Customer Reviews

Montague Paratrooper Folding Mnt Bike

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this direct from a dealer for $400, and it was worth it. The components were crap though. I've put about 400 miles on it in the last two years. On the first day of riding I broke one gear, but they sent me a whole new back wheel super fast. Overall I have replaced the crankset and stem. I also added a suspension seatpost and their folding pedals. Over all I am very happy with the frame, but the components were not so good. If you can score a frame go for it. However, $700 for this is a tad high. Though I can fit it in my del sol's trunk and still have room for stuff is amazing. I'm also dissapointed in how much tuning has been required. It seemes to have issues shifting with each ride. Most shops have never seen one, so its hard to get good service. Be sure to find the local shop/service dealer in your area. Don't bother with the bag, but snag the folding pedals.

If you are a serious mountain biker, this is the biker for you...Won't break not matter how hard you ride it...I have been in the rockies, in cali, and now in europe, plus the fact it folds, thats a space saver, this has many miles, it is just as good as the day I got it...great investment!!!

I'm not a hardcore cyclist but I like to ride to work sometimes and do some single track mountain biking when the weather's right. I saw a fellow camper with this bike in Yosemite a few years ago and tried it out. I really liked the feel of it as a full frame mountain bike -- and was sold with the idea of it folding up to fit in the back of my rather compact car.

When I finally purchased it I replaced my old Mongoose Sycamore. I thought I would sacrifice something by getting this folder, but after getting used to the odd (but good!) appearance, and learning to trust the mono-boom design, it really proved itself. For trails I use the stock knobby tires it came with and for the commute, I use a set of Serfas Drifter City/Hybrid Wire Bead Bicycle Tire (AWESOME). Have not had a flat yet in the nearly two years I've had it.

In all a 5 star -- really no other comparable alternative out there.

After much research I decided to buy this bike based on 2 important factors for me - 1) I wanted, and needed, a bike that could fold up
and be placed in my little Scion X-B.
2) I wanted a bike fairly inexpensive but strong for
the money. If the U.S. Army and the Marines use this
bike it's got to be pretty strong!

Trust me, you won't be dissapointed with this bike. How many people can say their bike can fold up in 30 seconds? And if you're worried about structural integrity the fact that our military uses this says something. You can bring this thing on a plane even!

I'm gonna give a shout out to the guys at Civilian Lab for offering this awesome bike for $51 less than the competition. If you order from them you should get your bike in about 3-5 days. I got mine in 3! All I did was take it out of the box, put the seat post in, put one of the pedals on and it was totally ready to ride!

I purchased my Paratrooper a year ago (May 2009) as I wanted a full size folding bike that I could not only ride anywhere, but take anywhere. I've put well over 1,000 miles on it with no significant problems. I've ridden on pavement, double wide track and recently put it to the test on a fairly tough single track trail at Kettle Moraine WI. I'm 6'1" and weigh 220 lbs and the bike handles everytyhing I throw at it. The frame is bulletproof, the components are good (not great but everything I'd expect at this price point)and aftermarket parts are no problem. I've upgraded my handle bars (40mm rise Carbon Fiber) and clipless pedals. My local bike shop has no issues at all working on the bike.

Two recommendations: If you use it mainly as a commuter, purchase street tires for a much smoother and faster ride on pavement. The knobby's it comes with are for offroad.

Be careful ordering aftermarket parts as Montague changes their specs without notice. I checked the web site when I ordered my replacement bars and the spec was stated at 31.8mm dia. As it turns out, that is the current spec.. since mine was a year old, I had 25.4mm bars. My only choice was to either buy a new stem so the new bard would fit or exchange the bars.

I knew there were road bikes that are foldable but a folding mountain bike?!! I compared Montague with other folding bikes. None compared to it. The others either had less number of gears, were too expensive or their design wasnt good. I have had this bike for about 3 months and have already put like 100 miles on it. Its amazing, the color, design everything. The folding mechanism is awesome..and yes it takes less than 30 seconds to fold and unfold it. You will love it...worth the money. I got it directly from "[...]". Its less pricey on their website and their service is great.

The bike arrived fairly quickly. The packaging was impressive. You could pack a tank in the thick double cardboard box provided. It's pretty much pre-assembled. You just fold out the frame, bolt on the pedals with the provided wrench, put the front tire back on, fill the tires, and off you go. Quality control should have caught that my back tire was wacked. The valve was damaged. I changed the valve and it still wouldn't hold air. Maybe I picked up a thorn on that first ride and maybe it was the tire. No problem, $20 bucks at the bike shop and I'm on the road again. It has cumbersome gear shifters from SRam (x-5), but you can always change those if you are picky. I live in El Paso, where everything is hills, so I really liked the Promax disc drakes. They could throw you over the handlebars if you aren't wary. The frame is very, very durable and the weight is still ok. Overall, a great bike for the price.

Excellent bike. Neatly fits in my trunk. The ride is awesome. Recommend it for anyone who is on the go and needs time during the day to get out for a quick ride during long breaks at shifts at work.

Great bike design but components were lacking: front derailer broke on a high speed peddle twice and rear brake cable came off its bracket just below the seat while pumping the brake creating a situation where I had no rear brake.

I bought my paratrooper for a vacation condo that had no bike parking and no garages. It does fold up fast and store in my front closet like no normal bike could. After a few times, the process of folding it up and putting it in a bag - takes less than two minutes. About the same on fishing it out and setting it up. The front disk brake, combined with an expando-axle make wheel add and remove fast. I made that up, expando-axle. The axle has the usual quick release lever, but you do not need to do any unscrewing of the nuts to get it off over the fork lugs. There is a spring loaded pinch action that does it for you, so no re-adjust effort on reassembly.
The other place the folding comes in handy is to transport it in my car.

As for maneuverability, it is a bit top-heavy because all the frame is up high. It is not the world's lightest mountain bike. I weighed mine (18" frame) at 34 pounds delivered, 10% more than the specs promised. For practicality, I pushed that to 38 pounds with heavy duty Slime tubes and a bottle cage.

The shifters work well and you can cleanly shift and use gears without annoying chain rub. I do like the color (I went cammo) and look of the bike, and get many positive comments.

I am happy with my purchase, and am recommending it to you, if you need a folding bike for space purposes.
BTW, I was too cheap to spend $100 on the bag and made my own. I ended up burning $40 and a lot of effort on it. In retrospect, I should have caved in and bought the brand name bag - if you want a bag. You do need to do something along those lines, because after folding, the large (possibly greasy) chain ring ends up against the floor, as a jutting out lower part.
Again, I would buy this again, given my situation.