Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Mongoose Triple Threat

Mongoose Triple Threat

There was a time when Mongoose had the holeshot on the competition, due to Skip Hess’ vision and entrepreneurial ingenuity. At the dawn of BMX evolution, when wheelsets were struggling to stand up to the abuse metered out to them, the 356 aluminum alloy Motomag wheels were born. The Mongoose timeline continued to evolve, eventually including some of the most desirable bikes of the day.

The 1990s are now generically referred to as the ‘mid-school’ era, and in 1997, BMX mega-star Brian Lopes popped over the start gate with a geared bike, creating a massive furor amongst the purists. Mongoose, true to their form, released the frame in a limited run of 25. The frames were assembled by Frank The Welder at Kinesis from 6061 aluminum. Oliver Gibson is the proud owner of #24, equipped with a custom pair of 26″ AMP forks cut down to 20″ by John at Sydney’s Cycle Underground. The gears are shifted by Mavic’s ZAP elctronic derailleur system over a 7 speed micro drive cassette, and hauled up by Avid Arch Supreme calipers and Ultimate levers. The whole unit is rolling on a pair of Araya rims laced to Suntour XC Pro ‘grease guard’ hubs.

For those with an appreciation of Mongoose’s glory days, head to vintagemongoose.com. Special thanks to Oliver Gibson for the photo opportunity, check out his amazing Diamondback F1 here.

Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat
Mongoose Triple Threat