Mongoose Wanderer AL Tandem Bike (26-Inch Wheels) : spoke rims
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Model Of Item : R5006 |
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Customer Review :
Fun per dollar - of the charts! : Mongoose Wanderer AL Tandem Bike (26-Inch Wheels)
My wife and I thought this bike was inexpensive enough to give it a try. We have enjoyed riding it and have got our money's worth and more. I suspect we will upgrade to a nicer bike... one that costs more than we would have been willing to take a chance on before knowing if we really wanted to ride one. We tried renting one first, but couldn't find anything suitable. So, this tandem has been a big success.
The good:
For the most part the components are of decent quality. It took some fussing and tweaking, but now rides without too much noise or hiccups. It is light enough to lug around. In a nutshell, the bike actually works OK and I have some reasonable confidence that it isn't going to spontaneously self-destruct. The brakes even work. The pedal threads are standard so you can put your favorite pedals on. My wife hadn't ridden bikes for decades and I race; this bike lets us ride together and each get some satisfactory exercise. It's a lot of fun!
The bad:
This isn't an off-road bike, but comes with knobby tires. That seems to be typical for cheap bikes. So budget for getting some sensible tires. Budget too for new inner tubes. One blew out the first time I pumped it up. We got two new ones. The wheels are crappy. Budget to get them trued, especially if you plan on getting the brakes adjusted nicely. Basically, plan on spending time and/or money getting it set up and tuned. Assembly is easy, but adjusting cheap parts takes some skill and patience. If you don't have that, plan a trip to your LBS. Also, the screws for adjusting the front bottom bracket are poorly designed. Getting them tight enough without stripping the holes is a PITA. It also has more gearing than it needs, which seems to be par for cheap bikes. Twenty one gears on a cruiser... why not just 3 or 5 sturdy ones?
The subjective:
This style of "comfort" bike is not very comfortable IMHO. After riding an hour I long for a touring frame and drop bars. Next purchase: bar-ends for me. I'd prefer touring wheels to 26" wheels, but this bike is easy to get on and off, and get started. We had to get a different seat for my wife; it was too hard and didn't fit. For me, the seat is actually OK for a cheap sofa-seat. You could probably pay more for a seat somewhere than this whole bike cost. My wife says it is pretty.
The bottom line:
Buy it if you want to try out riding a tandem and have some cheap fun. Don't buy it to ride across the country or to hammer up the Alpe d'Huez. Anticipate some non-trivial tune-up work. Consider my spending so much time to review this bike as a moderately enthusiastic endorsement. I would have given it 5 stars if the wheels weren't so bad.
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Later, after 800 miles:
It takes a lot of effort to keep this bike running, but it still works. We found we like tandeming so much that we're currently looking to get a better (and much more expensive) tandem. As I feared, one of the eccentric screws did strip. Luckily I was able tap a bigger hole. The cheap ring on the timing chain has come loose. I had to re-pack the wheels and cranks; they were all crazy loose or crazy tight. We had to replace the freewheel.
Another important thing to consider... this bike is really really small, especially for the stoker. Good for a kid, but even with the bars all the way up (with added climbing bars) and the seat all the way back, it is still too cramped for an average sized adult.
Since it still actually works and we use it, I have to say it is a success. But you better be willing to give it a lot of attention. I'm really looking forward to getting the new tandem!
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