Mongoose XR Comp.

THIS IS A REVIEW WITH SOME HIGHLIGHTS ON THE MONGOOSE XR COMP INCLUDING UPGRADES.


STOCK SPECS FOR THIS BIKE:

26" Men's Mongoose XR-Comp Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike:

• Frame: 4-bar alloy, dual-suspension hydro-formed
• Fork: Suntour XCT; coil with preload adjust, 80mm, disc specific
• Rear suspension: 150mm eye-to-eye; 950 lb. coil; adjustable
• Gearing: Shimano with EZ fire shifters; Suntour XR 24/34/42; SRAM SX4 Trigger Shifter system
• Handlebars: 24" carbon-wrapped fat bars
• Stem: 31.8 Ahead
• Brakes: ProMax mechanical dual disc
• Front Derailleur: Suntour
• Rear Derailleur: SRAM SX4
• Wheels: 26" 36H black anodized alloy Star "Swift" Arrow rims; alloy QR disc hubs
• Shifters: 24-speed trigger shift system
• Seat: Mongoose DH saddle; alloy post with quick release height adjustment
• All-terrain mountain bike tires: Mongoose DH 26" x 2.35"
• All-terrain mountain bike pedals: Mongoose Alloy platform

The Mongoose XR Comp. This bike comes with a BLUE fork, NOT BLACK like in this photo. This photo is the from Walmart site.

INTRODUCTION:
To start off, I bought this bike online from walmart.com and had it delivered to my local Walmart. Picked it up myself to save on shipping. I like that about Walmart. Anyway, I spent around $300 on this bike. It is a replacement for my old stolen 24" full suspension MTB. I've owned the Mongoose XR Comp for about 2 years now. Mostly used it for work and fun. I've owned all types of bikes through out my life especially mountain bikes. The Mongoose XR Comp is so far the best bike I've ever had. Why? This bike is not your average normal mountain bike you see people riding around at parks. The Mongoose XR Comp offers a lot when it comes to just a "department store bike" or "wally bike". I put this bike together myself and my first test ride was amazing. I never felt such comfort on a bike. The main reasons I wanted this bike is because of the full suspension, dual disc brakes, 24 speed, and fire shifters. The bike overall just looks awesome.

Mongoose XR Comp. Added front and rear Topeak fenders and a speedometer. Front the Defender M1, rear has Defender M2. Speedometer is just a cheap basic one made by Bell from Kmart. Have it on til this day.

THE BRAKES:
My Mongoose XR Comp came equipped stock with PROMAX Mechanical Dual Disc Brakes. 160mm rotors front and back. This is the first time I've experienced mechanical disc brakes on a bike. They are amazingly powerful and stop smooth like a car or motorcycle does. I never looked at v-brakes the same again. Comparing disc brakes to v-brakes is like comparing Superman stopping a train (disk brakes) vs spiderman stopping a train (v-brakes). It is the best way I can put it. Not saying v-brakes are completely useless but physics works better when it comes to disc brakes. Try riding your bike in the rain/mud with v-brakes and apply them. Useless much? Correct. Do the same with disk brakes and see that they are not affected at all. They even add a whole new look to the bike. Disc brakes are just better overall. So buy a bike with disk brakes, front and back. Don't get mountain bikes with v-brakes because they suck. If you want the best of the best you buy yourself hydraulic disc brakes. These are the most powerful yet because they don't use a cable to pull the brake pads against the rotor, instead they use sealed fluid and pistons to create high pressure with little effort to give you insane stopping power.

Mongoose XR Comp. Comes as stock with Promax Mechanical Disc brakes. Highlighted in red.

FULL SUSPENSION: 
The Mongoose XR Comp comes with a full suspension system. The fork comes in blue and has 80mm of travel with disc and v-brake mounts. The brand is SR Suntour XCT. It is just a basic coil suspension fork with preload. This is the first real working suspension fork I've experienced that actually works when you go on bumps. It really does travel (compress) smoothly. The rear shock works just as well. It has preload adjust but that's it. Not sure how much travel the rear shock has but it works pretty smooth. The spring weight is 950lbs and is mentioned on the spring itself. The reservoir you see there is not real, just a plastic design. The only downside to these kind of forks and shocks is that they have no damping so they make you bounce a little. The overall geometry of the bike is pretty impressive and works very well all together. After 2 years, nothing on this bike broke down and I've put it through rough trails and other terrains. The bottom line is they do their job. I rode many full suspension bikes but they were never as comfortable and smooth like the XR Comp.

Mongoose XR Comp. SR Suntour Fork with 80mm travel with Preload adjust.

    Mongoose XR Comp. Rear coil shock with 950lbs Spring and 150mm eye-to-eye.





















TIRE UPGRADES:
The Mongoose XR Comp comes with big awesome mountain tires (see all photos above). The rims have a really cool spoke pattern and is very unique for this bike. I did some research and found out that a lot of people have trouble replacing the inner tubes due to the extra long valves. We'll I replaced my inner tubes with regular ones from freaking Kmart and worked just fine. I live in Chicago so if you're like me and also ride on the road to work or wherever, the stock mountain tires will be a workout for you. I ordered some road tires off Amazon.com and they work amazingly well on this bike. This is what you need to do if you ride on the streets or side walks. The stock knobby tires vibrate on smooth pavement and slow you down. Only use the stock tires if you go off road on dirt trails or in the woods. See photo below of road tires I use.

Kenda K838 Slick Wire Bead Bicycle Tire, Blackwall, 26-Inch x 1.95-Inch.

ACCESSORIES:
Get yourself a speedometer, some headlights, and a rear tail light. I also have front and rear fenders on my XR Comp for when I ride in the rain, the mud won't splash me in the face and on my back. These photos below are some of the accessories I use on the XR Comp.

Planet Bike Beamer 3 LED Bicycle Light with Quick Cam Bracket Mount.

Blackburn Mars 4.0 Bicycle Taillight

Bell Speedometer. Find these anywhere for about $10-$15. Got mine at Kmart.

CONCLUSION AS A STOCK BIKE:
I'm glad I bought this bike and still ride it to this day. I know I didn't mention other things such as the speed and shifters but I'll do so in short. The shifters are my favorite and I shift constantly. I ride the XR Comp like its a manual car. Basically means I always start in 1st gear and work my way down. That's how I always beat all my friends in bike races because they don't get the whole gear thing. I enjoy shifting because of the easy effortless clicking. No twisting or grabbing. Just smooth clicks gets shifting done fast and smooth. These type of shifters are more common now and work best. They are called Fire Shifters or Rapid click shifters. Hill climbing is easy when you have an 8 speed cassette. 24 speed in total. I have no problems with any or the parts, everything works fine even after 2 years.I obviously maintain it. This bike is worth buying if you love riding bikes especially mountain bikes, but that depends on the type of riding you do. Most people ride for fun or transportation. This bike is perfect for those and many more reasons. Are there better bikes out there than the XR Comp? Yes. There will always be one better. I don't need to buy a $2000 bike to get the feel of one. I don't care what "the pros" think of my Walmart bike. It works for me. The reason why I upgraded parts on this bike is because I have the option to. It's an awesome bike but if I can make it better why not?



FORK UPGRADES:
Fork was upgraded to a new Rock Shox Tora 302 Coil that comes with 120mm Travel, lock out, rebound, and preload adjustment. Got it off ebay NEW for $130. Works very good with this bike and matches it nicely with the white lowers. No problem with the geometry of the bike using this fork. The difference upgrading from a basic 80mm travel fork to a 120mm travel fork is HUGE. Why is travel important? Because them more travel your fork has the more the fork can absorb while going on bumps. The lock out feature on this Rock Shox fork is awesome! It locks out the fork travel to make it stiff so when you ride on the road or climb a hill, you don't waste energy that is usually absorbed by the fork when it compresses. See photos below with the new fork and other smaller changes.

Mongoose XR Comp. Rock Shox Tora 302 coil 120mm (1 1/8mm), Topeak defender XC1 front fender, red pedals and red quick release skewers for front wheel, back wheel and seat. Rear shock not upgraded in this photo. Added an additional spacer on top of original. Both same size. Removed all stickers from frame.

Mongoose XR Comp. New rubber and aluminum grips. Everything else is still stock. Handle bars are carbon wrapped stock.

Mongoose XR Comp

REAR SHOCK UPGRADE:
For the rear shock, I used the the Rock Shox Pro Deluxe 2000. Found it on ebay for only $60. Has 8.75" eye to eye. Comes with a 500 x 2.75 red coil, rebound adjust and compression adjust. Also has a piggy back reservoir. This is what I call a real shock. They use shocks like these on motorcycles and dirt bikes. I'm sure you were probably wondering how the heck did I fit this shock on the XR Comp frame. Well I couldn't. I had to modify using a small part that will do the trick. The only loss is the front derailleur because it was rubbing the chain so I had to remove it. Will find another derailleur that will work with this modification later. See below photos of the shock and how it looks on the Mongoose XR Comp.

Rock Shox Pro Deluxe 2000

Mongoose XR Comp with a Rock Shox Tora 302 coil 120mm fork and Rock Shox Pro Deluxe 2000 rear shock. Rear shock only fits in the position with reservoir facing down. Remember this shock isn't meant for this frame.

Mongoose XR Comp. Original shock for this bike connects to the hole below the middle of the red spring.

Mongoose XR Comp. No front derailleur for now. Bike is tested and works better than ever with new upgrades.

Mongoose XR Comp. Better view of the fork, brake cable isn't placed properly but works fine. The tiny wire wrapped around the front brake cable is the speedometer wire.

Mongoose XR Comp. You can see the slick road tires I use that I mentioned earlier. Fork decals with model 302. Lock out knob at the left of photo and preload knob at the right.

THE MODIFICATION:
In order to make the rear shock fit I had to make a custom part to get it working. I don't have the exact measuring of the custom part right now but this diagram below will give you an idea of that I did.

This custom cylinder was made to fit a hole in the frame and is made of aluminum. It has a hole in the middle all the way through for the shock screw. See below to understand better.

Mongoose XR Comp. Green circle shows where swing arms originally screw in with the original shock. Red shows where the small cylinder is placed in to make the bigger shock fit because it's longer.

The empty hole where the cylinder is placed is usually sealed by a soft plastic knob on each side. It is sort of a link in the frame with a hole. Not sure if it has a specific name.

Mongoose XR Comp. Red circle shows an empty hole where original shock was connected to frame along with the swing arms. Green circle is where the modified cylinder is placed in the big hole and swing arms connect to the custom hole made in the aluminum cylinder.

So because of this mod the front derailleur is useless since it will rub hard against chain. For now it is removed. I got lucky that my dad's job is able to make such custom parts as this one for this mod to work right. The geometry of the bike did change but the only effect it had was on the front derailleur. That's why downhill bikes usually don't have a front derailleur. The original shock is about half the size of this new shock. In the end it all worked out and I had a lot of fun riding this bike. The experience was mind blowing. Both front and rear shocks can lock out so I can have a stiffer ride on the road with less effort. The fork and the rear shock are pretty much the major changes. YOU CAN GET A GOOD SHOCK THAT WILL FIT THIS FRAME PERFECTLY WITHOUT MODDING! I JUST FELT BAD SPENDING $60 ON A GOOD SHOCK THAT WON'T FIT MY FRAME. I WASN'T GONNA JUST BUY A NEW FRAME. I STILL HAD HOPE IN THIS BIKE FRAME.



CONCLUSION:
This is a bike I will never forget. I would buy this bike again if I needed to. If you already have one and want to upgrade parts, you have a lot of options! These are just the ones I used for mine. When you upgrade your rear shock make sure you measure correct. I knew my new shock wouldn't fit my frame without modding but I couldn't walk away from a price like that :)

To all you that ride $1000+ bikes and think you know everything in and out. I'm probably more happy with my bike than you are with yours! I bought a bike to ride it and if I want to upgrade I will, and I did. You keep riding yours and I'll keep riding mine regardless of what you know and think about this. Just for the fact that we human beings can balance on 2 wheels with such style is truly amazing. The bicycle is my favorite invention.

Have fun riding and always heads up.