Mongoose Boot'r
Nice bike!
Words by David Ferguson. Photos by fergs & Cam.
Date: 2008-09-24
Coming into the second day of the dirt demo, I didn't have any strong convictions about the bikes I wanted to try. I walked around scoping out various tents and happened upon the Mongoose booth. They were in a back corner of the indescribable shape the dirt demo expo takes on, where the crowds didn't appear to have made their way yet. With quite a few squeaky clean bikes sitting on racks, I realized I could have the pick of the litter. I met Rob Zbierski, the marketing manager for Mongoose. He was super enthusiastic while helping me pick out a bike. I opted for the 2009 Boot'r because I was certain we'd be shuttling up to the trails on this first ride of the day rather than kicking it Fromme style and riding up. The Boot'r looked like a sweet little package that had me stoked before I even rode it out of the booth.
The new Mongoose Boot'r: looking sexy in blue and orange while waiting to catch the shuttle to the top
The frame has the same geometry as the 2008 model with 8" front and back. New to this year's bike are over-sized hardware and bearings at all of the pivots. In the 2008 model, more wear and tear would show up in the bearings than the engineers were happy with. At the half way point of this year's world cup circuit, the mongoose techs pulled apart the bike to have a look at the new bearings and were happy to discover they were holding up with no apparent wear. This team model is kitted out with SRAM drive train, Avid Elixir CR brakes (a full feature report on these is forthcoming), a Rockshox Boxxer Team fork and a Rockshox Vivid rear shock. Also new is a rubberized paint that gives the bike a sexy matte finish with good durability. I was impressed with the aesthetics of this bike - the orange accents on blue paint looked pretty stellar in my opinion.
Heading towards a gnarly technical line that makes riding in BC so much fun
Riding impressions were good despite the back end being a bit soft for my riding weight. It felt solid and confident at speed and on the more technical parts of the trails. The headtube felt a bit steep to me, but is reported as 65.5 degrees. "FreeDrive" is the name Mongoose gives to the rear suspension design. It looks like a high single pivot design with a floating bb. I'm not a rear-suspension geek so I'm not going to debate the pros and cons of this system. I go by feel, and I can tell you that it felt good. I tend to pick the least offensive lines, so as long as the rear suspension is keeping that back tire on the ground, I'm a happy rider. Bootleg Canyon offers up plenty of steep rocky descents. Every time I got back on to the Boot'r after snapping photos of Cam and Pete, I'd be a little apprehensive about diving into the section they just rode. The Boot'r put that apprehension in check every time and within seconds I felt the confidence and flow returning. If a bike can do that for you, it must be doing something right.
Notice the high pivot point and bb attached to the link that activates the suspension. And the cool orange hightlights.
I was surprised to find out the MSRP is only $4000 USD. That seems low to me considering how the bike is spec'd out. Mongoose may have just hit one out of the park with the '09 Boot'r, as long as you dig that orange and blue paint job. I think it's hawt.
Some people in the lineup thought the orange was ugly. What do you think?
Thoughts or questions? Let's hijack the interbike discussion thread.
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