Mongoose Boot'R & Pinn'R - info/feedback

[Professor Chaos]

So since my .243 doesnt seem to be going anywhere, Im thinking about getting one of these frames and using the parts from the .243 to build it up.

I have no experience with Mongoose. Ive never seen them at any of my local shops.
They dont have Canadian dealers listed either so unless it trip to Bellingham I cant sit on one.

Ive done a bunch of searching and reading and watching vids. Seems like these frames, thanks to Romaniuk, have had a good beefing up in the pivot/bearing dept and they seem like pretty solid frames all around(remind me-look wise-of last years Commencals).

Im intrigued.
Anyone out there tried one of these?
Any shop mags have any comments on them?
Any Van locals know of a shop Ive completely missed that carries Mongoose?

[westoxified]

My Boot'R arrives next week. Will update.

Sorry no help for now, so... bump, I guess?

[toast2266]

no specific experience with the boot'r / pinn'r, but I worked in a shop that had the older version of them.

the old ones were a great deal for the money in terms of the parts spec, but the frames pretty much sucked. Their geometry was weird all over (the bikes were high and had longish top tubes as I recall). The pivots seemed cheap and destined for failure, and they were pretty flexy.

Overall I thought they were an ok design, but poorly executed. They're pretty much the same thing as an i-drive (URT w/ some linkage to create floating BB), and the i-drives seem a lot simpler (although not necessarily better). I guess what I'm getting at is that there's a lot to go wrong on those bikes, and there are a lot of pivots adding weight. Those two factors + cheap manufacturing might mean a heavy and maintenance intensive bike.

Maybe the new ones are better. Like you said, I'm sure Romaniuk's input isn't hurting anything, but also consider that they've had pros riding them since they starting making them (it used to be Eric Carter, if I remember right). Just because a pro is associating themselves with the bike doesn't make the bike good.

[Spats]

The Mongoose suspension has the same number of pivots as any other FS bike; they're just in very different places than most designs. It is no more complicated than any other 4-bar suspension design (including Horst Links, dw-links, VPP, Maestro, etc., which are all 4-bar), and less complicated than bikes like the Knolly or the new Kona Coiler that have an extra shock linkage.

Also, if you have a "floating BB" like the I-Drive, it isn't a URT anymore. There's a whole class of non-URT moving BB designs that includes the Maverick, the I-Drive, and the Mongoose.

Note that I've never ridden one and don't actually know how well it works. However, it's no more intrinsically complicated than any other FS bike -- just weird.

[hofferfish]

I haven't ridden a boot'r or a pinn'r yet but I have had my khyber for almost 10 months now and I am very impressed with what I got for the price. The suspension design feels good and pedals well but I have had a few issues with the rear end not tracking the way I want it too, although these issues have been mostly fixed by now as it took me a good amount of time to finally figure out the air shock and get it dialed in to my liking.

I definitely agree with the long top tube comment although I dont think it will be an issue on the newer bikes and I do wish that the head angle was a bit slacker on the khyber, although I guess thats what the new freeride specific bike is for.

After 10 months of riding I have not noticed any issues with the bearings although I will tell you that I would check that they are torqued properly as I did have some issues with the stock cranks falling off after being locktited at the factory...

I would definitely buy another goose and Im really stoked on their pricepoint, I got the bike new for 1350 and I still havent spent 2000 overall.