For those who grew up in the 70's and 80's

[cludence]

Thought those who grew up in the 70's and 80's may wish to reminise. A friend of mine built the following website dedicated soley to Mongoose BMX. It has heaps of info and pics.

Growing up I had an imitation Mongoose and it was bright yellow. I thought I was super cool. Must have looked like a right twit!

www.vintagemongoose.com

[winona_rider]

when i was a kid "red line" and "mongoose" were the most prized bikes.
sadly - i didn't get to own either. and my childhood was also deprived of tuffs.

[Deanj]

Mongoose! One word to bring many memories come flooding back!

BMXing, number plates, mag wheels, mx brakes, mushroom grips, plastic saddles and a clip round the ear when you got home covered in dirt and blood. Happy days! Just noticed the pads on the bike frame, forgot about those.

Had a Mongoose Californian frame, if only I'd kept that. Remember the film BMX bandits? I'm sure they were Mongoose????

[winona_rider]

bmx bandits = only good movie nicole kidman has been in.

werd.

[ukalipt]

it is really good to see a site that has good content.
i had a mongoose for a while, then moved up to a Super LA - QLD made bike.
i also remember some Liquid Smoke bikes. or PK Rippers with helium lol.

here goes nothing - cringe....
this is me on the cover at around 10yrs old at north ryde bmx track.

[winona_rider]

holy showtime! that's a triumph of design that cover.
awesome.
sweet tuffs btw.

[winona_rider]

ps re: pads...
my dad made me put the pads back on my bike and reprimanded me in front of my friends, "Do you wanna have kids one day son?"
OMGosh! what a goob he was/is!

[cludence]

Ukalipt, you need to go vist www.vintagebmx.com good chance you will find some old mates who rode with you on there.

The ones with helium were the quicksilvers, not sure if any other brands had the helium.

Nice pic by the way, no need to cringe.

Karen.

[cludence]

Ukalipt, a friend of mine has asked if you know Damon Bevan?

Karen.

[ukalipt]

cludence. the name kinda rings a bell but we are talking around 28 years ago and the brain is... well lets say used - or i've had to much helium over the years

i was pretty sure the PK rippers, well some, were helium filled but could be wrong, another guy from my work remembers the PK's with helium as well. i have a picture in my head of the rounded square down tube on the PK's having an welded nipple for the helium.
...

after reading your post i do totally remember the quicksilvers with helium and a little research a couple of minutes ago i found on the farkin.net forums a post that someone made about "rumours" of helium filled forks/frames. possibly i have mistaken the rumours for facts.

[Kid_Carbine]

Did the mag wheel models, or just the wheels themselves make it to Australia?

I have never seen any, but then BMX came along after I had moved on to cars, motorcycles, marriage & responsibility. I seem to remember that BMX was always regarded as 'kids bikes' when they were new in my area [west of Parramatta] since the only people I ever saw riding them were young'ns

[cludence]

Ukalipt, they guys on the vintage mongoose website want you to contact them.

So your cringe pic was not a cringe after all, actually the oposite, they are all excited.

Karen.

[ukalipt]

i was also going to mention, as a young child i grew up with a ????? [raleigh ??] chopper bike. i had a look at the image a while back of what i remember as being your bike collection and i noticed you had one.

again possibly to much helium but i remember mine being a very lime green coloured frame but i am sure it didn't have the 2 speed [or was it a three speed] shifter on the top tube... although it may have and i had at some stage broken it.

i distinctly remember the back tire being almost flat on the tread with vertical side walls. this made the chopper amazing to do/hold wheelies on. it would have been around 1975 - 1976.

i question if it was raleigh or possibly a replica because i have been able to find an image of one the same colour anywhere online. colour reference below

[cludence]

The only green chopper I have seen was a copy and was an Oryx branded one. Exactly the same green as you have shown.

Karen.

[munga]

When I was 15 (1991) I had a PK Ripper, which, as a reward for my hard work at school that year, my dad kindly traded in for a Malvern Star Renegade mtb.. He got $60 for the Ripper on the $199 mtb purchase. I went to the bike shop that afternoon but it was already sold..

[ukalipt]

thanks cludence for the chopper info.

kid - i am pretty sure some bikes were sold out of shops with tuff wheels. not sure if they were imported with that wheelset or just a custom build up here.

i also remember a lot of young'ns would originally have araya rims 20 x 1.75's and a the big thing was to up grade to tuffs, or even Z rims. there were also a set of metal "tuff rims" style of mould but they actually had an extra Cross "spoke". i saw an image of them last night. i will have to try and find it again.

[Kid_Carbine]

thanks cludence for the chopper info.

kid - i am pretty sure some bikes were sold out of shops with tuff wheels. not sure if they were imported with that wheelset or just a custom build up here.

i also remember a lot of young'ns would originally have araya rims 20 x 1.75's and a the big thing was to up grade to tuffs, or even Z rims. there were also a set of metal "tuff rims" style of mould but they actually had an extra Cross "spoke". i saw an image of them last night. i will have to try and find it again.

I was not asking about the Tuff wheels, but the Motomags that were the first products of the company, even before they made bikes, which were subsequently fitted with these cast alloy wheels.
The plastic Tuff wheels & their various copies are to be found everywhere, but I do not recall ever seeing the cast alloy Motomags.

[ukalipt]

thats them. motomags. they were my drool material. i so wanted a set. i don't believe they were part of a bike build. just upgrades.

holy S&#T. i so wanted this maroon/deep grape purple bike - i can't remember the brand - that was fitted with the gold motomag II's. i am a little vague if the bike was in a BMX magazine as an advertisment or as a "show and tell" editorial. damn those rims were sort after items. you were ultra cool if you had a pair and in gold, you would have reached god status

[Kid_Carbine]

I can't speak for Australia, but according to the website, they made the mags first & sold them to both the trade & to retail customers.
Later, they built whole bikes, so the wheels were original fitment, either on the new bike as standard, or as an option.
They continued to be available to other manufacturers as well as being sold as aftermarket upgrade items through retail outlets.

As for Australia, I have no idea if you could buy a new Mongoose with them either standard or as an option & this is what I was attempting to establish.

Note that the bike in the picture has no external brakes which means that the rear wheel has a coaster brake built in.
No, they didn't make them as fixed wheels according to the website.

[cludence]

The motomags came on this model and you could also buy them from bike shops. http://www.vintagemongoose.com/products/motomag.php


Karen.

[ukalipt]

yeah i can confirm coaster. they were definitely not fixed wheels.

[munga]

You can just see the top of the coaster brake clamp on the left chainstay

[Kid_Carbine]

The motomags came on this model and you could also buy them from bike shops. http://www.vintagemongoose.com/products/motomag.php

Karen.

That they were available on new bikes, or from bike shops in the US is not in question as the website makes that clear.
What I am attempting to establish is whether they were available either on bikes, or as accessories as a regular stocked line or product IN AUSTRALIA.

I accept that some people may have privately imported some bikes or wheels, & some importer/wholesalers may have brought in a handful of wheels to test the market, but did the Mongoose agent/franchise holder/distributor offer bikes with these wheels, or wheels alone, as a regular product offering "IN AUSTRALIA." [This assumes that there was actually an official Australian agent for the manufacturer in the timeframe when these wheels were made.]

International distributors will often order models of whatever product they offer with different specs on a given model of device to suit conditions [including economic conditions] of the local market. Quite often the glamour model will come down-spec'd for Aussie sales & this is most often seen [by me] in the automotive sphere but the principal would have applied elsewhere as well.

[cludence]

Yes kid, they were available in Australia.

[triode12]

when i was a kid "red line" and "mongoose" were the most prized bikes.
sadly - i didn't get to own either. and my childhood was also deprived of tuffs.

Back in the old days (hehe - I've always wanted to say that), tuffs were not considered by most BMX race riders as not being particular good for racing as they were heavy and not aero dynamic.

I wanted a pair till I tried out a bike with tuffs. Cool looking wheels but spoked wheels are a lot nicer to ride with.

You didn't miss out on much.