2018 Mongoose Bikes Lineup

Mongoose Bikes recently invited us to their US headquarters in the capital city of Madison, Wisconsin. Owned by Pacific Cycles, they share resources with sister brands such as Schwinn, GT and Cannondale as well as a handful of component, accessory and clothing brands such as Fabric and Sombrio. Mongoose first came to life when Skip Hess began making BMX bikes out of his garage in Simi Valley, California. Since then, the brand has taken various shapes but was always generally best known in the BMX world.

An original Schwinn Orange Krate in pristine condition, found in the office. There’s a great deal of history under the Pacific Cycles umbrella.

From the beginning of our introduction, Senior Product Manager Matt Prest made no attempts to mince words. He made it abundantly clear that Mongoose bikes aren’t trying to compete with some of the other big brands’ high end offerings. Rather, the ethos was more about being an entry level brand that packs great value for those new to mountain biking and wary about how much it costs to get involved in the sport. Basically, Mongoose’s mission is to help attract new customers and encourage growth in our sport. Anyhow, before we got to take a jaunt on their local trails with Greg Watts and Chris Akrigg, Matt gave us a presentation on some of the new features and technologies offered in their 2018 lineup. Here’s a shakedown…

What’s New?

• Horst link, Metric shock sizing, and Boost frame spacing at $599 & above.
• Same spec for headset & seat collar across the entire line.
• New Free Floater linkage.
• Linear shock curve.
• Two tubesets: T1 (standard) & T2 (hydroformed).
• More progressive, aggressive geometry.
• Longer top tubes combined with shorter stems.
• More single ring options.
• Internal cable routings.
• The stock rear hub is a 141 QR. It can be updated to 148 Boost thru axle later, if desired.
• All bikes will fit up to a 2.8″ tire out back.