Bicycle quality Q and recommendation request

[Ook]

About 6 months ago I bought my son a bicycle. 18 speed, 26", it said
Mongoose on the side. Since then, the brake level handles on the handlebars
have started to split apart, making the cable and handles loose. The brake
assemblies on the rear wheel has broken and I can see where the one on the
front will soon break, leaving the bike with no breaks unless I find
replacement parts. The pedal crank is loose, about 3/8" back and forth play
in it. I looked at it and realized that the bearing cup on one side was
pressed too far in (I thought for sure they would screw in, but nooo...they
appear to be pressed in). I'll take a pic of it so you can see what I can
mean. I'm tempted to throw the thing in the trash and start over, I have
little confidence in the thing.

Anyone have any experience with these "mongoose" bicycles, and do you have
any recommendations for a good quality bike? I'm looking for one for my
son, adult size, and two for my daughters, ages 9 and 11.

[G.T.]

Ook wrote:
> About 6 months ago I bought my son a bicycle. 18 speed, 26", it said
> Mongoose on the side. Since then, the brake level handles on the handlebars
> have started to split apart, making the cable and handles loose. The brake
> assemblies on the rear wheel has broken and I can see where the one on the
> front will soon break, leaving the bike with no breaks unless I find
> replacement parts. The pedal crank is loose, about 3/8" back and forth play
> in it. I looked at it and realized that the bearing cup on one side was
> pressed too far in (I thought for sure they would screw in, but nooo...they
> appear to be pressed in). I'll take a pic of it so you can see what I can
> mean. I'm tempted to throw the thing in the trash and start over, I have
> little confidence in the thing.
>
> Anyone have any experience with these "mongoose" bicycles,

Sounds like a Walgoose. Did you buy it in a bike shop or Walmart?

> and do you have
> any recommendations for a good quality bike?

Go to a bike shop rather than a department store.

Greg
--
The ticket******* Tax Tracker:
http://www.ticketmastersucks.org/tracker.html

[Ook]

"G.T." > wrote in message
...
> Ook wrote:
>> About 6 months ago I bought my son a bicycle. 18 speed, 26", it said
>> Mongoose on the side. Since then, the brake level handles on the
>> handlebars have started to split apart, making the cable and handles
>> loose. The brake assemblies on the rear wheel has broken and I can see
>> where the one on the front will soon break, leaving the bike with no
>> breaks unless I find replacement parts. The pedal crank is loose, about
>> 3/8" back and forth play in it. I looked at it and realized that the
>> bearing cup on one side was pressed too far in (I thought for sure they
>> would screw in, but nooo...they appear to be pressed in). I'll take a pic
>> of it so you can see what I can mean. I'm tempted to throw the thing in
>> the trash and start over, I have little confidence in the thing.
>>
>> Anyone have any experience with these "mongoose" bicycles,
>
> Sounds like a Walgoose. Did you buy it in a bike shop or Walmart?
>
>> and do you have any recommendations for a good quality bike?
>
> Go to a bike shop rather than a department store.
>
> Greg

I saw the "mongoose" bikes at both Wal-Mart and Costco. Any bike shop
recommendations?

[Slack]

On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 09:08:54 -0800, Ook <Ook Don't send me any freakin'
spam at zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin' <"spam>">
wrote:

>
> "G.T." > wrote in message
> ...
>> Ook wrote:
>>> About 6 months ago I bought my son a bicycle. 18 speed, 26", it said
>>> Mongoose on the side. Since then, the brake level handles on the
>>> handlebars have started to split apart, making the cable and handles
>>> loose. The brake assemblies on the rear wheel has broken and I can see
>>> where the one on the front will soon break, leaving the bike with no
>>> breaks unless I find replacement parts. The pedal crank is loose, about
>>> 3/8" back and forth play in it. I looked at it and realized that the
>>> bearing cup on one side was pressed too far in (I thought for sure they
>>> would screw in, but nooo...they appear to be pressed in). I'll take a
>>> pic
>>> of it so you can see what I can mean. I'm tempted to throw the thing in
>>> the trash and start over, I have little confidence in the thing.
>>>
>>> Anyone have any experience with these "mongoose" bicycles,
>>
>> Sounds like a Walgoose. Did you buy it in a bike shop or Walmart?
>>
>>> and do you have any recommendations for a good quality bike?
>>
>> Go to a bike shop rather than a department store.
>>
>> Greg
>
> I saw the "mongoose" bikes at both Wal-Mart and Costco. Any bike shop
> recommendations?
>
>

What part of planet earth do you live in?
--
Slack

[Ook]

>> I saw the "mongoose" bikes at both Wal-Mart and Costco. Any bike shop
>> recommendations?
>>
>>
>
> What part of planet earth do you live in?
> --
> Slack

I guess that might help LOL. I live in Lebanon Oregon. I'm in Portland,
Oregon, during the week, north east part of town - Glisan and 82nd. I drive
through Salem and Albany several times a week. I'm also in Vancouver
Washington several times a week.

[Ride-A-Lot]

Ook wrote:
>>> I saw the "mongoose" bikes at both Wal-Mart and Costco. Any bike shop
>>> recommendations?
>>>
>>>
>> What part of planet earth do you live in?
>> --
>> Slack
>
> I guess that might help LOL. I live in Lebanon Oregon. I'm in Portland,
> Oregon, during the week, north east part of town - Glisan and 82nd. I drive
> through Salem and Albany several times a week. I'm also in Vancouver
> Washington several times a week.
>
>

There are plenty of shops in Portland. I think what you really need to
understand here is that a fairly decent bike is going to cost a bit more
than the $98 you spent at Wally World. In fact, probably 5 times that
amount for the lowest end of the fair bikes.


--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

[test]

"Ook" <Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam> wrote in message
...
>
>
> I live in Lebanon Oregon.

nuff said :(

[Ride-A-Lot]

Ook wrote:
> "Ride-A-Lot" > wrote in message
> m...
>> Ook wrote:
>>>>> I saw the "mongoose" bikes at both Wal-Mart and Costco. Any bike shop
>>>>> recommendations?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> What part of planet earth do you live in?
>>>> --
>>>> Slack
>>> I guess that might help LOL. I live in Lebanon Oregon. I'm in Portland,
>>> Oregon, during the week, north east part of town - Glisan and 82nd. I
>>> drive through Salem and Albany several times a week. I'm also in
>>> Vancouver Washington several times a week.
>> There are plenty of shops in Portland. I think what you really need to
>> understand here is that a fairly decent bike is going to cost a bit more
>> than the $98 you spent at Wally World. In fact, probably 5 times that
>> amount for the lowest end of the fair bikes.
>>
>>
> I'm not opposed to paying good money for a good bicycle. Any brands you
> would recommend? Is Schwinn any good?
>
>

A lot depends on the price range. I am partial to Titus, Ventana, and
Yeti. However, you'll pay a LOT of money for those. If you google this
newsgroup, you'll see the question has been asked before. Most of the
time the answer is Specialized Hardrock for a base, cost effective
starter rig.


--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

[Ook]

"Ride-A-Lot" > wrote in message
m...
> Ook wrote:
>>>> I saw the "mongoose" bikes at both Wal-Mart and Costco. Any bike shop
>>>> recommendations?
>>>>
>>>>
>>> What part of planet earth do you live in?
>>> --
>>> Slack
>>
>> I guess that might help LOL. I live in Lebanon Oregon. I'm in Portland,
>> Oregon, during the week, north east part of town - Glisan and 82nd. I
>> drive through Salem and Albany several times a week. I'm also in
>> Vancouver Washington several times a week.
>
> There are plenty of shops in Portland. I think what you really need to
> understand here is that a fairly decent bike is going to cost a bit more
> than the $98 you spent at Wally World. In fact, probably 5 times that
> amount for the lowest end of the fair bikes.
>
>
I'm not opposed to paying good money for a good bicycle. Any brands you
would recommend? Is Schwinn any good?

[G.T.]

Ride-A-Lot wrote:
> Most of the
> time the answer is Specialized Hardrock for a base, cost effective
> starter rig.
>

That says it all. I've had many friends buy Hardrocks over the last 20
years for their first mtn bikes. OTOH, I haven't looked at them in over
5 years so things may have changed.

Greg

--
The ticket******* Tax Tracker:
http://www.ticketmastersucks.org/tracker.html

[DJR]

Hardrocks are still good....we have 2 of them, serving us well.


"G.T." > wrote in message
...
> Ride-A-Lot wrote:
>> Most of the time the answer is Specialized Hardrock for a base, cost
>> effective starter rig.
>>
>
> That says it all. I've had many friends buy Hardrocks over the last 20
> years for their first mtn bikes. OTOH, I haven't looked at them in over 5
> years so things may have changed.
>
> Greg
>
> --
> The ticket******* Tax Tracker:
> http://www.ticketmastersucks.org/tracker.html

[Paladin]

On Mar 10, 1:32 pm, "Ook" <Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at
zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin' spam> wrote:
> "Ride-A-Lot" > wrote in message
>
> m...
>
> > Ook wrote:
> >>>> I saw the "mongoose" bikes at both Wal-Mart and Costco. Any bike shop
> >>>> recommendations?
>
> >>> What part of planet earth do you live in?
> >>> --
> >>> Slack
>
> >> I guess that might help LOL. I live in Lebanon Oregon. I'm in Portland,
> >> Oregon, during the week, north east part of town - Glisan and 82nd. I
> >> drive through Salem and Albany several times a week. I'm also in
> >> Vancouver Washington several times a week.
>
> > There are plenty of shops in Portland. I think what you really need to
> > understand here is that a fairly decent bike is going to cost a bit more
> > than the $98 you spent at Wally World. In fact, probably 5 times that
> > amount for the lowest end of the fair bikes.
>
> I'm not opposed to paying good money for a good bicycle. Any brands you
> would recommend? Is Schwinn any good?

The new Schwinns, by and large are not good. At least, if your son
and daughters want to put the bikes under the stress of off-road use.

I always bought my kids Specialized bikes when they were young. My
current stable includes an old (good) Schwinn, Marin, Titus, Bianchi,
Bridgestone, and a couple others.

Entry level bikes are fairly similar, such as the Specialized, Trek,
Giant, GT, Gary Fisher, et al. I really like the cheap Specialized
and Marins. Just avoid the dept stores that sell bike-shaped
objects. And believe it or not, Mongoose used to make pretty good
mountainbikes before they took the Schwinn sell-out and exchanged
quality for quantity.

I just noticed below somebody recommending the Hardrock. Darn good
starter bike. My buddy Alex has about 4 yrears on his, and it does it
all.

CDB

[BB]

On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 11:41:46 -0800, Ook wrote:

> I guess that might help LOL. I live in Lebanon Oregon. I'm in Portland,
> Oregon, during the week, north east part of town - Glisan and 82nd. I drive
> through Salem and Albany several times a week. I'm also in Vancouver
> Washington several times a week.

Stop by Performance Bikes next time you're in Portland. There's one in
Mall 205 (I've never been there) and one in Beaverton that I've frequented
for years. Bike Gallery has a lot of bikes but they can be pricey. River
City bicycles is probably the other big retailer, but I haven't been
impressed with them. REI also has bikes which would probably be OK for
light use.

Some brands like Mongoose, Schwinn, and Diamondback were purchased by
makers of cheap bikes so they could slap once-good names on their
low-quality rigs.

--
-BB-
To e-mail me, unmunge my address