Mongoose Switchback Comp Expert Sport Trail Mountain Bike for Adult Men Women, 16/18/21-Speed Options, 27.5-Inch Wheels, Disc Brakes, Small Medium or Large Aluminum Frames, Hardtail Bicycles

Awesome! Worth every penny.

I read an article recently that said Mongoose had started building good bikes again. I was skeptical, but I needed a decent hardtail for my wife and really didn’t want to spend $1,200. And even if I did, they were all sold out anyway, so I bought her the Mongoose Switchback Comp for $600. Tonight I opened the box, put the frame on my stand and settled in for what I thought was going to be a nightmare assembly. Not 45 minutes later, I was done! Other than having to tweak the brake cables just a touch, it went together like a dream. The derailleurs were pre-adjusted perfectly and even the seat angle was dead on. There was even lubricant where it was supposed to be and the screws for stuff like the handlebars already had Loctite on them.I was also impressed with the components. Everything that mattered was from Shimano and other reputable companies and they were all decent grade stuff! I do wish it had Presta instead of Schrader valves, if only because now I need to keep 27.5 tubes in both styles, but it’s a minor thing.As for the construction, it was also impressive, especially at this price point. The Aluminum frame welds were as good as I’ve seen and where the cables were run through the frame, the holes had reinforcing plates welded on. I found no rough or sharp edges to cut cables or snag clothes. It’s also a very nice looking ride in dark gray matte with pink lettering and the finish is nicely done.The devil is always in the details and this time, the folks at Mongoose really got it right. I recommend this bike and wouldn’t hesitate to to ride it straight into the nasty stuff!

I had just bought a fat tire mountain bike from Mongoose. It is a great bike but even after changing the tires to road tires I was only able to pedal 8.5 mph max so I decided to try another Mongoose but one designed for bike trails as well as light mountain trails. I was able to put it together very easily. I read some complaints about the handlebar stem being backwards but this is the way most bikes are shipped. All you have to do is loosen the screws on the stem and turn it 180 degrees. I am mechanically inclined so this was automatically intuitive to me. I bought the medium frame because it was 25% off but at 5'7" I was in between small and medium frame. At first I was worried about the center bar being a male but it was no problem. I quickly learned to just tilt the bike a little bit when I stop and dismount. The Expert 18 speed was good enough for bike trail riding at top gear. I love the trigger shifters. Keep in mind that although the left shifter has 3 positions you only use 2 positions on it since 2 x 9 = 18. If you have three sprockets in front gear set you will use all 3 positions. This is most likely the Trail version with 21 speeds which use 3 x 7 = 21. All 3 on front gear set and only 7 on rear set. The Comp and Sport versions of 9 and 8 speeds, respectively most likely have only 1 front sprocket so you probably only use position 1 on left trigger. My shifters worked great and needed no adjustment. I love the disc brakes as it has great stopping power. Only negative I faced is when seat was all the way down it was still a bit high for my 29" inseam. It could not go down further because the stem hit the threaded inserts from accessory mount screws. You will have to buy a kickstand as it doesn't come with one. Overall, I took it on bike trail today and was able to get up to 13 mph on level surface. It is a great bike for the value and I recommend it.

So you know when you buy a used vehicle you’re hoping it’s not a lemon. Well I bought this bike new but I definitely got a lemon. First when assembling it the whole steering unit fell apart so I was trying to piece together washers nuts and bearings when I had no clue how they were initially put together. Since then the steering has never really felt normal. Then the second time I drove it the chain fell off. I put it back on and it fell off again on the same ride. I drove it another time in the chain fell off again so I took it to the bike shop and had it tuned. Then on the seventh time using the bike I brought it to mountain bike trails. Previously I only drove it on the road. While driving the bike my pedal started to wobble and came loose. I had to push my bike back to the car. I’m almost 40 and I know this sounds bad but my mom was so upset about all the issues I had with the bike she decided to call the manufacturer since it was non-operational at this point. Apparently Customer Service was extremely rude. They kept on telling her just read the manual but the manual had no bearing on whether or not my pedal worked anymore. Also they would not pay for the tuneup that I had because of the loose chain. This might’ve been the worst experience I have ever had purchasing anything on Amazon as I purchase multiple things monthly. Such a disaster and customer service was absolutely no help. I took a big loss on this bike. However they did say they have sent a new pedal in the mail and hopefully they sent the part of the pedal screws into as both pieces are stripped. I know everything was put together to satisfactory as like I said earlier I had the bike tuned up and looked at by a professional due to the many problems I was experiencing. I would not recommend this bike to anyone not for the fact that I think you will have the same issues because if I didn’t have those issues I would like to bike but the customer service was horrendous.