Comments on: Mongoose Cachet Review – $150 Walmart Bike

By: brad

brad — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:16:15 +0000

For what it is worth, after this review was published I sold the bike to a friend for $50 who then became a regular polo player on it for a year or so before getting a different bike, and passing this along to another local polo player. Two years later this particular bike is still rolling.

By: reycroxas

reycroxas — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:56:19 +0000

I also bought this bike a year ago. Had to sell it, I did not like the performance and the parts are not very good quality. Great site and review by the way. Thanks.

By: Buckeyematt

Buckeyematt — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:28:13 +0000

I hhave been riding this Mongoose do almost a year and wanted to give an honest review of it. First off I got it assemble from the hourly employee at Walmart the brakes of you can do the work stop the bike just fine after adjustment. I can tell you it weighs about 24 lbs. I too removed the stickers then I painted the stem and handlebars black. I got mountain bike bar ends also black. Lastly I ordered a pink Yeti downtube sticker set from eBay. This bike now looks like it cost much more than it actually did

Now the bad. The fork can double as an anchor as can the crank. The bottom bracket needed attention early. I took it to LBS and had them do it. While I waited I took the crank home and drilled holes in the arms. They are large holes in the middle getting smaller toward the ends, just changed drill bits. It took some weight off but I would like more. I will ultimately change to a different crank in future

I now ride about 10-20 miles every other day on it to stay in shape. I average about 14 mph on it. If you can find one still I say go for it. For 150 or less of is a solid platform to customize your own bile

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:19:38 +0000

@geekjitsu
“April 20, 2010 at 5:25 pm

I will add that I agree with Brian G. if you’re going to spend $150 on this bike, spend $50-80 more on a Schwinn Cutter.”

I understand what you are saying here but in my case (I’m sure others)I’m a new father, new home owner, and on the chopping block for lay offs. I own 2 decent road bikes but want to try a fixed for fun. $50-80 is $50-80 I don’t want to spend on something I may not get into.

By: John S.

John S. — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:52:05 +0000

I’m looking with interest at this bike. What is its upper weight limit?

By: rico 1

rico 1 — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:05:22 +0000

iv put about 2k miles atleast into 1, my awesome cachet, in all truth if you throw a couple new parts on this bike and i like it more than the others, Ive ridden plenty of fixed bikes and i actually prefer the mongoose fixed bikes , i also have a detain

By: fixenstein

fixenstein — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 06:50:46 +0000

i was at my local bike shop today when a customer came in with a mongoose cachet and i must say for the price it’s a comparable single speed and it costs about 45 bucks or so to add the option of fixed gear, if you go with the opinions of cyclery snobs you’ll get a bike with open bearing wheels and the bikes cost twice as much such as bikes made by s & e or schwinn

By: Michael Taylor

Michael Taylor — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 07:49:33 +0000

It’s a perfect bike, as a disposable polo or crit bike, and for vulnerable commuters. Sometimes beater bikes are sweet.

By: ken

ken — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:02:12 +0000

A $150 bike at Walmart will likely cost you much more elsewhere. So if you need a beginner or low price bike you might as well go for it. But, don’t expect the bike to last long, you will probably have rusting problems after the first rain and probably won’t look too god after a year.

By: Poseur

Poseur — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:52:20 +0000

The fixed-gear trend closely parallels the BMX fad of the 1980s, which is more relevant to my adolescence. I clearly recall spotting a banana yellow P.K. Ripper frame in the window of a local bike shop, acquiring this frame for my fourteenth birthday, and combing through my back issues of BMX Plus! in order to compile a detailed list of components: Oakley B-1B grips, Dia-Compe MX-1000 brakes, Skyway Tuffwheels, Torker six-bolt headset, Uni seat with graphite post, Sugino cranks, Tioga Comp tires. I rode with a group of friends who all had high-end bikes, and we terrorized the neighborhood. Having had that experience, I can honestly say that I could care less as an adult about such things when purchasing a bike. The hipster snobbery of the fixed-gear subculture is childish; just another way for younger people to establish identity, however facile that attempt may be. The juxtaposition of this subculture is that while there is often a pantomimed appearance of poverty (which is oh-so-hip when you’re young), a great deal of money goes into the purchase and assembly of the “ideal bike.” If this Mongoose is all that one can afford, why should someone be made to feel ashamed because the bike doesn’t fit the established criteria? There is a certain classist element that runs through the fixed-gear scene–and that’s nothing new. This can be linked with just about every pop-cultural movement of the twentieth-century.