Customer Reviews

Mongoose Squid Unicycle (20-Inch Wheel)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

We just purchased the Mongoose Squid Unicycle for my 11 year old daughter. She was up and riding in one week. It is a very good deal for someone looking for a unicycle for casual riding.

I bought this unicycle for my 10 year old son this Christmas. He was thrilled, and so am I every time I see him ride it. He had never ridden one before, so he is a beginner, but loves it. It is very sturdy and well made. He has had several good wrecks to date, and fortunately, neither of them have any physical damage!

I purchased three of these for my nieces and nephews. On our first round of orders, one was missing a parts box, and two had punctured inner tubes. In addition, none of the three boxes had complete instructions. After our returns, we still had to buy replacement inner tubes, as the originals were faulty. So, I had to replace BRAND NEW inner tubes for all three unicycles. I wish I had just spent the additional money up front for something of higher quality. I'm not sure why Amazon even sells something of such poor quality. I am very dissatisfied.

I bought the Squid as a starter unicycle. My interests were purely recreational. I just wanted to see if riding a unicycle was something that I could actually do, and since I wasn't going to be doing any trials, off-roading, or tricks, I thought this would be a good value purchase.

Mongoose, manufactured by Schwinn, is a brand I always liked as a kid, but unfortunately my unicycle ended up breaking after three days. Just as I was able to stay upright and ride for about 20 feet or so, the axle connecting the crank arms started to slip inside the hub. (I think this defect is called "keyhole slop.") This made the unicycle unridable for me because when I tried to pedal forward, the slipping crank arms wouldn't generate any forward momentum in the wheel. By the way, I'm about 175 lbs--not an unreasonable weight for a unicycle.

Mongoose's customer service did not have the replacement parts in stock. So they told me to contact the retailer. However, before the retailer could refund my money, the they had to go back and forth with Mongoose/Schwinn to get authorization for a return shipping order--a process that took over a week. I did get a full refund, and now I'm using those funds to buy a Torker Unistar.

There were virtually no assembly instructions. But you can download some other ones on [..]. These downloadable ones are for a different unicycle, but they are slightly more helpful than nothing.

Also, there are unicycle sizing guides online. The size of the unicycle tire you should buy depends on your inseam measurement and what you want to do with it.

The three hours that I was able to practice with this were fun. Too bad about the premature failure!

I just wanted to add to the reviews here. Every review about the instructions is true. The instructions assume more of the unicycle is put together that what really is, so you have to look at the box to figure out how to get it together, but it's not impossible. I didn't get two left pedals or anything like that.

I wanted a cheap unicycle to start learning on and this seemed to be a good start. We have wrecked this alot. Some of the pieces that look metal are plastic around the seat and the round pedal covers.

Is this the Unicycle that you'll end up with? Probably not. It's a great cycle to start with. It's held up to the abuse I've given it and my son. If you can use basic deductive skills to get it together and want something cheap to start, this is the way to go. It's exactly what I was looking for.

I'll probably move to a bigger tire and let my son keep this for awhile.

God bless,
Dave Ashworth

I purchased this unicycle for my grandson. When it arrived, the first thing I noticed that the box looked like it had been shipped from a battle zone in Bagdad. I originally intended to give the unit still in the box, but it was so damaged that I opened it immediately to check the contents for damage. Fortunately the contents were undamaged. However, the instructions only provided a picture of the unicycle with the wheel, fork, and cranks assembled. The only assembly indicated was to attach the seat and pedals. Actually I found a box full of parts and a bag of nuts and bolts with no instructions. After a careful review of the picture and relying on my experience with assembling similar equipment, I managed to complete the assembly. The use of some parts required some educated guesses. I think Mongoose needs to provide better packaging and adequate assembly instructions. Also, although the tube and tire were installed on the wheel, the tube was only slightly inflated and the valve stem was protruding from the rim at an angle. It was very difficult to straighten the valve stem and inflate the tube properly.

I can't comment on the quality because I can't put it together. The single sheet instruction is laughable. My guess is the people having problems with this is due to bad assembly caused by the poor instructions. Customer service was very helpful though. give them a call.

Unlike many of the other buyers, I am very satisfied with the unicycle's quality--all parts came intact and unmutilated. My only dilemma was with some of the bolts--I did not know a certain 15mm wrench was necessary to assembly the unicycle, so just keep that in mind when purchasing. Other than that, it is INCREDIBLE. It looks amazing and feels extremely sturdy (especially due to the wide 3-inch wheel.) Once you finally get to ride it, you won't be dissatisfied. (...and yes, that's what she said. :P)

product works great. I myself haven't been able to get used to it yet but its a very good product

I have had this unicycle for 3,4 years now and it still rides like new if you are a beginner get it.I got it when i was a beginner!