Mongoose Magnolia 16 Girls Kids Bike

"I bought my daughter a Mongoose Magnolia 16 inch for Christmas and I found it was basically unrideable out of the box. Both wheels were so badly buckled that it was impossible to open up the brakes enough to stop them rubbing - without running out of enough lever to lock them up. Three out of four brake pads were positioned over the tire rather than the rim, and the rear wheel hadn't been placed right - so the singlespeed chain wasn't under tension and dragged along the bottom of the chain guard, making a God-awful noise. The bottom bracket has been fitted without grease, and so grinds/scrapes as you cycle. The metal bracket for the doll seat on the back had not been fitted, because there wasn't enough clearance on it to get over the tires, and plastic mounting clip had been crushed in transit - even if I wanted to fit it. The nuts were also missing for the stabilizers, and the thread isn't a standard one so it's difficult to get replacements. It's taken me 3 hours (on Christmas Eve!) to get the bike to a point where it's safe and ridable - although I'm still not happy with it. I imagine that most parents don't have a truing rig at hand - or recognize dangerous issues - such as the brakepads! At 120 pounds I wasn't expecting a pro level bit of kit, and I totally expect the components to be pretty basic, but at least the brakes and transmission should be usable - otherwise I might as well of gone to Tescos. In my opinion there are far better big-brand children's bike manufacturers out there such as Scott and Trek. In my opinion the Scotts I have bought the kids in the past are far superior to the Mongoose."
Posted on 06/01/2010 18:32 by anon