Made with rigid steel, it is also heavy, even for a BMX bike. But weight aside, Mongoose is one of the most trusted brands for children. Replace some of its stock parts—users say the seatpost and brakes are necessary swaps—and your kid’s got a trusty BMX bike. That specialization means that, as with the mountain bike cousins, you will give up performance in one area to gain it elsewhere—but the diversity of adult-sized BMX bikes is not nearly as outrageous as it is on the mountain. It’s possible to race on your skatepark bike or vice versa.
For all the dirt-jumping folks looking to recapture their BMX days, BMX racers, park dwellers, Bike Lifers and freestyle urban riders—this list is for you. Nonetheless, the popularity of the ‘Mini Scoot’ meant that the company was able to strengthen and consolidate its vision, the Mongoose brand continues. Another character falling under the ‘iconic’ umbrella is the infamous Harold ‘Magoo’ McGruther. With a BMX resume like no other (stemming from the early 1970s in which BMX was emerging), ‘Magoo’ arrives at Mongoose headquarters after having diversified and finessed product development knowledge at GT in the years prior. For the Mongoose brand and its long history, the role of BMX bandits further improved the iconic status with the chrome ‘Supergoose’ model (with blue wheels and accessories) being ridden by one of the central characters ‘Goose’. Young ‘Goose’ is joined by another BMX bike enthusiast ‘P.J.’ who one day have a run in with a young trolley collector by the name of ‘Judy’ and embark on a journey to help her tally funds to buy a BMX bike.
Resurrecting the early scooter concept and improving through the inclusion of BMX style design and technology, the ‘Mini Scoot’ was an overnight success and alleged to have sold in the hundreds and thousands of units. Hitting the market in 1986, the rumour around the scooter is that a Mongoose employee overproduced ‘Moose Goose’ head tubes and thereby sparked the idea for a scooter which takes advantage of a higher headtube. For core BMX heads, the incorporation of a scooter under the Mongoose umbrella was tough to swallow, it being a much more accessible and cheaper product which wasn’t consistent with the essence of BMX, the spirit of the sport.
The “bike life” movement, primarily led and nourished by SE Racing and a group of increasingly well-known riders from Harlem, Philly, and elsewhere, has caught the attention of all the major BMX players, including long-time industry heavyweight GT. The 29-inch Street Performer is a big-wheeled beauty with a retro front triangle frame, double wall rims, and fully sealed bearings. These specs are just a little better than the run-of-the-bike-life mill. Most of the options on this list were nominated by our test editors, who have experience with these and similar products in various conditions—from skatepark to street riding to racing. The rest we’ve evaluated based on user reviews, research, discussions with riders who are using them now, and how their specs compare to similar products we’ve tested in the past.
With new tricks being introduced at a rapid rate and the refining of a ‘professionalism’ to the demonstrations, BMX was unstoppable. With momentum afoot, Mongoose took the natural path of producing bikes and eventually, parts. Under the production name ‘BMX Products’, 1975 saw the very first batch of heli-arc welded frames which again, were designed with the BMX biker in mind. Scott Breithaupt of SE Bikes and literal pioneer of BMX fame, speaks to this topic in an interview with BMX Ultra, here.
Brunswick sold Mongoose to Pacific Cycle in 2000 and Pacific Cycle was bought by Montreal-based Dorel Industries in 2004. As of 2018, Mongoose models are available through Pacific Cycle in Madison, Wisconsin.[2]On 11 October 2021 Pon Holdings, headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands announced that they acquired US-based bike company Dorel Sports. By combining Pon.Bike and Dorel Sports, a leading bicycle company in the world will be created, with a combined revenue of around 2.5 billion euro.
Not that I had many bikes to compare my ’96 to,(only my old huffy pro thunder), but it is so light and quick and really responds quickly to every turn when I ride it. I guess no one knows when they started making them in Taiwan and if mid school bikes are made stronger than old schwinn mountain bicycles school bikes. I just gathered that they were from the hundreds of posts I have read here.
Features such as a sealed bearing mid bottom schwinn mountain bicycles bracket and s… It’s easier to ride my 79 without hands, but, more comfy to ride the Expert Pro. But, there is something I like about the smaller 18.5″ top tube – it always feels like it’s under you. The chrome and welds are nice, and it’s amazingly complete, only missing the front and rear reflectors.
I too like the old school better, but for now the Mid School is all this guy can afford. A friend of mine had a solution pro back in like 94-95,, that bike rode awesome and my other buddy had the first run of the Tim Hall frames in like 95 I think,, that was a great trail bike, that thing rode like a Cadillac. Mongoose Bikes are now just one brand of many in the vast stable of performance bicycles owned by, Wisconsin based, Pacific Cycle Inc. Mongoose Bikes was a brand name of bikes originally designed, manufactured, and sold by BMX Products, Inc. 10,000+ products in stock and over 40,000 satisfied customers to date.