i got this Mongoose “Beast” for free on CL the other day, and it’s my first ever mountain bike! i’m eager to start training up to hit trails by the summer but she’s not in any way road (or trail) ready.
she’s a single speed with coaster breaks — not ideal as i’m used to riding road/gravel bikes — and no suspension. she has good bones (heavy af!!) and seemed well loved despite all the rusted nuts and chain.
i'm hoping to turn this into a heavy duty bruiser/tactical bike i can commute in the city AND take to the trail with friends. my budget is crazy low but i’m okay with taking my time to save for premium parts to achieve my goal. think: pump track at 10am, ride to my afternoon job by 2pm, then hit a lazy park path on the evening commute home at 9pm, and riding out to some gwen/blue trails on the weekend.
what suggestions might y’all have for upgrading my bike to be able to take vertical hills (i live in a very hilly city) , increase comfort for extended/all day riding, and recommendations on upgrading my break system and gears.
im very new to mtb builds and would love to get back into cycling after over a decade off my rebuilt schwinn le tour. please help if you can!!
by 3thanXP
5 Comments
Do absolutely nothing, it’s not worth the investment. Just ride it till the wheels fall off and save money till then for a new bike. Don’t let your emotional attachment lead you to make poor decisions. Seriously, see those shitty welds, that unbranded steel. It’s going to fail in spectacular fashion. If you really care about this bike you’d getting something more suited to the task and ride that before this one fails.
[Here is an idea how those bikes fail](https://youtu.be/t6QiNToU6pk?si=NYaNkMsIcHVbHp3h), things like the forks break when you jump them. Insurance video is somebody who put a electric motor on it but even taking that into consideration these bikes fail this is usually how they fail and that front fork is not really replaceable with a good quality front fork because nobody used threaded steering tubes like that everything is one in an 8th inch threadless, and you cannot use that in that headset. It quite literally does not fit. And those hubs you have you really can’t replace those because it’s not a standardized size anymore. The industry has moved to 150 front 197 rear, anything that does not come in that standardized size is obsolete or just really low quality because it’s a company like mongoose who still using old cooling and they’re just remanufacturing the same crappy hubs.
So save your money for a new bike ride this one be cautious with it because what’s more expensive than fixing a bike or buying a new one is a broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder.
Appreciate the ambition, but none of your goals will happen with this bike. There’s no mount points for brakes, derailleurs, etc. Ride it, save up for a bike that will do the things you want.
She’s perfect the way she is “free and rideable”.
“Premium parts” would likely not even be compatible with what is there. Really the big upgrades are probably wheel set and tires….. Both those are stupid expensive (like $1000+) on fat bikes and I’m not even sure the hub spacing would fit the frame.
Next would be actual brakes vs coaster brakes. Frame and fork look like they don’t have disc brake tabs.
Gears would require a derailleur hanger which probably doesn’t exist on the frame and the frame probably doesn’t accommodate a cassette (this also assumes you swapped out the rear wheel which again is tons of money).
Use this as a grocery getter. Careful being sporty on the trail with it cause it wasn’t meant to be there when new.
See a lot of homies in here being naysayers telling you what not to do. But you asked for recommendations for upgrades and here’s what I’m going to recommend. Get yourself some colorful sticky vinyl like this stuff they use to recolor cars. You can get it off Amazon or somewhere else. Then once you get it cut fun shapes out of it like lightning bolts or geometric shapes then decorate that bad boy up.
It’s one of my favorite ways to customize a bike for cheap and have a fun art project at the same time! Have some fun with it
The best upgrade would be a new bike from a real bike maker.