Mongoose Morzine

Price Paid:  $330.00 at Dicks

Favorite Ride:
cycle zydeco

Bike Setup:
replaced the granny with a 24 rather than the standard 30. put a rack on the back for commuting.

Summary:
i've been riding this bike for over 4 years now. it has allowed me to become a better climber with the assistance of the granny. the gearing also allows me to keep up with the BIG boys of the club. the rim tape needed to be replaced (as noted by previous reviews). lower bracket also need to be replaced. great bike for the price!

Strengths:
light weight. priced right. nice components. user friendly granny gear. easy shifting. firm ride. eye catching colors. comfortable seat. i like the mongoose name to show up the trekies and litespeed crowd.

Weaknesses:
rim tape was shoddy.

Price Paid:  $400.00

Favorite Ride:
Trek "Madone SL 5.9", but we can't all have one. Sad.

Summary:
Over all this is a great bike for the money. I am not real fond of the name, but lay people could not tell the differance. "TT" bar and stem, nice tires. The suspension seat post was retarded and had to go. As with the toe clips. Got to have my Speed Plays.

Strengths:
Great price. This has got to be the best Sora bike by far for the money. Name brand Soras go for around $600, and do not always have that great of components. Very attractive paint job, excepto for the Mongoose logo.

Weaknesses:
Stupid seat post, bad pedals, and most importantly, really bad rimstrips. Both tires blew up on the same day. I see other people have had the same problem. Velox. Wheel does not hold true very good. Not a problem for me as truing wheels turns me on, but I think not every one feels the same as me here.

Price Paid:  $450.00 at Dick's

Favorite Ride:
Love 'em all

Bike Setup:
Mavic Cosmo wheelset, Thomas seatpost, Cateye computer

Summary:
I bought this bike b/c I was getting frustrated waiting for the trails to dry/thaw out in the fall and winter. Did some research on inexpensive road bikes with Shimano components. This looked like the best deal out there. The above review is true about being on top of maintanance on this bike. I've upgraded a couple of items, but so far its been great. I've been riding with friends who's bikes cost 3-4 times as much and been able to keep up and in some cases lead. If you're looking for aluminum and you want something cheep, scoop this puppy up. You can always upgrade later. A nice set of wheels and a new drive train, could turn your entry level road bike into a bad mamajama!

Strengths:
Comes stock with some halfway decent parts at a great price.

Weaknesses:
Maintanance. Not a huge deal, but you really need to keep the wheels and the drive train maintained on this bike. If you do that, your golden.

Similar Products Used:
First Road bike, but been riding mountain bikes for years now. Easy to spot a Diamond in the rough.

Price Paid:  $260.00 at Dicks

Summary:
This is a great bike. I bought it at a huge discount at Dicks and couldn't be happier. My husband paid twice as much for a Giant and has had problems with it. My bike works perfectly. I originally bought it because I wanted to try out a road bike for my 7 mile commute but I didn't want to invest several hundred dollars. I am extremely pleased with my purchase. I paid more for my Specialized Hard Rock and this is by far a better bike.

Strengths:
Price! As far as I can tell, there simply are no other road bikes out there in this price range. Works great, no mechanical problems.

Weaknesses:
I had to replace the toe clip pedals that came with it. I have very small feet and I still couldn't get into them without a struggle. Also, if you by this bike I strongly recomend that you install rim tape immediately. My front tire blew a week after I got it, luckly I wasn't riding it at the time.

Similar Products Used:
This is my first road bike.

Price Paid:  $300.00 at Dicks Sporting Goods

Favorite Ride:
anywhere

Bike Setup:
Upgraded to Shimano 105 8 speed with SRAM R8 rear cassette 3T bars and stim had the Alex wheels torqued to stay straight and true hubs are unknown brand with sealed cartridge bearings so far so good.

Summary:
Frame geo is very nice comparable to Giant OCR/TCR and Specialized Allez, most components are nice as well. I change out the drive train with Shimano 105 and picked up a more pro bike performance as well as a weight loss added some Look pedals. and 86ed the spring seat post.

Strengths:
Stiff smooth gets up hill faster than the steel bikes I’m use to riding not the lightest bike on the road but its still surprisingly light for a Mongoose.

Weaknesses:
Yeah the name but thank back in the early days how Mongoose was high up on the food chain for BMX. Sora grope was mixed with some off brand crank and rear cassette. This all had to go.

Similar Products Used:
sorry first time on a compact design