Mongoose 'Wing' series differences?



R

Rural Qld Cc

Guest
Greetings, I'd like to pose a question re the Mongoose
'Wing' series mountain bikes. I'm considering either the
Wing Comp or the Wing Elite, but I'm not sure if the Elite
is worth the extra money. I only had a couple of
requirements in choosing a bike........I wanted alloy frame
(so it's lighter to throw in and out of the car), suspension
(to stop my bum getting bashed half way up my back) and dual
lever gears (not sure what the tech term for these
is.....the ones with one lever for up and a different lever
for down). These 2 mongoose bikes are within the price range
I'm prepared to part with and I think they'll stand up to
any of the treatment I'm likely to throw at them. My riding
will be restricted to a couple of paved bike paths and the
few rocky/gravel/dirt/sandy paths that are available along
the length of said paved paths. Some are steep downhill
paths (steep enough that my **** Malvern Star mountain bike
brakes couldn't stop my descent without nearly breaking my
fingers trying to pull the levers hard enough.....), but are
short.....mostly, they're paths that run from the
footpath/bikepath to the start of the sand at the beach edge
and are only a couple of hundred metres long at most.

Just in case these models aren't available outside
Australia, I'll post the details of the 2:

Wing Comp: http://www.mongoosebikes.com.au/products.php/com-
mand/viewproduct/productserial/36/categoryserial/22
- 7005 alloy main frame with 4 bar linkage rear suspension
and Cr-Mo rear triangle
- AQ-head system with zero stack 1-1/8" headset
- MOZO USA R-150 forks and RS200 coil over rear shock
- Shimano EF-29 21 speed shifters with Altus rear derailleur
- Shimano TY40 crank set
- ProMax alloy linear pull brakes
- Alex SCE-17 rims with alloy double sealed hubs
(cassette rear)

Wing Elite: http://www.mongoosebikes.com.au/products.php/co-
mmand/viewproduct/productserial/37/categoryserial/22
- 7005 alloy main frame with 4 bar linkage rear suspension
and Cr-Mo rear triangle
- RST Gila T4 fork, RST-22 coil over rear shock with
hydraulic damping
- Shimano EF-29 24 speed shifters and Shimano Acera
derailleurs
- Truvati X-flow crankset
- Tektro IO floating caliper mech. disc brakes
- Alex DM-18 double wall rims with Formula cassette rear hub
- Hutchison Mosquito tyres

The difference in price is AUD$200. I realise the Elite has
disc brakes (which I'm quite sure I don't need at this
point), but with that aside, is the price difference worth
it? At some point I'd like to do some 'real' off-road
riding, so I'm wondering if the Elite will serve me better
when I decide to do that.

Thanks, Brenton
 
Rural QLD CC wrote:
> Greetings, I'd like to pose a question re the Mongoose
> 'Wing' series mountain bikes. I'm considering either the
> Wing Comp or the Wing Elite, but I'm not sure if the Elite
> is worth the extra money.
<snip>
> The difference in price is AUD$200. I realise the Elite
> has disc brakes (which I'm quite sure I don't need at this
> point), but with that aside, is the price difference worth
> it? At some point I'd like to do some 'real' off-road
> riding, so I'm wondering if the Elite will serve me better
> when I decide to do that.

What's the retail price? You told us the difference, but not
the actual price.

Biggest problem that you've got here is that a full
suspension bike in this price range is not very good value
for money if you want it to last more than a few months. Not
only is the suspension of a low quality and inferior
performance, all the other components are low quality and
low performance too. Before you know it the brakes will be
impossible to adjust, things will break and fall off, wheels
will go out of true, bearings will go wobbly and the gear
changing will give you continual headaches.

Do one of two things: First; save more money and buy a
better quality full suspension bike.

Or two; I would suggest that you look at a hardtail bike at
the same price. Without the cost of the rear suspension you
get much better components. For the riding that you are
doing you may not really need full suspension anyway.

It would pay to have a look at secondhand bikes too. There
are good buys to be found.
--
Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)
 
In Aussie dollars, the Comp is $600 and the Elite is $800.
That's just my local price.....haven't phoned any of the
major metro shops to find out their price yet.

MrBonk www.mrbonk.com

"Westie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Rural QLD CC wrote:
> > Greetings, I'd like to pose a question re the Mongoose
> > 'Wing' series mountain bikes. I'm considering either the
> > Wing Comp or the Wing Elite, but I'm not sure if the
> > Elite is worth the extra money.
> <snip>
> > The difference in price is AUD$200. I realise the Elite
> > has disc brakes (which I'm quite sure I don't need at
> > this point), but with that aside, is the price
> > difference worth it? At some point I'd like to do some
> > 'real' off-road riding, so I'm wondering if the Elite
> > will serve me better when I decide to do that.
>
> What's the retail price? You told us the difference, but
> not the actual price.
>
> Biggest problem that you've got here is that a full
> suspension bike in
this
> price range is not very good value for money if you want
> it to last more than a few months. Not only is the
> suspension of a low quality and
inferior
> performance, all the other components are low quality and
> low performance too. Before you know it the brakes will be
> impossible to adjust, things will break and fall off,
> wheels will go out of true, bearings will go
wobbly
> and the gear changing will give you continual headaches.
>
> Do one of two things: First; save more money and buy a
> better quality full suspension bike.
>
> Or two; I would suggest that you look at a hardtail bike
> at the same
price.
> Without the cost of the rear suspension you get much
> better components.
For
> the riding that you are doing you may not really need full
> suspension anyway.
>
> It would pay to have a look at secondhand bikes too. There
> are good buys
to
> be found.
> --
> Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)
 
MrBonk wrote:
> In Aussie dollars, the Comp is $600 and the Elite is $800.
> That's just my local price.....haven't phoned any of the
> major metro shops to find out their price yet.

Yep. That confirms it. At that price range you're simply not
going to get a full suspension bike that will hold together
or even work very well while it holds together. Forget the
full sus at that price and go for a decent hardtail. Start
by having a look at reputable brands like, to name a few,
GT, Giant, Specialized, Jamis, Trek, or Haro. Much better
value to be had for the hard earned dollar. Some places
might even have specials on last years models too. They can
be a good buy because you get a good bike much cheaper just
because the shop wants to make room for the new models.
--
Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)
 
Ok, so to get a full suspension bike that works well while
it holds together, what sort of price range am I looking at?

MrBonk www.mrbonk.com

"Westie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> MrBonk wrote:
> > In Aussie dollars, the Comp is $600 and the Elite is
> > $800. That's just my local price.....haven't phoned any
> > of the major metro shops to find out their price yet.
>
> Yep. That confirms it. At that price range you're simply
> not going to get
a
> full suspension bike that will hold together or even work
> very well while
it
> holds together. Forget the full sus at that price and go
> for a decent hardtail. Start by having a look at reputable
> brands like, to name a few, GT, Giant, Specialized, Jamis,
> Trek, or Haro. Much better value to be had for the
hard
> earned dollar. Some places might even have specials on
> last years models too. They can be a good buy because you
> get a good bike much cheaper just because the shop wants
> to make room for the new models.
> --
> Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)
 
"MrBonk" <[email protected]> wrote in news:c7als4$19jcj$1@ID-
184392.news.uni-berlin.de:

> Ok, so to get a full suspension bike that works well
> while it holds together, what sort of price range am I
> looking at?

If you stay in the 800-dollar price range but buy used you
can get a really top quality full suspension bike. That's
how I got my current ride, and I'm very happy with it.

--
- Joel C.
 
Joel Crum wrote:
> "MrBonk" <[email protected]> wrote in news:c7als4$19jcj$1@ID-
> 184392.news.uni-berlin.de:
>
>> Ok, so to get a full suspension bike that works well
>> while it holds together, what sort of price range am I
>> looking at?
>
> If you stay in the 800-dollar price range but buy used you
> can get a really top quality full suspension bike. That's
> how I got my current ride, and I'm very happy with it.

Aussie dollars? MrBonk, you may need to double that figure
for a used FS taking the exchange rate into account. You may
also want to have someone more experienced look it over
(like a pro mechanic) as there's more that could go wrong on
a FS that may not be visually obvious to you.

Matt
 
Ok, thanks all for the advice. I'll check out what's around
on ebay and in my local area, although I'm quite certain
there won't be anything in that range at my local dealers.
Time for a trip to some city shops!

MrBonk www.mrbonk.com

"MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]
berlin.de...
> Joel Crum wrote:
> > "MrBonk" <[email protected]> wrote in news:c7als4$19jcj$1@ID-
> > 184392.news.uni-berlin.de:
> >
> >> Ok, so to get a full suspension bike that works well
> >> while it holds together, what sort of price range am I
> >> looking at?
> >
> > If you stay in the 800-dollar price range but buy used
> > you can get a really top quality full suspension bike.
> > That's how I got my current ride, and I'm very happy
> > with it.
>
> Aussie dollars? MrBonk, you may need to double that figure
> for a used FS taking the
exchange
> rate into account. You may also want to have someone more
> experienced look it over (like a pro mechanic) as there's
> more that could go wrong on a FS that may not be visually
> obvious to you.
>
> Matt
 
Mongoose Pro is the right word. I test road them both along
with GT i Drive pricepoint. All for a friend / owner of a
LBS that doesn't ride. I came out liking the Pro.

I MTB 2004
 
"MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in news:c7br99$1tur6$1@ID-
86156.news.uni-berlin.de:

> Aussie dollars?

I purchased my bike in American dollars. Yesterday the
exchange rate was 1 USD to .733703 AUD, so my 800 dollar
figure translates to 1,090 AUD. But I didn't shop around,
and I'm guessing things are a little cheaper over-all in
Australia.

I whole heartedly concur with the "get a pro to look at it"
advice. I didn't and the front shock turned out to have a
broken spring. Fortunately, that's only a 38USD repair.

--
- Joel C.