Mongoose Men's Elroy Adventure Bike 700C Wheel Bicycle, Blue, 54cm frame size

So, I bought myself the Mongoose Grit $498 in October 2021--totally love the adventure bike and it will take 2.125" x 29 tires in the rear. 2.3" easily in the front fork. I tried finding the adventure bag for the top-tube like the Mongoose Elroy. Mongoose gave me the name of the bag manufacturer, but couldn't find them so just bought the Elroy anyway. As I was checking out, there was a $125 coupon that actually made the bike $504 instead of $629. If that had been offered to me in October I wouldn't have two adventure bikes! But, hey... I have TWO MONGOOSE ADVENTURE BIKES!!! Absolutely love the Elroy with the deep dark metallic blue with orange are a beautiful combo and "Shineeee"! I will add a picture as I've already upgraded with two bottle cages and tool kit and water bottle and front handlebar bag and food/bevrg pouch and Cycloplus and light and Jumper seat post and half flat/SPD pedals. The front rack is included and installs very easily with a 4mm Hex and even has a bottle opener on it! I put it next to my Grit and the frames and paint theme are identical. The rack will fit the front of the Grit just fine, but the Elroy top tube braisons are setup further than most bottle cages as the frame bag utilizes those bolts to fasten to the frame quite neatly. The tires are 47mm/1.75" wide 700/29er. I would classify them as more hybrid with good channels for water clearing. The drop bars resemble more road than flared adventure bars, but easily upgraded or ??? MTB style riser bars for cheaper hydraulic brake conversion and 2 x 11!? we'll see. Check for the coupon as $504 is a steal of a deal for a bike you can use for bike packing and adventure riding--5 bottle cage mounts, front & rear rack mounts, front rack included. Was going to buy for 629, but coupon made it 504! Win Win...

Like the title says, for the price this bike cost me I was expecting it to be less capable. I have been unable to find any bike in this price range that has even some of the features of the Mongoose Elroy. The plus sized tires were my biggest priority but to get STI shifters as well as disc brakes was just icing on the cake. I will be the first to admit that both of these components are by no means high end, but they work and are standard enough that I could easily replace them both with better versions down the road. The frame is well made and should easily support 45c+ tires which is ultimately what attracted me to this bike. I intend to use it as a training bike and as something I can just explore my area with. It's a heavy bike which is to be expected, and it does require some tinkering to really dial in the components. I gave it a 4 star because of this, the front disc brake is being finicky and as a result it's not working at it best. I am planning to work on that so it should hopefully become a non issue in the future, but for anyone looking at this bike it's something to be aware of. Aside from that it is an impressively capable bike, especially for this price. The nearest competitor I could find to this bike is the Aventon Kijote which, while it does appear to be a bit nicer, is well over $100 more expensive than the Mongoose if not more.If you are looking for your first adventure/gravel bike I would say the money spent on this bike won't dissapoint you. For a nicer bike Mongoose does in fact make much higher end models which are themselves competitive for their price range. If getting top of the line is not the goal, this bike is worth the price it's listed at.

When I saw an adventure/touring bike for around 400 bucks I got very excited, usually the entry price on something like this is $1,000 and up. Unfortunately it ended up being too good to be true and I received a bike with flaws big enough that Mongoose themselves suggested I do not ride it.I'll start with the good.This bike has features you just don't see at this price. Disc brakes mounted inside the frame, internally routed cables. front and rear rack/fender mounts, bottle mounts everywhere, a frame bag, disc brake specific rims (lot of budget bikes throw rim brake rims on, showing a brake track that will never be used). It really is an unbelievable value for a touring bike. The frame is great, rides smooth and is surprisingly light too.The included saddle was plenty comfortable and it even came with metal cage pedals! Saddle and pedals are the first things I immediately replace on my budget bikes but these were good enough.The shifting performance is reliable but not that responsive or quick, still perfectly adequate. There is some play in the levers microshift system that isn't exactly confidence inspiring, should be fine for most uses but if you are going on a multi-day tour I might suggest upgrading.Tires, as others have mentioned they aren't great. Mine hold air fine so it seems like another quality control issue (more on that later) for those getting flats. Considering the nature of this bike, you could upgrade the tires anyway and use the ones it came with to make some DIY studded snow tires!I've ridden bikes for a long time, racking up thousands of miles on all kinds of bikes from walmart hunkers I found in the trash to top level road bikes that cost more than my car. The Mongoose Elroy really is one of the best values out there IF you get a good one.Which brings me to the bad.As others have mentioned, the disc brakes on this are very, very, very bad. I read the other reviews and thought, "well, they can't possibly be that bad?" They are. Worse even. Usually disc brakes with cheap tires can cause an issue because of their tendency to lock the rear wheel and start a skid, but these are so bad they can't even stop the wheel, much less lock it.Seriously, I was going around 10 miles an hour as a test and tried to brake and the bike. did. not. stop. Despite being set up perfectly and gripping the level as hard as I could, the brakes simply do not work. You hear a grinding sound and the wheel gradually comes to a stop about 10 seconds later.DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR TRAFFIC OR HILLS WITH THESE BRAKES. Replace them ASAP.But it gets worse.After my tuneup/test ride I came back to get the Elroy in touring mode by attaching the included front rack and my own rear rack and panniers. The included front rack was so poorly welded my jaw practically hit the floor, it is badly out of true. I've attached some images so you can see for yourself, look at that crossbar that holds that brake mount!It is a shame because the front rack is solidly built, but not square so only 3 of the 4 bolts could mount AND even if you tried that, it mounts about 20 degrees off from the front tire, making it effectively useless.Not the worst deal in the world I thought, Mongoose can send me a new front rack and I'll be touring in no time! Nope. When attaching my rear rack I noticed it mounted severely leaning to the right. I have an Axiom rack that I put a ton of miles on and I know it is perfectly square. But just to be sure I mounted another rack I had, and saw the same lean.Upon closer inspection I noticed that the right rear rack mount was askew. It was not in line and was maybe a 1/4 inch lower on the frame than the left mount - any rack on there was going to be off (lol with the front rack mounting off to the left and the rear mounting off to the right, maybe it will be balanced!). Unfortunately, I was now the proud owner of a touring bike with racks that was not capable of touring with racks.I wrote to Mongoose about potential options to fix this and was told what I already feared. With some welding mistakes this obvious to the naked eye, they suggested the entire frame could be compromised and recommended I immediately return it.Unfortunately the lack of quality control is the fatal flaw of this bike (and the brakes). It is a bummer because it really is a nice ride and value! I'm still giving it 3 stars even though I was shipped a completely defective product that I returned and will not be getting another!TL/DR: The Mongoose Elroy is an unbelievable value and with some new disc brakes you can be touring across your country for under 500 bucks. But, the chances of getting a good one seem low and you might end up with a faulty frame like I did. I would not recommend this bike to anyone for those potentially dangerous reasons. HOWEVER, IF you do get one and IF there are no issues on the frame or the rack and IF you replace the brakes, you'll probably be pretty happy.