Quote Originally Posted by Crinale
nice bike... good to see Mongoose is actually building decent bikes again. that is a weird rear geometry, but looks like it should function well.
The geometry is specially designed to reduce/prevent pedal bob while climbing. It gets good reviews on MTBR and similar sites. Almost 6" of travel is nothing to sneeze at either, I was originally looking at XC bikes with around 4" travel, but this deal was too good to pass up.

http://mongoosebikes.blogspot.com/20...ive-works.html

Quote Originally Posted by Crinale
If you have much weight to you and plan to hit any higher speed tech trails, that fork is gonna die :-P iv gone through 2 forks on my mountain bike, and finally ended up with a RockShox Pike DualAir (which i love! this thing is beefy and super smooth).
Could be, but it's no surprise it isn't an amazing shock considering the price. In my opinion a shock is an easy upgrade, and I'll just ride this one because I won't know any better any way.

Quote Originally Posted by Crinale
Im 6'3" but i actually hate riding bikes that are sized "correctly" for me... i prefer the small side, medium-large. I think a lot of it has to do with the very technical high speed trails we have around here... i like a little more room between my junk and the seat :-P as well as the shorter wheelbase for the tight turns and drops
I wanted a BIG bike because I wanted a longer wheelbase that matched my height. Should be super smooth and stable at high speed.