Mongoose Define Adult Gravel Bike, 700C Tyres, Lightweight Alloy Frame, Disc Brakes

Il prodotto é economico, la bici ha un bel design edile telaio non sembra avere particolari pregi, ma anche nessun difetto. Su strada é un disastro, cuscinetti pesanti (sembrano scorrere nella sabbia), freni totalmente inefficienti che sono a malapena in grado di rallentare la bici su rettilineo ( in discesa con i suoi 15 kg diventa inarrestabile per quelle pinze e pastiglie scadenti), le manopole sono invertite (sul destro c'è il "freno anteriore e sinistra il posteriore )

I've ridden this bike for 25 miles over two rides down cycle tracks, canal paths, foot paths for road riding and even a sort section through the woods and I cant wait to ride it again!Straight out the box and it looks great, the pics don't do it justice, the colour sparkles.Putting it together was easy enough too, pop the wheels in, bolt on the handle bars and peddles, set up the brakes.all ready to go :)I found a guide on their website for setting up the brakes, (attached as a photo) but I didn't need it.All I did was loosen the bolt on the brakes holding the cable in place, pulled the cable through with a pair of pliers and tightened it back up. The cables do need stretching so I pulled the brakes on as hard as I could a few times then loosened the bolt, pulled through a little more cable and retightened, easy :)One little detail I really like is the brake callipers are mounted on a slightly curved section.This means if you loosen the bolts and while holding the brakes on, tighten up the brake mount bolts (photo attached) then you will find the callipers are at the perfect angle for the rotors meaning maximum contact between callipers and rotors and awesome braking power.The gears were already set up, but may need adjusting later on, after 20 mile they were fine.The supplied peddles are quite small for my massive feet so back on Amazon and purchased a pair of DMR V6 peddles for £18 which go really well with this bike.Back to work tomorrow otherwise I'd be taking my Define Pro back out again, cant wait till next weekend and some more exploring. :)what a great bike, would definitely recommend!

Let me elaborateI'm familiar with out-of-box bicycles, I've built them before, and after reading the mostly negative reviews, I thought, 'how bad can it be?'. I received the item and did not delay in putting it together. The first problem I faced was the front wheel. After attaching it to the front fork, I noticed that the break pads and disc were rubbing heavily against each other. After about an hour of adjusting I could not do it. The back breaks were doing the same and put it down to it needing to be worn in, which is the case with some bicycles. I went for a test ride and the next problem became extremely apparent. The breaks would not function down hill and on an even level surface would take a few seconds to come to a full stop at a moderate speed. The hill was the scariest part of the test and the breaks, no matter how much pressure I applied, would not stop the bicycle and had to use my feet to eventually stop the bike! Not good! Out of the box, you would expect a bicycle to work, but this it seems did not. I spoke to amazon and they were happy to refund £50 odd to get the bike checked out by professionals (they also offered me a replacement, but thought I may have the same issues and would have to wait a week to find out).And so I took the bicycle to a reputable repair shop I've been to before and the result were not good. As suspected, the first issue (and the issue that took the most time) was the front wheel. I was told that the wheel, fork and break header were designed not to fit together properly. This could be an issue with my buy specifically, but I somehow doubt it. The front break pads and disc were still rubbing and was told that this will eventually go. The amount of pressure needed to stop the bike is better but still not great. I could even go so far as to say that it is still unsafe in certain situation. The repair shop have tightened the breaks as far as they would go and still this is an issue. The back break, though not rubbing, still requires a full pressure for the bike to come to a stop. At the moment, riding around 12kph, you'll need about 3m of stopping distance for a full stop at full pressure. This is no way near good enough and is a health and safety hazard. So, as the title suggests, do not buy this bike. Pay more for a better bike and go buy at your local bike shop, they know what they are doing/selling and usually give repair and maintenance deals. Though amazon have been kind with replacement/refund, I would probably never buy a bicycle from amazon again.Just a few more cons to put you off buying this bike.The material wrapped around the bull bars are foam, and though comfortable, mine came ripped in certain places out of the box. I don't expect this to last long.The spokes came wildly unadjusted but were fortunately sorted by the repair shop.The gears were also unaligned but again were sorted by the repair shop.How long these repairs will last is anyone's guess. Though there any many connotations, the bike is lightweight and can go reasonably fast and as my route is generally flat it does cut time/effort compared to my mountain bike, and the repair shop did say that the breaks could just need wearing in to before they function properly or perhaps, new pads need to be installed.The fact I needed to take it into experts out of the box is not a great start, the fact that the physical engineering of the bike is out in many places is a travesty.P.S. I'd actually just like to thank Amazon again for their understanding and refund/replacement options.

Gravel bikes are the current ‘in thing in cycling – a blend of road bike and mountain bike parts with a dedicated frame designed towards ‘adventure’ riding. What that means in practice has already seen a split in styles between bikes meant for predominantly a mixture of road and flattish track riding; and those which look to take on challenging gradients and spend next to no time on metalled roads.So what constitutes a gravel bike? Opinions differ, but I’d class the key features as:• One front ring only, usually no more than 42 tooth• Disc brakes• A huge gear range available thanks to using a long cage rear derailleur• Tyres wider than 36mm and knobbly, with either 700c or 650c wheels able to be fitted• Relaxed frame angles, particularly the seat tube at around 71º• Longer wheelbase to eliminate any possibility of toe overlap• Lower bottom bracket for stability• Wider handlebars for greater control, drop bars for choice of hand positionThe lowest price I’ve previously seen anywhere for a new gravel bike is £900; many gravitate to the £1,000 price point made popular by the Government’s ‘Cycle to Work’ scheme, but some cost much, much more. These almost exclusively use components from one of the ‘Big Three’ accessory suppliers: Campagnolo™, Shimano™ or Sram™. Here’s a bike that doesn’t, the Mongoose™ Define™, retailing at just £424.57 and offered for review under the Amazon Vine programme – and boy, are you getting value for money thanks to a canny selection of lesser known manufacturer’s components being utilised.Mongoose is a company that started life in 1974 in Southern California and soon gained a reputation for making top quality mountain bikes and BMX bikes. A change of policy thanks to the company being sold saw them expand into additionally selling via large chains, particularly in the US, with the Define model identified as “Series 20” on the frame the company’s foray into the budget adventure bike market. The bike arrived securely packed in a bike box and required just a little assembly, helped by an included manual which is generic and not targeted towards the specific model, although it covers most points. One shortfall of this is that there are no bike dimensions provided, so I’ve tried to give approximate ones below, and I’ll also compare measures to typical road bike specific frames to show the differences, as well as try to make comparisons with the usual accessory suppliers above to show how Mongoose have achieved this price point and whether it has affected performance or not.Frame: I chose a 19” frame, which describes the length of the seat tube – I normally take 20” in a road bike. 17” is also available. The bike comes in a striking red paint job with prominent Mongoose branding, and I think this colour is a great safety feature, although it is also available in white or black. The paint is well applied with no runs and has a lovely, deep shine. It really looks the part, and unusual too given most gravel bikes gravitate towards black, grey, beige or khaki. Made of aluminium, I measured the seat tube angle to be around 71-72º which is an ideal relaxed angle for a gravel bike. The frame is TIG™ welded, with all the welds rendered as neatly as aluminium welding allows, having been done with apparent care. The top tube slopes significantly and is rectangular nearest the seat post, which helps to absorb the impact of bumps. The head tube is 17cm long which gives a real ‘sit up and beg’ aspect ideal for observation on muddy trails – it really is like sitting in a 4x4, able to see over hedges I normally can’t. By contrast my winter bike’s head tube is 13cm. The reach is 3cm longer than any of my road bikes, giving the desired long wheelbase of this bike type to eliminate potential toe overlap, important with this style of riding where direction changes may be sudden. The bottom bracket is 30cm off the ground, which is slightly higher than my road bike’s 27.5cm, and more reminiscent of a cyclo-cross position, but as I’m not looking to do downhill racing on it not an issue, the bike feels very stable. Weighing in on my electronic bathroom scales I got 11.3kg – 1kg heavier than my winter bike, 3.5kg heavier than my summer compact but 2.9kg lighter than my old hard tail mountain bike. This really isn’t an issue however for riding flattish trails; weight is usually low down the list of priorities for gravel bikes, though it might be higher if you are looking to go climbing >10% gradients a lot. There’s a full set of mudguard eyelets on the rear, potentially allowing a full, traditional mudguard; but because of the position of the brakes only holes in the fork crown fitting the plastic type used on mountain bikes to the front. The frame also features three sets of bottle mounting screws – one on the seat tube, one each on the inside and outside of the down tube which is pretty standard for gravel bikes and gives choice of preferred bottle position as well as potential for a frame mounted pump to be carried. The cabling is internally routed through the down tube which is common on gravel bikes as one less thing to snag on trees and giving a neat appearance, save for one unplugged hole used for the chain ring change cable on a double ring version of this bike and not applicable here, but that’s a very minor issue easily remedied. There’s tons of clearance in the top crown and forks, which again are aluminium and straight, you could easily fit a 50mm wide tyre and probably more, giving adaptability which is a great feature. I really like this frame; it looks the part, gives options for fitting bits and bobs, and in use absorbs the worst of the bumps, particularly on unmade lanes, despite surprisingly the use of straight forks which on road bikes usually picks up ‘road noise’ as the penalty for responsiveness. I like the high position which gives a great ‘heads up’ vision of surroundings – particularly important when navigating muddy tracks to look out for obstacles.Stem: unlike many road bikes which feature stems with positive or negative rake gravel bike stems tend to be flat, which gives greater control and comfort. Made by VP Components™ the stem is fastened to the handlebar by four Allen™ headed screws and is around 90mm length – nice and short to put weight over the centre of the wheel and aid stability. The position it allows is comfortable – I didn’t feel stretched out despite the extra head tube length, and my neck doesn’t hurt from being too far forward at all, probably aided by the upright position. There’s a bit of height adjustment possible thanks to three optional 10mm spacers.Wheels: Not branded, but assumed to be Mongoose OEM. Each feature 36 spokes; and with unlabeled rims, all in plain black which complement the rest of the fittings well and are pretty bombproof. These I suspect are part of the reason for the bike's weight, but an easy upgrade if you wish to progress. They are affixed with quick release skewers, the standard for road bikes, although many gravel bikes now feature the newer and more robust through axle arrangement – essential if you are downhill racing and need to stop on a sixpence as it’s possible to snap a quick release with sudden, powerful hydraulic brake application. This indicates a bike more suited to flattish exploration than reckless charging through steep woods. For my intentions however quick release skewers are exactly what I’m used to and fit for purpose. The disc brake rotors are new to me as a rim brake user and are 16cm diameter – more about them later. The rims are fitted with 700c x 45mm tyres, which are the current fashionable width in the UK and ideal for unmade British lanes. The rear hub features a standard Shimano spline pattern, which gives plenty of options if needing or wanting to change the cassette, a future-proofing feature I like a lot.Chain: The chain is KMC™, which is a well known and popular brand used by many (me included) on road bikes as a good economy compared to the costs of the big three manufacturer’s OEM chains. I’ve always found KMC robust and fit for purpose, and a 10 speed chain by any manufacturer will happily fit any bike with a 10 speed cassette regardless of manufacturer or style of bike because they are all the same pitch and width. KMC comes with the advantage of a quick release link when its time to change, but I've always found them to have long lives if looked after, cleaned and lubricated.Tyres and Inners: Kenda™ Piedmont™ is a budget tyre featuring a directional tread pattern with a varying height profile, higher on the sides for extra grip on muddy tracks with a dual compound for longevity and ease of rolling, with a hard compound in the middle and a softer one at the edges. It’s a wired, clincher style tyre, meaning you’ll need to take along tyre levers in case of punctures. The sidewall states maximum inflation to 50psi, a bit of a shock when I’m used to 110psi on a road bike, but in practice this gives very good grip and significant cushioning from bumps. The inners are the mountain bike standard Schrader™ valve, the type found on cars rather than Presta™ which I’m used to, but the bonus is they allow pumping up with the car pump. I found even on wet mud I wasn’t slipping and sliding everywhere, with the pattern aiding grip. They certainly aren’t the fastest rolling, and if I was doing more on road riding maybe a tyre with a smooth middle section would be more appropriate, but with speed not a high priority for me on this bike these are absolutely fine.Handlebars and bar tape: 44cm wide and unbranded, which is the same width as the bars on my compact summer bike so instantly a very familiar feel. This is 3cm wider than my winter bike, but that extra width is preferable. The wider the handlebars the better for a gravel bike as this gives good control, essential when tackling muddy lanes. The bar diameter is a standard 31.8mm round in the central 14cm around the stem, narrowing to 25mm where the bar tape fits to make up the difference. I find it comfortable sitting on either the tops or the hoods thanks to that nice thick, black bar tape which has been carefully wound and matches the colour scheme of the bulk of the components, making for a striking appearance against the red frame.Chain ring and cranks: Prowheel™ branded, black powder-coated aluminium, 170mm cranks, and single 42 tooth chain ring. That single chain ring means no front derailleur is required, but unusually a chain guide gives a channel to stop the chain coming free of the chain ring over bumpy ground. This is not a feature of most gravel bikes. The right crank has five evenly spaced mounting points with the common 130 BCD fixing holes, not four point attachment as found on many mountain bikes indicating this is a road crank. This is an easily obtainable size if you wished to upgrade to carbon fibre, change the crank length or fit a different sized chain ring. The chain ring is well machined and gives a feeling of longevity. Unusually flat, plastic pedals are provided, something most bikes outside the budget market don’t come with due to so many pedalling systems being available, and these are a nice to have for me, but were quickly changed to my usual SPD™ variety. They are ideal for beginners or the nervous who aren’t confident clipping in. The bike can alternatively be supplied with a 50/34 compact double chain ring set up, but which uses a 7-speed set cassette instead of the 10 speed on this version, but for me that gives away the budget nature of the bike and doesn’t meet one of my criteria typifying the style – a single chain ring.Group set – Gear changers/Brake levers; cassette, rear derailleur: All Microshift™ R10™ which I’m extremely impressed with:• Gear changers/Brake levers: On this single chain ring version the right lever is the brake and gear change, the left lever is narrower and copes with braking only. The hoods are very reminiscent of Shimano in shape and I found them comfortable, which was surprising given I’ve always used Campagnolo which I think are the gold standard. The brakes levers are a little large for my hands (one reason for Campagnolo selection because they aren’t) but not overly so. They bring the bike to a stop when required. What I’m most impressed by is the gear changer, which I find very positive, with a reassuring click when changing which you get with Campagnolo, but not with Shimano. The changing gear system features an up and down lever, both on the right side of the hood, which is not a million miles away from Campagnolo’s solution with an ‘up’ button on the left. Microshift’s solution is close to Campagnolo’s and to my mind far better than Shimano’s requirement to push the dual brake lever across and Sram’s ‘double click’ single button. This was the most impressive thing for me as a lifelong Campagnolo fan.• Cassette: 10 speed, 11-28 and well built. The spline and spacing is the same as Shimano, so not proprietary and requiring esoteric replacement kit to be sourced which is a boon come time for replacement. The first four gears are a single riveted assembly, the rest are single gears with spacers which is great if you simply want to change the ratios. The cassette is well made and meshes with the chain very well. Whilst I like this cassette the choice of gears is not optimal. I’m aware that Microshift make up to an 11-36 at the same price, and perceived gravel bike logic is heading towards having a ‘dish plate’ sized ‘get out of jail’ gear approaching a 1:1 relationship with the front ring. This is 3:2, so over geared, and why this bike is more suitable for flatter terrain. 42/11-28 gives a 382% gearing range, which is a little on the low side for this style of bike.• Rear derailleur: I’m unsure whether this is medium or long cage, but it works very well indeed and I am impressed with the smoothness of changing. I know a medium cage derailleur will fit up to a 34 gear, so a long cage should fit more, so this is potentially a simple upgrade if you intend to climb a lot. Aesthetically Microshift also makes these in black, and it would be nice if this matched the rest of the colour scheme, but that’s a very minor quibble indeed.Brakes: JAK™ Super Brake. I initially didn’t like these cable pull brakes, finding the stopping power less than that found with my road bike rim brakes. However this turned out to be the pads and rotor requiring a little scuffing up to become effective. Cable pull brakes are simple, but not as effective as hydraulic brakes which cost significantly more. Unused to disc brakes I found the tighter tolerances used a little frustrating to get used to when setting up, but that’s more a general issue with any disc brakes, not this make and model specifically. The front brake caught on the rotor for a while, and there is still a definite squeal under braking. If there is one area I wouldn’t wish to economise on its brakes, and whilst functional when bedded in after several miles I’d rather see the bike priced a little higher with a well respected set chosen. This is a key reason for the bike being more for flattish exploration than rattling down steep slopes.Saddle and Seat Post: The saddle is Mongoose OEM and is still bedding in – typically any saddle takes around 150 miles to soften up before it stops making your backside a little sore. There’s plenty of scope for adjustment of height courtesy of a quick release lever, and the saddle rails give plenty of fore and aft adjustment to mimic a riding position from a more familiar bike. Saddles are a very personal thing, what suits one person won’t suit another, and this isn’t the most padded, rather it’s functional. It appears to be a compromise width between a typical male and female-specific saddle, being 13cm at the widest point. The seat post is unbranded, but features a limit marker and appropriate safety warning for exceeding it which I thought was considerate.Mongoose has undoubtedly spotted a gap in the market. This is the first budget priced gravel bike I’ve seen, and I’ve been researching this style of bike regularly for nearly a year. It offers great value for money for riders looking to dip a toe into off roading, or for those who can’t justify the early adopter price range many makes currently sell for. The choice of components is largely sound thanks to significant experience sourcing budget parts from lesser known manufacturers, and Mongoose really should be applauded for opening up the budget gravel sector which has not previously been addressed to my knowledge. I find the Define comfortable, operating smoothly, and capable of easy upgrade should a rider find this style of riding is for them. It didn’t take long to gain confidence that the bike was going to perform well and respond as required. This bike is definitely targeted towards the flatter trails and exploration end of the gravel market rather than for the downhill proponents, and I find it’s an unexpected joy to ride and suits my purpose of exploring tracks, unmade lanes and bridleways very well indeed.

I purchased this bike based on the heritage attached to the mongoose brand name. (I had a BMX as a teen and I loved it!) I intend to use it for commuting along my relatively flat 8 mile route during the winter.The initial set up was easy, a couple of bolts to attach the handlebars and easy to use Quick release skewer for the front wheel.The most time consuming part was removing the packaging from the bike! On the plus side, nice to see 99% of the packaging was recyclable.The brakes take a little time and trial and error to set up properly but I’ve heard this is normal and I know some bike shops will do this for free if you just buy an inner tube or something from them to keep them happy.Biggest problem I found was the gears wouldn’t shift properly. Upon taking the rear wheel out it was obvious that the rear gears were not on the wheel correctly. This was a very easy fix to just remove and re-install and was back on the bike in no time.The bike is now running perfectly and I couldn’t be happier!