marknotgeorge
Hol den Vorschlaghammer!
- Location
- Derby.
So, way back in September I was looking at bikes for the girls, and not finding much in my budget. The bike for 14-year-old Drama Queen was fine - a Rockrider 340 from Decathlon would've done the trick. But one for 11-year-old Mad Scientist was proving troublesome. Everything of similar price to the Rockrider was made of pig iron, and aluminum bikes like the Cuda Mayhem she's already got were pushing the top end of the budget.
One day I was mooching on eBay, and I saw a chap selling Mongoose Rockadiles ex-display for £110. I also saw he was selling Mongoose Switchback Comps in XS and S sizes for £130, so I snapped them up. It meant a trip to Chatham, but it was worth it. The chap, working out of a lockup, was very helpful and let me choose from the several of each bike he had. They're 2012 models, it seems, and there's the odd scuff here and there if you look closely, but for the money they're spot-on. The Rockadile has a 21-speed Tourney groupset with Revoshift changers, and the Switchback an 8-speed Altus rear derailleur and a 3-speed Tourney up front, with EZ-fire changers. Once bought, I stored them in my sister's garage until fetching them this afternoon.
As we mostly do cycle tracks as a family, and are thinking about a micro-tour in the summer, I fitted rear pannier racks and SKS Velo mudguards with the optional stays. I thought the removable Velos would allow us to maybe do some mud-plugging if I can find myself a second-hand MTB at some point. I also bought some cheap, but approved, battery lights from Amazon and a couple of water bottle cages from Wilkos.
Fitting went well, apart from the whirlpool of oblivion tools and fixings enter whenever I do a bit of DIY. The Switchback's frame and forks have fittings for disk brakes, and the stays for the front mudguards weren't long enough to be bent to allow them to be bolted to the fork. A rummage in Dad's toolbox resulted in two shirt lengths of metal with holes of the right size. Result!
I think they'll be happy...
One day I was mooching on eBay, and I saw a chap selling Mongoose Rockadiles ex-display for £110. I also saw he was selling Mongoose Switchback Comps in XS and S sizes for £130, so I snapped them up. It meant a trip to Chatham, but it was worth it. The chap, working out of a lockup, was very helpful and let me choose from the several of each bike he had. They're 2012 models, it seems, and there's the odd scuff here and there if you look closely, but for the money they're spot-on. The Rockadile has a 21-speed Tourney groupset with Revoshift changers, and the Switchback an 8-speed Altus rear derailleur and a 3-speed Tourney up front, with EZ-fire changers. Once bought, I stored them in my sister's garage until fetching them this afternoon.
As we mostly do cycle tracks as a family, and are thinking about a micro-tour in the summer, I fitted rear pannier racks and SKS Velo mudguards with the optional stays. I thought the removable Velos would allow us to maybe do some mud-plugging if I can find myself a second-hand MTB at some point. I also bought some cheap, but approved, battery lights from Amazon and a couple of water bottle cages from Wilkos.
Fitting went well, apart from the whirlpool of oblivion tools and fixings enter whenever I do a bit of DIY. The Switchback's frame and forks have fittings for disk brakes, and the stays for the front mudguards weren't long enough to be bent to allow them to be bolted to the fork. A rummage in Dad's toolbox resulted in two shirt lengths of metal with holes of the right size. Result!
I think they'll be happy...
