Customer Reviews

Mongoose Maxim Men's Dual Suspension Mountain Bike (26-Inch Wheels)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

A Mongoose is NOT always the 1500 to 3500 dollar bike that we adore. Recently I bought a mongoose for under 200 bucks. It came with what I call cheap wheels and tires very similar to those found on cheaper bikes..When you pay under 200 bucks you can't expect to get the stainless spokes and an almost perfectly tuned bike. I am guessing but I believe most of the cheaper Mongoose bikes may have some generic parts. For example my tires look like cheap 10-15 dollar tires. They are stamped with the load range at 198 Lbs.. HOWEVER, for a low priced bike I am HAPPY with mine and the tires are holding up well. I had to tune the bike and will soon take it apart and grease the bearings and cables. Both derailleurs front and back were not set correctly and she shifted like a dog. The front tire wobbled so badly it would rub on the brake shoe with each revolution and setting the hand brake was almost impossible. I fixed it by simply truing the wheel using a small wrench on the spokes and adjusting the derailleurs. This is easily done. I simply loosen the spoke that pulls the tire off to the side and tighten the two on the opposite side. I make small adjustments at a time until she is fixed.. I tuned the bike and now I LOVE her. Mine has 27 speeds.. I am 62 years old and still buff. I weigh just over 200 lbs. In granny gear this bike pulls hills very slowly and yes it takes some getting used to.. If you tune this bike and take care of it I believe you will get your money's worth unless you end up with a real lemon. It's best to consider what you want this bike to do before you buy. I tool around on the farm on mine and ride trails up to 3 or 4 miles a day just for exercise. If you want professional, pay out the yang, yang..If you want a bike to enjoy in your leisure time then this baby may work for you and save you big bucks too.

PROS: A lot of features for a very low price. Shocks on the front, spring loaded isolation from real wheel, on-handlebar twist-type gear shift, 21 speeds, nicely constructed.

CONS: You get what you pay for. Wheels, components, and handle grips are mediocre quality. I had to spend about two hours adjusting the brakes and derailleurs before it was ready to ride. But that puts it in the category with my $500 road bike when it arrived. I was a little annoyed that the adjustments were so far off, and being an inexpensive bike it takes three hands to squeeze the derailleur the right way and tighten the cable bolt. After a little trial and error, I finally got it. And those little crimped caps on the ends of the cable kept coming off because they had been improperly crimped at the factory. There seems to be no place for a bottle cage or frame pump. My bike had poor threads on one crank so it was impossible to install the pedal without cross threading. Also, the plastic guard on the large chain ring broke after transporting the bike on several trips. In my case, I simply removed the broken guard and forgot about it. The derailleurs need periodic adjustment and there are no fine adjusters.

This bike arrived about 4 days after ordering it on Amazon. It came reasonably well packed, though I can imagine a lot of damage from a careless delivery truck. It's just perfect for riding the trails that are in the mountains where we go camping. I did not want and did not expect a $1200 mountain bike, and I got what I expected.

When properly adjusted, the ride is better than I expected for under $160. My wife has the women's version of this same bike, and it takes a little more getting used to for her, because she is not accustomed to keeping only her toes on the pedal or the responsiveness of the steering. The flip side of more control is that you can flip over easily if you are not careful. Also, if you pull the front brake harder than the back brake, like any mountain bike, you are going over the handlebars on your way to the emergency room. But you can't blame the bike for being what it is advertised to be.

The frame is constructed of heavy duty welded aluminum alloy, and it seems rigged enough for the casual user. I don't plan to jump 5 feet in the air with hard landings, so the bike is tough enough for me.

WARNING: Mountain bikes are high performance bikes like road bikes. I recommend against getting one for a child. If you don't want to be bothered with toe clips, you probably shouldn't get mountain bike. If you think you should be able to use all 21 speeds - STOP. If you think you feet should be able to rest flat on the ground when you are on the seat - STOP. If you don't know and don't want to learn to adjust the cables and derailleurs with tools - STOP. Like all bikes with lots of complex parts, these bikes need frequent maintenance. Be prepared to spend the time doing it, learning to ride it correctly, or take it to a bike shop for professional maintenance. Otherwise you or your child could be injured. If you just jump on and try to ride it like and old cruiser bike, you run the risk of putting your foot in the spokes of the front wheel and flipping over.

This is an excellent bike for $150. Worth every penny. Assembly took a few hours to tweek everything perfectly such as brakes and shifters. Next assembly would take about an hour if you have all tools and know what you are doing. Assembly instructions are not the best and could be simplified in 3 pages.

This is an excellent bike, rigid and beautiful, colors and combination are amazing. Assembly took a one hour, everything operating perfectly such as brakes and shifters changes smooth and fast. Assembly instructions are not the best and could be simplified in 3 pages. the bike run fast and quiet

The bike looks very good and durable. It is nice to ride but takes a bit of tuning.
I am not sure how it works in the mountains as I am only using it to ride through the city every other day for 3-5 miles.

When I first got it the tires must have stood for too long in the warehouse, as one of them burst before I could even go for a ride.
I had to buy new tires for another 80$. Also the rear tire doesn't have a real resting point so that the wheel might be a bit wabbly and it takes some time to adjust the wheel and the brakes accordingly.

Other than that it's a great bike and I don't think one could expect more for the amount of money spent. I really like riding it and the 21 gears are working just fine. Saddle has a quick release and assembling it took around 2 hours including the tuning.

Great bike for the price. Only flaw I noticed is that the stickers look like they will not last very long. It comes basically put together so you wont need to do very much. Great value!

It was a decent purchase. I received what i paid for. I had some technical problems when i put it together but nothing that you cannot solve by yourself. But overall, a great value.

OK, I was a little cautious based on some of the other reviews here...things falling apart, tyres popping etc etc, and I weigh 210 pounds, 20 pounds over the 190 specified.

However the bike took minimal assembly and was good to go in a matter of about 30 mins from unpacking the box, and that included trying to find tools (there aren't any supplied but I was living with a mechanic freind who has pretty much everything in the back of his truck. To quote Fast and the Furious "If you can't find the right tool in this garage (truck) you don't belong any where near a car ( or bike in this case)!

Well as soon as I took if for a spin and got up to speed yes...you guesed it...the rear tyre blew out on me, the tyre shredded and was quickly followed by the innertube exploding through the split in the side wall. Was this a problem with my weight or the tyre or a faulty manufacturing? Apparently not. I walked it to the local bike shop and in the course of spending $30 on a new tyre and inner tube I was shown that the rear brake pad was too high on the rim...so what had happened was the rubber on rubber when I applied the brake had cuased immese friction and heat and the resultant pop.

Since that incident I've been riding to work on it from home in Mammoth Lakes up the road to the village, getting the bike park shuttle to the mountain and returning via the moderate "Downtown" trail on which the bike has thus far performed to all expectations. It's worth noting that I've noticed the travel in the suspension from "Downtown" which contains minimal features/drops etc and is one of the bike parks most moderate/green/beginner trails seems to be about at the limit of what would be sensible to put them though I will not be testing the manufacturers recommendation that this is not a off road/downhilling bike and be taking it down Shotgun or Kamakazie any time soon!

In short check your assembly and you'll probably have no issues, but if you're on the heavy side or doing some moderate off roading switching out the tyres may not be a bad idea considering what the bike cost and taking a wild stab at what % of the manufacture cost went into the tyres and the problems you'd face being stuck somewhere with a flat.

I purchased this bike from a local store, but I wanted to write a quick review and put in my two cents. This bike has been pretty great so far. The only complaint is I had to have a friend adjust the deraillers to get the shifting down good. That is probably the stores bike assemblers fault though. The only real complaint is the seat was like a rock so I ordered a cloud 9 seat off of amazon and it is great. I also ordered aluminum pedals just beacuse I have heard the plastic ones bust other than that the bike is excellent especially for the price dont hesitate.

All in all not a bad ride. For something under $200, you should expect no more. Mongoose is a respected brand but for this price do not expect a $600.00 Schwinn.