Mongoose Otero: budget FS project

supersonic

Bought from Paul's, sold off a few parts and built up with spares. Maiden voyage was tonight: excuse poor indoor shots, better will follow.





Full spec is:

Frame: Mongoose Otero Super with RS Bar 2.1
Forks: RS Tora 289 Uturn
Bars: Kalloy 640
Stem: Cro Magnon
Headset: Ritchey Logic
Grips: Foamy things

Brakes: Tektro Auriga Comp

Shifters: Deore
Cables: Shimano/Jagwire
Front Mech: Deore
Rear Mech: XTR


Seat: San Marco ZonColon
Seat Post: GT
Seat Post Clamp: Mongoose

Cranks: Shimano 442 HT
Chainring(s): TruVativ
Chain: Z
Cassette: SRAM PG 950
Pedals: Planet X Xwing
Bottom Bracket: Shimano ES25 Octalink

Front Wheel: Xero XCD-3
Spokes: DT Champion
Tire: Continental SpeedKing 2.3 Protection

Back Wheel: Xero XCD-3
Spokes: DT Champion
Tire: Continental SpeedKing 2.3 Protection

Weight: Probably too much

First impressions were the handling: superb. Slightly slack head angle, but short stem, 640mm bars and relatively short position led to good stability at speed, but quick reactions on the tight stuff. A bit too short in the top tube for longer rides I think, but this bike was never meant for that: certainly inspires confidence for harder riding.

Adjustable rear sus for travel and leverage allows many set ups and, combined with the Uturn fork, opens up even more tunabilty. Still waiting for the system to fully bed in, but the low pivot and short travel gives little bob but did notice a fair bit of brake jack. The original Tektro Comp brakes I am not getting on with with: long throw, and vague feel stifle feedback, but I will give these more time to bed in.

This build was about 350 quid....

MountainMonster

Whoah man, that is a damn good build for the amount of cash you spent!

Lovely!

The Northern Monkey

Kept that one a bit quiet didn't you?

Looks good!

supersonic

Was always going to build it up lol.

Rear travel is adjustable from 65 to 115mm which is plenty for me. And with a 65/38 ratio, is going to be very smooth in the lower travel setting, just enough to take the buzz away.

supersonic

A more few quick pics of the beastie:

highlandyeti

Thats a cracking trail bike for £350!!

supersonic

You can get a new one from Paul's for 400 quid with mostly the same spec - I sold some parts, and fitted some older ones I had in the shed.

Frame with shock weighs 7.4lbs, which is not shabby at all for a bike of this price and strength.

twonks

Looks good.

Pauls always have some nice deals going on.

How are the wheels? I had a set of £200 Xero wheels on my road bike and they were more than capable of running alongside £400 Mavic et al.

supersonic

Pretty good! Not got many miles on yet: were originally on the Zaskar, but got some XTR at a bargain for that. Come in at about the same weight as Crossrides, but with much easier to get spares. Deepish section rim looks tough, and are tight and true.

As a budget full susser, these bikes really work well.

007iron

Pauls....? :?

The Northern Monkey

007iron wrote:

Pauls....? :?

pauls cycles .co .uk

It is really nice that, I actually nearly bought an otero instead of the P7... would have probably been a better option

supersonic

Frame not much heavier than the p7 lol, and the whole bike cost less than a p7 frame

Just loving this travel adjust, takes 5 seconds to change, and at low travel is perfect for road ride back. Yet is still compliant.

The Northern Monkey

Ahh man, I hated the Meta on the road today... had a 10 min downwards run to the carpark at the end of the enduro and it just felt SO wrong

Yeah I hold my hands up, the P7 was a bit of a bum buy. If the frame was lighter it would have been a cracking bike

Might consider an Otero for the Mrs at some point

supersonic

I had a go on a newish Orange 5 in the summer. Jeez, was horrific! Despite it's seemingly highish pivot it managed to bob like a fat trampoliner and still had pedal feedback. Needs some shock taming.

twonks

Some of the lower cost bikes are quite a suprise.

When we got the young uns Giant Yukon from Pauls it was a suprisingly good (if heavy) thing straight out of the box.

With a few upgrades it now flies and she isn't far behind me on some of the uphill sections, which isn't bad at all for a 12 yr old girl

supersonic

I'm really tempted to get the 250 quid Rev Team from JE James with its tapered steerer and fit it (with the new cane creek adaptor for ZeroStack). Will drop 1.8 lbs off the front end, and will still only come in at 650ish for the build.

The Northern Monkey

The rev team is by far the best forks i've ever used, the small bump response is amazing and the damping is just perfect for bigger hits.

I run 2 clicks of compression for normal rides and 1 click if for the long downhill at Cwmcarn.

£250 is a steal! or £300 for the new one is even better!

twonks

I'm sure you know better than I, but yes for the money I'd do it.

The biggest difference to the feel of the Giant was moving from a Dart to a 318 air thing - which itself isn't that light - but made a significant difference in feel.

supersonic

The stock 289 fork is a bit of a porker, and only has rebound adjust. I have a 1lb lighter 302 air, but needs fixing, but these Revs are a huge bargain. I have 318 air on the Zaskar, great fork.

All the rest of the kit is simple, MOR, reliable stuff. The saddle is on test from WMB, so will be changed if they remember to ask for it back hehe.