Everyone wants to get out and ride, but not everyone has an abundance of extra cash sitting around to grab the latest and greatest Fixie/single speed bike. So what to do? Well we decided to take Walmart up on its Mongoose Single Speed bike offer. Coming in at a reasonable $149.99 would this bargain prices bike give us the performance and satisfaction we were looking for? Let’s find out in Part 1 of our budget build.
First thing first, we found our donor bicycle at the local Walmart bike isle sporting all the consummate badges and sales tags one could stick on it. After giving it a once over, we noticed a small one inch scrape on the top tube. Being the savvy shoppers we are, we mentioned it to management. That eye spy moment turned into a $10 discount. Around a 7% right off the top, enough to cover taxes. Not too shabby. So we take our new pride and joy home to really get a better look.
This is what we have to work with.
General Impressions
Overall the bike looks decent. The black and white theme seems to carry well, however Mongoose has seen fit to apply 10 lbs of stickers to the bike. It feels busy as a result of all the safety items and visual effects they saw fit to add to it. It’s a tall frame. If your under 5’ 7” I would be weary. All the safety items are present and it even comes with a manual.
