I know that everyone hates Mongoose, but...

You'll put your eye out.

The Berryman said:

You'll put your eye out.

Click to expand...

Looks like a decent bike. Seems to have good parts and looks to be built as a good XC/trail bike.
You won't hurt yourself riding that, then you would with any other proper mountain bike. But the frame just might not be as high quality or as low weight as some more expensive brands.

Looks fine for xc riding; it doesn't look too much different, at the surface, than entry level bikes from a more typical manufacturer. I would take a bit extra care in maintenance since its history is unknown. Lose the rear fender too, it will not be too comfortable in it current position...

99 out of 100 will not be confused

Cucucachu said:

Was thinking of installing Huffy decals on my frame just to cause some confusion. It sure would draw some attention!

Click to expand...

Because 99% of people don't understand the difference between a dept. store bike and a good one.
My buddy has a low level steel cannodale cruiser that he rides on towpaths; rear view mirror and all. He took it into the mountain once and broke his chain. He thinks it is because he was riding hard core, I say it is because his bike has a cheap chain. But he thinks he has a good bike because it is a cannondale.

roland w. said:

...This bike was bought in Europe and built in France ( I think )

Click to expand...

Mongoose sells better stuff overseas compared to their offerings here.

That bike looks like a good XC bike to me. Has hydro disc and looks a gazillion times better spec'd than most Mongoose I've seen here in the states. Check all the pivots and tighten them if needed.

Steel?

Philo Beddoe said:

Because 99% of people don't understand the difference between a dept. store bike and a good one.
My buddy has a low level steel cannodale cruiser that he rides on towpaths; rear view mirror and all. He took it into the mountain once and broke his chain. He thinks it is because he was riding hard core, I say it is because his bike has a cheap chain. But he thinks he has a good bike because it is a cannondale.

Click to expand...

Do you mean Schwinn? Cannondale only makes Al bikes.

Good bike

The "pro'' on the seat tube lets you know it's a good bike.

Mongoose was divided into two divisions. One is the cheap dept. store stuff, the other markets high end bikes (Mongoose PRO). Their "Black Diamond" MTB's are sweet and they had some nice titanium roadies a couple years ago.

no it is a few years old

damion said:

Do you mean Schwinn? Cannondale only makes Al bikes.

Click to expand...

tubing was too thin to be Al. Had a rigid fork too.

thanks

Thanks for all the comments, next time any of you are in Belgium, let me know.

back in the day

When I was a kid riding bmx bikes, Mongoose was one of the best bikes you could get (back in the late 70's)

That ride is sweet and not cheap the headset is intergrated which is something new (within the last 2-3 yrs) to the mtn bike scene, where did you say you got it?? And how much??

roland w. said:

..please have a look at the picture below and tell me whether I will kill myself on this bike if I try to ride too hard on it.
I have been unable to find any info at all about this model anywhere, not even the mongoose.com site. This bike was bought in Europe and built in France ( I think )

Click to expand...

Email them and see what they say.
When I first looked at the style the rear end is I thought it looked like the old specialized design ( cannondale now uses as someone posted) It wont have much travel as it looks but should be ok for just riding normally.

Mongoose bike

I bought it in a sporting goods store in Brussel, Belgium for about 1200 €.

Philo Beddoe said:

tubing was too thin to be Al. Had a rigid fork too.

Click to expand...

Cannondale has never made steel bikes. With 2 exceptions (Raven and 6:13), they've never made a non-aluminum bike at all. Their tubing has alwas been oversized, relative to steel tubing, but it's much fatter now that it used to be.

Bottom line, if it's a 'dale, it's aluminum, and if it's not aluminum, it's not a 'dale.

--Shannon

Yeah, it's a softtail (pivotless full-suspension).
The stays could be cromo, they're pretty damn thin for alloy.
Pretty damn decent for a Mongoose.