Mongoose... what's the story?

[yoothgeye]

I was looking at the eBay bar on the right side of the page and see a guy trying to sell what appear to be 2 Walmart Mongoose bikes for over $300 each!!! Now, I know that Mongoose use to be a solid bike shop sold company, and I remember when I first started seeing them in Walmart and learned that they had been bought out (or they sold out). In my mind I want to say I started seeing Mongeese in Walmart around 1998.

Here's my question. Did they have a split personality for a while? Once they started selling in Walmart were all their bikes just restickered China bikes or were some made separately and still offered through bike shops? Just wondering because of all the bikes we are getting some of the older Mongoose bikes appear to be made better, but none of them are old enough to be made before the Walgooses.

 

[snydur]

one of my first bikes i got new was a blue mongoose and that was about 2000 and i remember going to a shop in dowtown to pick it up, so maybe they did have some still. it had different tires and rims than most of the other mongoose bikes did, and seemed a little bigger, so maybe they did do like you said and sell in two different places and styles.

researched it and they got sold out to pacific cycles in 2001.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongoose_(bicycles)

 

[scrumblero]

I saw those too, but he does not give the year model. but judging by the chainguard on the "pro" motivator,they must be chinese.

I scored a mid 90's "pro" villain at the swap a couple weeks ago...its no joke, 4130 tubing, real Oddysey parts, and no made in china sticker..:mrgreen:

they still make 2 levels of bikes , one for wally world, and one for what few shop swill sell them, although as far as I can tell, all the frames look the same across both lines

the Cali made ones are still out there, just gotta make sure its at least 10 years old.. :roll:

 

[yoothgeye]

Yeah, when I saw the chainguard I was suspicious.

I thought the mongoose (the animal) logo was a dead giveaway, I didn't remember that on older models, but I think that too was a pre-sold out addition.

 

[Wolf's Den Garage]

Oh man, I remember when I got my Mongoose Decade around 1987! I was so stoked to get that bike. Guess what's still in the parents' attic?!

Here's the model and color it is (not my actual bike.) I really need to get that thing down and clean it up. It does have a cracked mag, though.

 

[scrumblero]

Oh man, I remember when I got my Mongoose Decade around 1987! I was so stoked to get that bike. Guess what's still in the parents' attic?!

Here's the model and color it is (not my actual bike.) I really need to get that thing down and clean it up. It does have a cracked mag, though.

you better go get it before your mom gives it away.... :lol:

 

[Wolf's Den Garage]

Ha! That ain't gonna happen! Although several pair of my Jordan's are now gone....

 

[Bigcam59]

Pacific owns both the Schwinn and the Mongoose names and they do have 2 divisions for each, bike shop quality and Walmart quality. I have one of the bike shop Mongoose bikes, a full suspension disc brake mountain bike. It used to be that the bike shop quality stuff was all you would find in the manufacturer's catalog. The y wouldn't bother putting the Wally world stuff in their own catalog. Don't know if that's true still...