Mongoose - Wanderer AL 26" Unisex Tandem Bicycle

Comments about Mongoose Wanderer AL 26" Unisex Tandem Bicycle:

The Mongoose Wanderer AL tandem has a good oversized aluminum frame. The same frame is sold in steel under the "Pacific" brand name. Assuming that the frame fits you and your partner, I doubt you'll find a better frame even if you pay far more. The frame is light and feels solid.

The steel fork and components are inexpensive but serviceable.

You'll have to take the bike to a bike shop to assemble, unless you're an experienced mechanic. Every bearing needed to be adjusted, and both wheels needed to be tensioned and trued. This is the way all bikes come from the factory.

The weight out of the box is 41 pounds. By replacing some of the steel parts with aluminum we easily lowered to weight to 37 pounds. You could lower the weight further without great expense.

The annoying thing is that the Mongoose choose parts that save a dollar, but cost a fortune to replace.

- The most important part to replace are the tires. We put on 1.4" Tom Slicks and it felt like a different bike.

- The seats and pedals are cheap plastic. No big deal, I always replace the seat and pedals when I buy a bike.

- The bike has a threaded headset. A threadless headset would have cost the manufacturer a dollar more, but for the consumer to upgrade to threadless (fork, headset, stem) costs about $200.

- It has a freewheel, not a cassette. This increases the stress on the rear axle, increasing the possibility of breaking. And it has a "Mega Range" 7-speed freewheel, which is a 14-24 6-speed plus a 32-tooth cog. 14-32 is a good range, and 7 gears are adequate, but the shift from 24 to 32 teeth causes the pedals to increase in speed suddenly and the stoker loses her feet off the pedals. Replacing a cassette is easy but replacing a freewheel is harder. Luckily I found a 14-28 7-speed cassette on an old bike.

- Both wheels have 36 spokes. 48-spoke wheels would have cost just a few dollars more, but for me to upgrade the wheels will cost hundreds of dollars.

- The spokes are undertensioned, which will increase spoke breakage, so you need to have a skilled mechanic spend some time tensioning the wheels. This isn't simple, you have to true, tension, and re-true the wheel; go for a ride; true, tension and re-true again, etc. After doing this four times the wheels stayed in true.

- The bike only has mounts for rim brakes. Disk brake mounts would have cost another dollar, I guess. The ProMax brakes work acceptably, but if you want to upgrade to better brakes (I put on Avis Single Digit 7's) you'll need brake boosters. Without brake boosters you get squealing and shuddering, because the fork and frame aren't as strong as the brakes.

- Both seat tubes are standard 27.2mm, but the captain has a 25.4 seat post with a shim, to fit a 25.4 stoker steam. These non-standard sizes increase your cost to upgrade.

- The handlebars, stems, and seat posts are steel. They're functional but heavy, using aluminum would have cost only a little more.

- The SRAM 7-speed derailleurs and shifters work perfectly well.

- The cranksets are functional, no-name-brand, square taper, and work perfectly well.

I wish that there were a more expensive model with this frame and a threadless headset; 8- or 9-speed cassette; 48-spoke wheels; and standard-sized aluminum handlebars, stems, and seatposts.

All in all, this is a good bike if you just want to do easy rides in the park with your sweetheart, or if you are a serious cyclist with the skills and time to upgrade parts. If you want a quality tandem but don't have skills or time to work on the bike, go to a good bike shop and get a Burley or Santana.

The frame measurements are:

- Captain's seat tube 18.75", top tube 21"
- Stoker's seat tube 17", top tube 24.5"
- Wheelbase 68"
- BB height 11"

Comments about Mongoose Wanderer AL 26" Unisex Tandem Bicycle:

The bike is rather small (I am 6'). It is better suited for riders under 5'6". The front and rear pedals have no free-wheel (they must spin at the same rate). [...] The eccentric bottom bracket up front is a poor design. It came loose after ~20miles of riding. I fear this will be a repeated issue. Overall, the bike has cheap components. I should have paid more to get higher quality.