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Mongoose RX 5.3 review
- Price Paid:$123.00
-
User rating:(4.2)
- Would buy again from this company: Yes
- Used product for: 3 months
- # of logged workouts:
"Good bike, a bit old now but great for a trainer or a spare bike. Not expensive, and kinda cool."criggie
Ease of use
Its an 11 kilogram bike, so not the lightest but its strong and responsive, and a lot better at climbing than my previous 17 Kg bike.
Quality of Construction
The frame is well made, with beefy down tube. The back brake cable runs inside the top tube, which would be unusual at this age. The gear cables are bare wires on the front of the downtube, so not internally routed.
Fit
Fits me really well. The stem is incredibly long, so I've replaced that with a shorter one for comfort.
The handlebars are 90s stye in that the hoods are quite long - you can be thumbs on brake hoods, or you can be on the curves and away from the brakes, so two distinctly different hand positions there.
Comfort
Its a road bike - comfort comes from a good fit and the right saddle. I've done a 118 km ride with no additional discomfort.
Adjustability
Seat post was too short for me, so I bought a 400 mm aftermarket one. I'm happy that the amount of metal in the seat tube will not give way.
Almost all bolts on the bike use a 5mm hex key to adjust. This make my carry toolkit smaller and lighter.
Durability
The bike's almost 20 years old, its doing bloody good.
Value
Bike cost me $123 used, but I spent more than that getting it up to scratch.
Appearance
People comment "I didn't know Mongoose made road bikes" because here in New Zealand they're known for making MTBs.
The red paint is utterly shite. It chips off really easily, and shows a white undercoat layer. Underneath that is the Aluminium. I'd love to repaint the bike, but it would need a full sandblast and repaint. Simply touching it up is only a band-aid.
There are no legally-required red rear reflectors, but there is red reflective tape on the seat stays and seat tube.
Customer Service
Never used it, I'm not the first owner.
Performance
Its not the lightest bike, but its not heavy at all. Mine weighs 11 kg complete with tools and spares (not including water or bottles) so its respectable.
Strengths
It helps me climb faster and better. The triple front chainring is a godsend - those who grind away on a climb on a double could do better to simply spin on a smaller front chainring.
Weakness
The front derailer mechanism mount is a braze one and only has one bolt. I've found that a brand new front mech vibrated loose over a month. Repeated tightening stripped the FD thread. This bike is on at least its fourth front mech, possibly more than that.
I wish the big front chainring was more than a 46... I'd like to take it up to a 53, because I like to pedal downhills not coasting.
- 1 people use
- 242 workouts logged
- 3114.2 miles / 187.51 hours logged
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Ease of installation
The bike was complete and didn't need any installation.