Great bike. This bike was the only one that had everything I wanted (dual suspension, dual disk brakes, Shimano EZ shifters) and was under $350.00. I looked at other review, and people were comparing Mongoose Status 26-Inch Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike with $1000’s bikes… That’s not even close to fair.
Anyway, if you want a bike that has really good parts, a good setup, and cheap, this is your bike. So far, I put a few miles on it and it is really awesome. Suspension, brakes, tires, weight, everything is better than I expected based on the price. A good exercise: compare it with those $300-$350 bikes you see at Sports stores and you’ll realize how better this bike is.
Only one con: despite the easy assembly, the front derailer came totally out of alignment. I worked it a bit (I’m no expert), but I will probably spend some $ in servicing it.
2nd review (06/01/09): there’s a slight change from the bike you see in the picture and the one I received. The holes in the frame where is installed the bottle support face down. This is a problem, since once you have it with a bottle and the front suspension goes down a 1 inch the front tire hits the bottle. Not the end of the world, but I would change my review to 4 1/2 starts if possible.
looks nice but is horrible!!!. from the picture the bike looked great and sounded good!!! but it is NOT!! when it came i tried to assemble it and the instructions it came with was full of @#$%^&!!! it took me a while to put it all together but finally did.
PROBLEMS: front disk brake is bad!!, the brake rubs against the disk while spinning and causes the wheel to stop sudden…
the front derailer is completely NOT working!!! i have spent the entire day adjusting it but there was no hope!!!
the back derailer wasnt that bad but it skips gears!! pain in the neck!! also it makes weird sounds sometimes!!
the back wheel has the same disk brake problem but is not as bad as front..
still broken and needs to be fixed, its funny, fixing a brand new bike!!
looks beautiful!!, is !@#$%^/ horrible, nothing works!!!!!!!
Not bad for price…but plan on doing some work. I bought this bike new from my local store on sale for $180 dollars. I figured a full suspension, aluminum frame bike with disc brakes for $180 was a deal I couldn’t pass up. I wish I would have.
After taking it home and doing an initial setup on the bike (adjusting suspension droop, brake pad clearances, etc.) I took it out for the first ride. I use the bike primarily as a commuter, but take it to the local trails on the weekend. The bike preforms as expected on the streets, but the rear suspension was a little weak for my liking. The bob while pedaling hard uphill takes away a lot of your power to the ground.
After my first ride, I got the bike home and did a second check on it (mind you, this is still the first day). I am meticulous with cleaning and checking my bikes after every off-road session. I found the rear derailler was loose. I took it off of the bike and found that the bike shop that assembled the bike did not use any lock-tite on the bolt. This is not a problem with the bike, but the bike shop. I decided to check all of the fasteners on the bike…same problem.
I have now had the bike for about 5 months and it is serving me pretty well as a daily commuter. I have found that as long as I do the maintenance on the bike, everything is holding up pretty well. The problems that others have had with deraillers not working and brake rub have not been an issue for me.
So you may be thinking, why did I rate the bike a two? Pretty simple, really. The weight of the bike and quality of the components leave something to be desired. I have had to replace all of the bushings on the rear linkage twice in the six months that I have owned the bike. Since I have only gone off-road with it three times, this is more often than I should have to replace them. The rear seat post has a tendency to slip down slowly no matter how much you tighten the clamp. I replaced the seat post and clamp and now have no problems. The seat that comes with the bike is uncomfortable at best. I changed that to a Sette saddle (not one of the big cushy seats) for a more comfortable ride. The rear wheel hub is weak. If you buy this bike, plan on upgrading that as quickly as possible.
Even though I only paid $180 for this bike, I have now invested well over $300 in maintenance and/or repairs. I would have been better off getting the Cannondale hard tail they had on sale for $350. Oh well, better luck next time.