottery soon so I can make frivolous bike purchases, we will be hitting Moab together this summer. | | Overall Rating: |
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