Mongoose Sector 26" w/ promax disc brakes

[PlatinumGold]

is that too much bicycle for a 12 yr old boy? he's had 4 cheapo toys are us bikes till now, he is outgrowing his 24" and i figure, this bike should last him a while. i like the promax disc brakes over the normal hand brakes on the rims and it's time he grows out of the pedal brakes. any thoughts, ideas, suggestions? i saw Trek bike i like for him too but i have a $250.00 sports authority gift card i can use to fund most of this purchase. to get a Trek, i'd have to pay all cash pretty much.

edit to add sports authority link to bike.

http://www.sportsauthority.com...rand&parentPage=family

 

[MiniDoom]

I would suggest you buy a bike from your local bike store where they know how to properly assemble a bike. I would be afraid you would have a catastrophic failure on that big box bike. Also disc brakes are a necessity for mountain bikes, but full suspension may be overkill if your son doesn?t ride mountain bike trails and just cruises the neighborhood streets. A sales person at your LBS could suggest a good bike with a proper fit (which he?ll probably outgrow by next year if the bike?s not stolen first). Good luck.

 

[MiniDoom]

:thumbsup: btw for being a cool parent.
edit - just saw the gift card comment...

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
I would suggest you buy a bike from your local bike store where they know how to properly assemble a bike. I would be afraid you would have a catastrophic failure on that big box bike. Also disc brakes are a necessity for mountain bikes, but full suspension may be overkill if your son doesn?t ride mountain bike trails and just cruises the neighborhood streets. A sales person at your LBS could suggest a good bike with a proper fit (which he?ll probably outgrow by next year if the bike?s not stolen first). Good luck.

i thought adult mountain bikes were pretty much all 26" wheel bikes. what's to outgrow, at that point, you just put the seat higher right? also, assembly is that difficult? finally, i do have that $250.00 sports authority gift card burning a whole in my pocket.

 

[MiniDoom]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
I would suggest you buy a bike from your local bike store where they know how to properly assemble a bike. I would be afraid you would have a catastrophic failure on that big box bike. Also disc brakes are a necessity for mountain bikes, but full suspension may be overkill if your son doesn?t ride mountain bike trails and just cruises the neighborhood streets. A sales person at your LBS could suggest a good bike with a proper fit (which he?ll probably outgrow by next year if the bike?s not stolen first). Good luck.

i thought adult mountain bikes were pretty much all 26" wheel bikes. what's to outgrow, at that point, you just put the seat higher right? also, assembly is that difficult? finally, i do have that $250.00 sports authority gift card burning a whole in my pocket.

they do make 29" mtb and yes you could raise the seat to fix the stand over height, but the top-tube may get short for him as his arms get longer. Maybe just have a bike mechanic look over the bike to make sure everything's torqued and installed properly first.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: rdubbz420

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
I would suggest you buy a bike from your local bike store where they know how to properly assemble a bike. I would be afraid you would have a catastrophic failure on that big box bike. Also disc brakes are a necessity for mountain bikes, but full suspension may be overkill if your son doesn?t ride mountain bike trails and just cruises the neighborhood streets. A sales person at your LBS could suggest a good bike with a proper fit (which he?ll probably outgrow by next year if the bike?s not stolen first). Good luck.

i thought adult mountain bikes were pretty much all 26" wheel bikes. what's to outgrow, at that point, you just put the seat higher right? also, assembly is that difficult? finally, i do have that $250.00 sports authority gift card burning a whole in my pocket.

they do make 29" mtb and yes you could raise the seat to fix the stand over height, but the top-tube may get short for him as his arms get longer. Maybe just have a bike mechanic look over the bike to make sure everything's torqued and installed properly first.

got it, sounds like a good idea all the way around.

i'm only 5'10" my wife is 5'5" I don't expect any of my kids to grow much over 6', so i was thinking the 26" might last him at least till he is 16 or 17.

 

[deftron]

Yeah, normally you'd want to go to a bike shop if you're gonna drop that kinda cash.


However, since it's a Gift Card... totally understandable.



That bike looks decent for a big box one.


But, are you sure he wants a Mountain bike? I would think most 12 year olds would prefer a BMX bike... ask to be sure


For $250 you cold get a BMX bike, a ramp or grind rail, and a skateboard... and the kid would be set.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: deftron
Yeah, normally you'd want to go to a bike shop if you're gonna drop that kinda cash.


However, since it's a Gift Card... totally understandable.



That bike looks decent for a big box one.


But, are you sure he wants a Mountain bike? I would think most 12 year olds would prefer a BMX bike... ask to be sure


For $250 you cold get a BMX bike, a ramp or grind rail, and a skateboard... and the kid would be set.

ya, he wants a mountain bike. we went and saw it. he loves it. also, what does "big box" one mean?

 

[thedarkwolf]

At that price point forget dual suspension. It is just going to add weight, be inefficient, and add another thing to wear out/break. You can get a pretty decent entry level hard tail for that price. And disc brakes aren't needed for a mountain bike and again at that price point they aren't going to be good ones. They just look cool as does the dual suspension.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: deftron
Yeah, normally you'd want to go to a bike shop if you're gonna drop that kinda cash.


However, since it's a Gift Card... totally understandable.



That bike looks decent for a big box one.


But, are you sure he wants a Mountain bike? I would think most 12 year olds would prefer a BMX bike... ask to be sure


For $250 you cold get a BMX bike, a ramp or grind rail, and a skateboard... and the kid would be set.

ya, he wants a mountain bike. we went and saw it. he loves it. also, what does "big box" one mean?

Big box store as opposed to smaller bike shop.

I agree with darkwolf on the full suspension though. He'll be better served by a hard tail at that price. They're stronger, need less maintenance, lighter, and honestly for $330 you'll be getting worse components in other places to get that rear suspension. Unfortunately I don't see that many choices for hard tails at that store. While I'm not a huge fan of Schwinn I'd check out their hard tails there because you do have the gift card there.

If you didn't have to buy there a normal bike store would have a bunch of nice hardtails to choose from for around $250-350 especially if you buy last year's models. Haro, trek, giant, or any of the big names make a decent bike in this price range.

 

[RiDE]

That is going to be a pretty heavy bike so a hardtail would be better like they said above. But what exactly can you say to the kid if that's what he wants? I say get him what he's happy with. I wouldn't have cared back then if my bike was 20lbs or 40lbs as long as a i had a sht eating grin on my face. lol

 

[iGas]

I was a roadie @ 5'10" with 29" inside leg length, and I don't ride 26" MTB.

I have had 17" Rocky Mountain Stratos, 19" Kona Explosive, and Rocky Mountain Blizzard 18?.

Have your son inside leg measure and fit for a bike at the local store. Or use the general guide for proper sizing.

Sizing yourself for your first bike.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: iGas
I was a roadie @ 5'10" with 29" inside leg length, and I don't ride 26" MTB.

I have had 17" Rocky Mountain Stratos, 19" Kona Explosive, and Rocky Mountain Blizzard 18?.

Have your son inside leg measure and fit for a bike at the local store. Or use the general guide for proper sizing.

Sizing yourself for your first bike.

Its the wheel size that's 26" thats how big boxes do it.
OP, please, do not buy the bike. Take your $330, go to a bike shop and get something for your money that is good, properly setup, properly fitting, and of quality for your son. "26 inch" is not a bike size. Its a one size fits all crap shoot.

I understand you have a giftcard, but that doesn't mean you should throw the rest of your money away and put your son on a potentially dangerous machine (trust me big box store bikes are assembled by the pimply faced teen in isle 6... not a professional. Add in full suspension and its a time bomb).

 

[scott916]

Agreed. Full suspensions at this price point are a joke. Heavy, inefficient, and cheaply designed. For $350 at a bike shop, you'll be able to get a decent hard tail which will be of much higher quality and won't hold back his riding with a mushy, fake rear shock.

 

[alkemyst]

My schwinn my parents got me was about $250 back in the 70's/80's.

A $250 bike from a big box is going to be plenty for most...if he want's to get into bmx or mountainbiking (like riding offroad) then a more expensive bike brings options.

I had a $1000 Marin in college, it was my car for the most part. If I were to buy a bike today it'd probably be a $300 or so bike that I'd just ride around the neighborhood or down to the beach. My Marin was light and that made it easy to carry if I had too.