Aggressive Geometry, Affordable Price | Mongoose Switchback Expert Mountain Bike

Mongoose is a brand I remember loving as a kid in the 90s. I hadn't seen or heard much from then since then, but then I got a message asking if I'd like to try out their new bike: the Switchback Expert. Coming in at $700 and exclusively at Dick's Sporting Goods, I wasn't expecting too much from the bike. Then I saw the geometry and realized this wasn't just another budget friendly cross country mountain bike. In this video, I go over the components and geometry of the bike and then take it for a first ride.
Switchback Expert - dicks-sporting-goods.ryvx.net/75PKYO
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[@RideYearRound]

What do you think of this new comer to the entry level bike market?

[@inthebush3]

Always found your channel interesting and was pleased to see you review a budget friendly bike. As you said the frame looks decent and worth some upgrades. Thanks🙂

[@chrisjones7281]

This seems like the Ardor with different components

[@kjh6395]

Picked this bike up today for $550. Hard to find anything much better at that price.

[@ShadLife]

MicroShift AdventX would be perfect on this bike! Not a very costly upgrade and would be well worth it! Bikes like this will be good to get people into mountain biking. Not very upgradeable without thru axles, but there are still a few decent QR hubs out there.

[@Wireman134]

Acolyte will work well with Advent X shifter and cassette. Same pull ratio as 9-11 speed Shimano too.

[@Wireman134]

This bike is equipped just below the Switchback 1 on Mongoose's site. Priced $300 less too.

[@bassw1758]

Love the color, but it's hard to justify paying an extra $350

[@martinschwartz7342]

I could never be happy with this bike but for the price, it is pretty good.

[@RideYearRound]

As an avid mountain biker I know what you mean. At the same time, the price point, geometry, and ability to upgrade makes it a great option for someone on a budget, a teenager just getting into the sport, or as a loaner bike for friends who want to ride with you occasionally.

[@donnovicki9771]

Giordano Valor or Intrepid blows this away. Wasn't this bike done already..............they called it the Ardor.

[@b4oh]

Interesting

[@rickashman5961]

How tall are you? Im 6' and the large seemed a tad short. Wouldn't large frame usually be about 19"?

[@RideYearRound]

Short in what way? 19" used to be a common size when it was measured basically off of the seat tube length. Most bikes aren't measured that way anymore and most people go off of the stack, reach, and effective top tube length. If you don't know what numbers you generally like with those numbers, I'd recommend going and throwing a leg over a few different bikes or sizes. I'm just shy of 5'11" so I'd guess you'd want an XL, but that may feel too big.

[@rickashman5961]

Interesting, thanks for the input. Great job on the review

[@vbBegin1957]

just like you said its a bit noisy on the trial but where the company make their money is on the upgrades. Mongoose was really a kids bike now towards adult mtb i really dont trust it so much. Actually for what youll pay on the upgrades i rather get the Trek

[@tony21084]

I’m 5’9” what size you think I need?

[@RideYearRound]

If you can get a long with the reach/top tube I'd go for a large for the sake of the seat tube.

[@jerzejess]

What size should a teenage boy 5’7 get? M or LG?

[@RideYearRound]

At that height I'd definitely get a M.

[@edwardvanwormer6993]

It seems to be a good starting point, but honestly everything but the frame needs to be upgraded to do anything more than the mildest trail riding. If a friend was looking at this, I would advise him to buy a higher quality used hardtail for the same price or maybe a little more.

[@RideYearRound]

I’ll be putting that to the test over the next couple of months so we will see how it holds up to blue and black trails with a heavy rider.

[@destroystreets1023]

700 for a mongoose frame is crazy when a status full suspension frame is 419 right now. spring fork, crappy 20 dollar shifter, cheap drivetrain, laggy wheelset, steel componets you be so much better with any hard tail from a bike shop if your new and it would be cheaper, set up corrrectly and have normal parts and be lighter in weight. this bikes sad honeslty, and this is coming from a huge mongoose fanboy. Now the g.1 expolerer is a budget bike to get excited about.

[@icantgivecredit871]

I'm pleasantly surprised at the weight. Just an air fork would probably bring it down to about 30 lbs./14kg.

[@RideYearRound]

Yeah it’s super heavy haha. Just for reference I swapped a boost carbon fork and a WTB i25 wheel on the front and it took it down to 28 pounds…so a different fork and wheelset could make a huge difference.

[@icantgivecredit871]

@@RideYearRound Yeah, I figured the Suntour fork was the most obvious upgrade. I think those weigh roughly 6 lbs., which is unbelievable. Thankfully, there are budget air forks with QR dropouts that are probably a couple lbs. lighter.

[@danemoreno88]

I’d rather have the Trek marlin 5 gen 3 for the price of only 39 dollars more

[@chrisjones7281]

The Marlin doesnt have a Tapered Head tube so choices are limited for fork upgrades.

[@danemoreno88]

@@chrisjones7281 can still get plenty of forks for it and it has a way better drivetrain and shifter etc well worth it this mongoose is overpriced big time

[@destroystreets1023]

@@chrisjones7281 yeah becuase marlin riders need a tapered head tube for the sturdyness of huge jumps and wild decents. sorry not trying to be a dick but these budget bikes are getting out of hand trek has a 5 year frame warranty and 3 year parts warranty you get way more value in a trek. kev central has just cuased an outrage with upgrading these bikes because its fun having us thinking we need tapered head tubes in our begginer bikes if we need tappered headtube in begginer bikes we dont need a begginer bike. by the time we get done with our budget build weve spent way more for a bike with way less value the a LBS bike or a polygon.

[@travr6]

There is nothing good about this bike at that price point

[@RideYearRound]

What do you look for (or expect to see) in an entry level mountain bike around the same price?

[@Bremmner_Explorations_1970]

@@RideYearRound He is still working on the list ;)