Walmart MTB Trail Test
In the last video, we bought a $140 bike from Walmart and corrected a bunch of issues with its assembly. Today, we’re off to Amelia Earhart mountain bike trails to test out the Mongoose for real.
This is my sister, Emily. She’s an avid road cyclist, but has only been mountain biking once. Emily will be taking the Mongoose on the novice trails so we can see if it’s any good for a beginner. At 35 pounds, this bike weighs about 1/3 as much as Emily does.
The novice trails here offer a mix of loose terrain, mud, roots, and various other small obstacles. Emily didn’t have any problems at all on the mongoose, it must be in her blood. We rode through every novice trail here and then went back to the car to check the bike out. No issues, and no adjustments needed. The bike was in perfect working order.
We went back out again but we swapped bikes this time. I rode the mongoose like a complete dick, first on the novice trails to see what it could do.
The first thing I noticed was how smooth the ride was. At $140 I expected the suspension to be little more than a gimmick, but it was surprisingly plush and effective. The shifting wasn’t as impressive though. The rear worked fine, more or less, but the setup in the front was a noisy mess. The brakes weren’t great either, but they did work.
Surprisingly, the saddle was comfortable and I didn’t hate riding this bike at all. Actually, I was having a blast on it, just seeing what was possible. It was time to subject the mongoose to some intermediate trails.
Again, the bike performed admirably. I even dropped some locals a few times. I got comfortable enough on the bike to try this little jump, and somewhat surprisingly, it was smooth as butter. It seemed that the Walmart bike was performing as advertised. But then I started dicking around.
On my mountain bike I can bunny hop on to the benches of picnic tables quite easily, but what about on the Mongoose?
Success. Yes, it felt heavy, but I did this bunny hop first shot.
On the way back to the car, I messed around on these skinnies, and ended up slipping off. That brought the bike to its knees. The rear wheel got knocked off to the side, which is weird because I remember tightening it real good. We went back to the car and got it back into place with my pedal wrench. I haven’t carried a proper 15 mil with me since my BMX days.
After a closer check, I noticed the headset was loose, along with the hubs in the wheels. I tightened them all up and they seem to be holding now. I asked Emily what she thought of the bike, and not surprisingly she wanted to go out mountain biking on it again. Seeing how it held up just fine for her on the novice trails, I can’t blame her.
So, we can say for sure that a properly assembled Mongoose Ledge is sufficient for a beginner to take on novice trails. Anything more than that, and it may need some extra maintenance. It’s also worth mentioning that we didn’t crash today. A good mountain bike will hold up in most crashes, but we have yet to see how the Mongoose holds up with repeated abuse. There’s always tomorrow.
In the next video, we’ll ride some street on the Mongoose and see how it holds up. If it gets destroyed, I might actually be a tiny bit sad, but it’s all in the name of science. Thanks for riding with me today, and I’ll see you next time.
If you have a department store bike, and need some ideas on keeping it maintained, here’s the best resource you could possibly use: http://bigboxbikes.com
This is the actual bike used: http://www.sethsbikehacks.com/product/mongoose-ledge/
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Never ever buy a piece of shit Walmart bike. Simply not worth it. If you
aren’t into cycling but you want a bike but still don’t want to pay 300-400
dollars on a decent bike then obviously you not going to ride it a lot. I
am really into cycling and have competed in lots of races joined a club and
have a little sponsorship that’s why I have a $7500 specialized bike.
Because I actually give a shit.
call the next test part 3 so i can see it. this is what i have been looking
for. a real test on a mtb from walmart
35lbs!? Holy hell! Mine weighs like 15lbs, I can press it over my head with
1 arm it’s so light. lol
This trail is in FL ? Whats the name of it ?
I don’t think those Walmart dept store mtb are meant for trail riding. It’s
really a toy meant for commuting and horsing around. I have a dept store
mtb that’s 10 years old! It’s a y frame, dual suspension, heavy and made of
steel. Back then, it looked cool as heck, now it feels old.
These bikes don’t have replaceable parts, other than the very basic. I’ve
only had one serious problem, creaky rear suspension. Grease didn’t help
much. Pedestrians would hear me coming. Finally found a shock at a mom and
pop used bike store. This cheapo bike is like a lazy chair compared to my
road bike.
Bike shops don’t want to fix these cheapies because there are no parts to
order. They were kinda hesitant and didn’t inspire confidence. Go figure?
sure it works fine for a while, but its gonna fall apart in about a
month… making it cost as much or more to fix the bike properly. and lets
face it the suspension is shit, no need to sugar coat it.
Seth, I’m from Tampa and ride at Alifia river, and balm boyette. Do ever
venture to the west coast of Florida and ride the trail systems there?
great video
Do you have instagram?
Ps Love your videos they er very helpfull:)
for the tricks you do. maybe you should buy a dirt jumper (dirt bike) it is
an not so heavy mountainbike and you can street much easyer.
could you make more riding in the street like tricks and to have fun in the
street
What makes a bike a mountain bike btw?
It dont trust me i have one
+Seth’s Bike Hacks I am looking at building a bike from scratch but can’t
seem to find a frame I like, I’m looking for a hardtail with similar
geometry to a downhill bike but can’t seem to find one, can anyone help me
with finding a brand that would sell something like that?
I still think that the problem with these bikes is the added cost of having
to fix them right out of the box. Quality parts cost money, and it’s hard
to make sense on how these cheap components perform when these
manufacturers are even cutting corners on the amount of lubricant that goes
on the components.
how expensive does a good mountainbike have to be?
seth …i will make as fast as posible a video on youtube that will be for
you to me ……..because that i leared from you is awesome and that i am
still learnig…….my thanks mr seth……..when i will apload it i will
write you in this comment to see it like it if you like it and comment me
like what i have to do to improve my self and this kind of thinks…..tahnk
you
Hey like your videos but what are your rims on your trek
Hey Seth, I was wondering of you could make a video about how someone can
get their bike ready for the trails! Keep up this great content!
~Tom (Minnesota)
I have a very similar bike and I can’t even do a wheelie on it.
do genisys v2100
My friend has a Walmart bike. It stood up to a few weeks of mountain bike
riding, but it has started deteriorating. The bearing on the back wheel are
completely destroyed and the back suspension just doesn’t sound right.
“Dicking around” is one of my favorite phrases and I’ve heard it twice in
two videos. Subscribed.
i crashed on that same bike, the front rim taco’ed and the back derailleur
bent into the spokes. i was in 3rd gear and not going that fast.