20" Mongoose Massif for the vertically challenged?

[Geekette70]

So I'm down to choosing either a used trike from CL or the Mongoose Massif, price point being about the same. The hubby's taking an old mountain bike, but I want something that I can ride without face planting every time I hit some loose dust or come to a stop (ask my why I don't ride our motorcycle anymore.) I'm 4'11" and most adult bikes are too tall for me. The Mr. is concerned about trailer space and the trike, so I've been considering the Mongoose Massif. It's got wide, smooth tires, is a 7 speed and it's right in my price range.

I guess I'm concerned that it's possibly too small? For reference, I'm about same height as your average early middle school kid. Not sure about exactly how to calculate standover height, but floor to pubic bone, in shoes, is 29.5" (inseam is 28".) I'd be happy to run down to Wallyworld and jump on one to test, but they don't keep them in stock, so that's not an option and I'm hoping to catch one on Craigslist if at all possible.

Does anyone have any experience with this bike?

[Geekette70]

For quick reference.

[Bless]

That looks incredible!

[maladroit]

Unlikely to find one on Craigslist, they are too new. The Wal-Mart in my town has a Massif sitting out on the floor (along with a Dolomite discounted to $199 and Beast at full price). Maybe you could go around to a few other Wal-Marts and see if they have one out?

The Beast is very large, the thick tires add a lot to it. I didn't have any problems at 6'3", but my girlfriend is around 5'10" and fell over repeatedly on her Beast. We dropped everything as low as possible and it helped a bit. But that leads me to guess that the boy's version might be close to the right size for someone 4'11".

[Geekette70]

Thanks, that's actually very helpful. I looked and found one at a Wallyworld WAY the heck on the other side of the metroplex, but I think I'll make the trek just to be safe. Last thing I want to do is make a $200 purchase and end up hating it. I'll post an update if I can find one to check out in person.

The hubby took one look at it and is considering the Dolomite, now. How do you like the Beast?

[Omitimo]

That little big thing looks Dope!
Being 4'11', that thang should be alright size for you.
The fat tires will give it a higher standover than regula 20s.
You would ride low pressure to give you more float over desert shit.
You might wanna mebbe go single speed conversion for The Playa,
as the componentry ( is that a word?) is junk and prolly will stop functioning properly, right quick.
Whatever, you could come see me and lemme fiddle with it(maybe have a spin?. Yer fella is in luck, cos I like the trikes too.
you'd also wanna crack everthang open and grease it up plenty good.
Those things are crap and probably assembled by some one not qualified to do it,
and if not handy, I would bring it to your LBS and have it looked over.
Are you near a store where you could see it in person?
Timo

[maladroit]

The Beast kicked the shit out of the mountain bike I brought my first year! Everyone wanted to ride it, they just float over the ruts and soft patches.

Pedaling upwind was a little tough due to only being fixed gear, and braking was a little scary due to only having a coaster brake.

The Dolomite fixes both of those problems.

Here's how I set up my Beast:

[Meat Hunter]

Geekette,

I will wave as I drive by Irving on the afternoon of August 19.

[Elorrum]

trike because:
never tips over (unless you turn real sharp real fast.)
you can go real slow, and not tip over.
you can stop and have a place to sit, and not tip over.
If it has a basket on the back you can put a lot of things in it, and the extra weight won't affect your steering, and make you.... tip over.
You can ride through deep dust, not easily, (this could be the major advantage of giant tires) but you don't have to put your feet down and walk.
Slowing down and stopping on a bike are ALL the time at Burning Man, for traffic, for people who step in front of you, for drifts. stay upright, stay seated on a trike. Less stress worrying, and less paying attention to not tipping over.
This fit inside my focus hatchback, partially disassembled.

[Meat Hunter]

I love my Schwinn trike with its 2" tires for all the reasons that you outlined. It might be a little large for Geekette.

It would not be much of a problem to put 4" tires on the rear. In the next year, I am going to see if I can figure out a way to reconfigure the front forks to accommodate a 4" tire. If I could do this, (for me) and with the electric drive kit, it would be perfect playa transportation.

[maladroit]

Riding slow and through drifts were so much less of a problem with 4" tires, it was hilarious. It was my girlfriend's first year and she couldn't understand why I was cackling with glee riding through streets on near the 3:00 side of town, with actual wakes of dust flowing out around the tires. There were probably two times, during the whole 10 days I was there, when I had to put my foot down someplace I didn't already plan to stop.

[Omitimo]

I am going to see if I can figure out a way to reconfigure the front forks to accommodate a 4" tire.

Salsa Enabler iffun ya wanna go manufactured, or better yet, visit yet local frame builder an give em da bidness.
It's only a matter of years(and years) before we have fair priced made in 'merica customized bike funz!

[Captain Goddammit]

I rode an original Mongoose 20" BMX bike all through my teens and I was 5'9 or 5'10. I still have it… If you're 4'-anything, you can ride a 20" BMX.
I tried out Tiahaar's Mongoose Beast last year and yep, as far as I'm concerned, those 4" fat tire bikes are THE playa bikes.

In case you're not aware, the playa surface is different every year. Some years it's firm and hard and flat, and you could almost skateboard on it. But I've also seen it so soft and silty that people have a very hard time trying to ride a bike on it. In 2001 it was so shitty that I had a mountain bike with a motor on the front wheel, and I had to use it and the pedals for "all wheel drive" just to get through a lot of places at all.
I've got a Mutant Vehicle that rolls along at idle and I even have to drag the brakes in good-surface years. I have to throttle it just to roll in a bad-surface year.

I'd get that fat tire bike! The early indications about this year's surface aren't good at all.

[Meat Hunter]

Omitimo,

Than you for your suggestion. But, finding a local custom bicycle builder in Mississippi is akin to finding a custom surfboard builder in North Dakota.

I have never heard of Salsa Enabler, but that may be the way that I will need to go - Thank You.

[Captain Goddammit]

Oh hell a trike should be easy to convert to fat tires. Option one, buy a Mongoose Beast and use the front fork and wheel/tire. That would probably be the easiest and it will provide two of the fat wheels and tires, which are pretty expensive.
Option two, just take the fork to any welding/fabrication shop. It would be a cheap and easy job to widen the fork.

[Omitimo]

Option two, just take the fork to any welding/fabrication shop. It would be a cheap and easy job to widen the fork.

facepalm.
Goddammit, Captian. Why do I always overlook the simple stuff?

Geekette, I misread and/or remembered your OP and thought your guy had a trike.
Hope to see your whip, though.

Meat, your trike looks pretty bad ass!
I live in MN and Salsa is a local brand that builds some excellent brand
along side Surly. The Bike, not The Beer. But that is here in Minne, too.

[Geekette70]

Awe man, now I want a trike with 4" tires. (OK, what I really want is an electric assist trike w/ a Figjam cooling system, a shade rig and 4" tires. While I'm dreaming, may as well dream big, eh?)

This is our first year and, while my bike is hopefully the last big ticket item we have left to purchase, we don't have a lot of spare money/time to start modifying right now. I'll keep an eye on craigslist, though and hopefully can eventually work my way up to at least some of those things in the next year or two.

[gustavh]

Just for reference, I'm 5'1" and I can ride the beast no problem if the seat is all the way down. We bought 2 and are turning them into a quadricycle

It is pretty heavy though, so if you're worried about stability it could be a problem. I would def recommend seeing the Massif in person before purchasing, IIRC the quality seemed to reflect the fact that it's intended to be a kid's bike.

You could also consider a folding trike. They're a bit more expensive but worth it, from what I've heard. Good luck!

[FIGJAM]

Awe man, now I want a trike with 4" tires. (OK, what I really want is an electric assist trike w/ a Figjam cooling system, a shade rig and 4" tires. While I'm dreaming, may as well dream big, eh?)

This is our first year and, while my bike is hopefully the last big ticket item we have left to purchase, we don't have a lot of spare money/time to start modifying right now. I'll keep an eye on craigslist, though and hopefully can eventually work my way up to at least some of those things in the next year or two.

[Token]

I really do not understand the problem here.

[Mojojita]

Awe man, now I want a trike with 4" tires. (OK, what I really want is an electric assist trike w/ a Figjam cooling system, a shade rig and 4" tires. While I'm dreaming, may as well dream big, eh?)

This is our first year and, while my bike is hopefully the last big ticket item we have left to purchase, we don't have a lot of spare money/time to start modifying right now. I'll keep an eye on craigslist, though and hopefully can eventually work my way up to at least some of those things in the next year or two.

Man, I love this trike…...

[FIGJAM]

Man, I miss this trike.........

[Martiansky]

I had a Beast last year and it was great for riding around. I made many an upgrade to it before it hit the dust.
Thinking it would be nice to have another Beast I cruised the wallyworld site and spotted the Massif.
PERFECT for us shorter folk! Wish they had had it last year I would've gotten 2 of them and just gotten a longer seat post because they have good brakes(no coaster brake) and gears which woul've been nice on occasion on the Beast.

Both my sister and I took turns on it either the Beast or my fat tired trike, both of which will be making the trip back to the dust again this year but I think I may add a Massif to the corral soon!

[maladroit]

I will add that the Beast is actually a pretty crappy bike for anything other than the playa. It's not usable for any sort of hill, it doesn't work that well off road, it's no good for commuting. But it's absolutely perfect for a dusty lake bed.

[Martiansky]

I will add that the Beast is actually a pretty crappy bike for anything other than the playa. It's not usable for any sort of hill, it doesn't work that well off road, it's no good for commuting. But it's absolutely perfect for a dusty lake bed.

True, I made many mods to my Blue Beastie including changing out the rear gear to make it easier to pedal on the flat at least.

[Captain Goddammit]

While fat tires on all three would be great, I think a playa trike would do pretty well with just a fat tire up front since the rear end has two tires to split the load.

[trilobyte]

+1 to trikes. We got ours in 2011 and love them.

[Geekette70]

Man, I miss this trike.........

What happened to your trike?

There is a trailmate joyrider I found near me, but it doesn't have an electric assist and I'm not sure how I could keep up with the hubby on long excursions on his 21 speed mountain bike, or I would have scooped it up in a heartbeat. I have to admit that the tiny wheel up front gave me pause, as well.

[FIGJAM]

I sold it to a Burner!

[theCryptofishist]

I sold it to a Burner!

I hope the check cleared.