Mongoose XR200 Offers Slick Design at a Fair Price
Written: Nov 27 '05 (Updated Nov 28 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Dual suspension; Front disk brake; Twenty- one speeds
Cons: Caliper brake in rear; Uncomfortable seat
The Bottom Line: This is a very good bicycle for the price, with good control and twenty- one speeds to help navigate rough terrain.
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| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Mongoose XR200 Mountain Bike |
Bicycling can offer a great form of exercise and it is one of the few types of physical activity that can be recreational as well as beneficial to one’s health. I used to ride my bicycle quite a bit when I was younger, and I took part in some very long, tedious bike tours that were often several hundred miles in length.
Unfortunately (in terms of my health), I laid my bicycle to rest back around 1990 and I completely ignored bike riding and all its potential benefits. Today, I am trying to reverse my sedentary trend and the place I started was with my bicycle. Rather than try to repair my old one, I decided that a new bicycle was a good idea- both for the modern construction that a new bike offers and for the motivation to get up and start riding again. The bicycle I chose is the Mongoose XR200, a 21- speed mountain bike.
Facts About This Bicycle:
This bicycle offers twenty- one total speeds, with three different size chain wheels in front and seven different freewheels in the rear. The wheel size on this bicycle is 26 inches.
Sporting an aluminum frame and aluminum alloy components, this bicycle features dual suspension and racing front suspension. It boasts a Shimano drive train and gears, with the chain wheel shift located next to the left handlebar and the freewheel shift next to the right handlebar. The tires on this mountain bike are large with heavy tread to grip the ground. The body of the bike features a combination of silver, black, and red colors, giving it a tough, aggressive appearance- like one would expect in a mountain bike.
Braking on this bicycle is accomplished by squeezing the hand brakes found on each handlebar. The front brake is disk while the rear brake features a center- pull, caliper design. For safety, there is a front and rear reflector.
Customer Service:
Questions about this bicycle should be directed to the customer support line, 800-626-2811 between the hours of 9am and 6pm, Eastern Time. The web site for the business is mongoose.com.
Final Thoughts:
Bicycling is an activity I once enjoyed tremendously. I took part in many sponsored tours and I kept track of my daily miles and the amount of time I spent on my bicycle. I logged a few thousand miles every year and I could ride fifty miles or more with little or no fatigue, arriving back at my house with no physical signs that I had just spent several hours performing rigorous exercise.
Well, times have changed. I wouldn’t even think of riding a bicycle 50 miles or more today and I can feel the fatigue in my legs after about two miles of riding (with moderate inclines). Still, I decided that, among the different forms of exercise, bicycling was still the one I enjoyed best and I proceeded to purchase this bicycle a few months ago as a gift to myself, with the personal pledge that I would try to get back in shape once again. I chose the Mongoose XR200 mainly because of its appearance. I live in an area that does have hilly terrain, but my main reason for buying this bicycle wasn’t because it was a mountain bike. I purchased it because I liked the red, black, and silver color combination, the dual suspension, and the overall look of the bike. It seemed like the type of bicycle that would fit my style and that would (hopefully) get me back in the groove of bike riding once again as a means of physical fitness.
Like I said, the physical appearance of this bicycle is what initially attracted me to it. When I first started to shop for a new bicycle, I was surprised at how differently they look and operate when compared to the past. When I was a bicycling fiend, I knew all about different bicycles and biking terminology. But today, the improvements in technology make those manufactured back in the 1980’s obsolete. I first shopped at a specialty store, but I decided against buying one of these fancier bicycles because of the price tags. Some cost $1,000 or more, which seemed far too expensive for a beginner like myself. I decided instead to buy the Mongoose XR200 because I liked what I saw and the price was much lower.
One thing that stood out right away with this bicycle is the dual suspension. On the Mongoose XR200, this suspension mechanism can be clearly seen, below the seat. It features a piston and spring and the rider can either tighten or loosen the adjusting plate to affect riding control. When you brake, the front of the bicycle actually dips a little bit, providing for better control. One needs to be careful, however, not to set the spring too loosely because if you are riding at a high rate of speed (especially downhill) and have to break suddenly, you could be lunged forward and fall over. In high speed riding, the tension needs to be a little tighter. For myself, I don’t plan on doing any racing (this bike isn’t really meant for racing anyway), so this isn’t a concern to me. But I like having this piston suspension control because I can adjust this tightness and affect the control of the bike to fit my biking needs.
With three chain wheels in front and seven freewheels in the rear, this bicycle offers twenty- one total speeds. I couldn’t find any information on the exact range of the gears, so I had to examine the bicycle myself and count the number of teeth on each wheel. What I discovered is that this bicycle has a highest gear that offers 96 gear inches of forward power and a lowest gear that offers 24 gear inches. This lower gear is suitable for mountain riding and for navigating steep inclines. The highest gear of 96 is good enough for what this bike is intended for, but it isn’t as high as some of the racing bikes on the market. As I recall, my previous bicycle offered a gear range from 112 gear inches down to 36. Thus, this bicycle is obviously not the type to purchase if you plan to take part in competitive racing.
Braking on this bicycle is good and I especially like the front disk brake because it stops the bike more firmly and generally doesn’t require as much maintenance. The rear brake on this bicycle is a caliper- style brake, which I don’t like as much as a disk brake. It would have been better if the manufacturer had made this bike with disk brakes on both wheels, but they opted not to.
Shifting the gears on the Mongoose XR200 is accomplished by turning the gear shifts located on each handlebar. The chain wheels are changed using the left handlebar and the freewheels are changed using the right handlebar. To change, all you do is grip the handle and turn it up or down. The chain wheel shift is marked with the numbers 1, 2, and 3 while the freewheel shift has numbers 1 through 7. The higher the number is, the higher the gear. The shifting action is pretty simple, but I have noticed that the chain wheels do not always switch smoothly. Often, the derailleur will make a clicking noise and will not change right away. I often have to move the shift lever a little bit beyond the number I want in order to get it to switch. I don’t seem to have this problem with the freewheels. The derailleur on the back end shifts the chain fairly easily from one freewheel to the next.
One other bad point to make about this bicycle is the seat. It is easy to adjust, with an easy to use lever that allows you to raise or lower it without the use of tools. But it is small, hard, and not very comfy for long bike rides. When I first tried this bicycle out, the seat was the one negative point that almost made me change my mind about making a purchase. It is too narrow and it takes away from what would otherwise be a comfortable experience. I recommend buying a separate seat to anyone who buys this bicycle. I get irritated with it after ten minutes, so I can’t imagine what it would feel like to sit on this seat for an extended period of time.
Many people who purchase bicycles do so with the idea of using the bicycle to run short errands. If you use this bicycle for that purpose, you need to make sure you purchase a lock that has a long enough chain to wrap around the front wheel and the frame. The front wheel features a quick- release design, which is great for those times when you have to perform maintenance on the tires or wheels. But this also means that a thief could easy remove the front wheel when the bike is parked. This isn’t likely to happen, of course, since there is little practical use for a bicycle wheel. But to be completely secure, it is important to wrap the chain through the front wheel and then around the main frame when you lock it up.
So what is the final verdict on my Mongoose XR200 bicycle? Well, from what I have seen so far, I like this bicycle and will slowly continue to get back in the habit of bike riding with each passing day. I may not reach the peak physical condition I enjoyed when I was eighteen (my resting heart rate back then was about 52 beats per minute, today it is 82) and logged a few thousand miles each year. But I plan to stick at it, gradually increasing my riding and improving my heart rate and muscle tone. This bicycle is a pretty good one for those who aren’t yet serious about bicycling but want a better than average bike at a fair price. I paid about $155 for mine- a price much lower than some of the high- tech contraptions available in specialty shops.
Physical fitness is important and it should be added to everyone’s daily schedule of activities. Mongoose XR200 is a solid, flashy bicycle that offers 21 gears and good handling and control. It would be better with a more comfortable seat and with a rear disk brake. But I like it overall and will continue my quest to improve my physical condition by riding this bicycle a little more each day.
Recommended:
Yes
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