Mongoose Frankenbike

This was a restoration/improvement project I did sometime at the end of 2024. It originally was black in colour, a suspension fork, 3x8 drive train and 26" sized wheels. And it was a bit heavy, coming in at approximately 15kgs.

This bike is a continuous work-in-progress, and as bikers would usually say - never complete. Some parts have been replaced thru a long process of trial and error, to determine which one suits me better.

For the cockpit, I initially went with 120mm long stem, and refined it along the way and found 100mm to be suitable for me. Ergonomic grips went well with the bike's colour theme. I opted for windowed shifters to let me know what gear I am on, in addition to just feeling it with my legs. Bike computer mount in the middle was added later. 

The seats were initially from the old bike but found it too long, so I switched to a shorter and lighter seat. Seatpost is 0mm offset (from +20mm). Opted for screw-in mount (instead of elastic strips) for rear light/radar combo.

Flat and pinned pedals are installed at the moment as I am using this bike for casual rides. For training or "semi-serious" rides, SPD pedals are installed instead.

For the drivetrain, I opted for this offering from Shimano. They claim it is more durable, so I went on with it. Besides, my priority for this bike is more on durability rather than being speedy.

Upgraded the bottom brackets from the old square taper into the newer, lighter threaded BSA. For the pedals, I opted for shorter cranks (from 175mm to 170mm), which were burgled from my trail bike. Again, this was a result of trial-and-error rides to determine which one was suited for me.

Old brakes were cable-actuated disc brakes, so have upgraded to these cheap but reliable Shimano hydraulics. 

The fork was formerly a suspension fork, but I found it too heavy so I opted for these rigid aluminium forks. Not really a fan of the huge gap above the tires, but there were no other options.

Found these aluminium rims from AliExpress, called "ARC". The old bike had cup races for bearings, but I found the races too worn out. This model had sealed bearings. It's nice and rolls smoothly. Maintenance wise I'd probably need some bearing pullers, but I"ll deal with it way way further down the line, given the longevity I'm having with the wheels so far.

The bike originally came with 26" tires and rolled very slow (it was originally a mountain bike after all) so given that I wanted to use this on the road, I thought of putting in smooth rolling tires. At first I thought it wouldn't fit, but thru testing thankfully it did.

I might also put some bigger tires on it in case I want to use this on light gravel trails, so I borrowed a friend's 700x38c. It did fit, with about a few mil's to spare, so safe to say that's the maximum that this frame can fit.

I am really happy with my color choice for this bike, how the satin yellow frame pops out against the black-coloured components.

Painting was a learning process, with mistakes encountered along the way. Lesson learned was to be patient, and preparation is key!

The bike was stripped down to bare metal, then applied a black basecoat. I was pleased with the black paint already and thought maybe I'd settle with a black colour but I carried on with the yellow paint.

I got too impatient because it was starting to look good so I rushed on certain things and as a result, there were some bubbling in some parts while the paint dried. I had to repair those bubbly areas (I suspect moisture was the culprit as I was spraypainting outside while drizzling), which made the paint time and prep time longer. 

Despite those setbacks, I was very happy with the outcome. The yellow paint "sunset yellow" only came in a gloss finish so I bought a separate can of satin clear coat and finished the job with it. All in all I used up a can of the black basecoat, three cans of the yellow paint (cause of the repairs) and a can of the satin clear coat.