Mongoose Nugget

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After a season of riding on the Nugget I can say that this is a very capable dirt jumper and overall a very fun bike. Dirt jumping/slopestyle is not my forte but as soon as I got on this bike I felt a lot more confident and comfortable on the jumps. My nugget was built up fairly heavy but even with the weight under me the bike felt snappy in the air and accelerated in the corners. I definitely feel this would be a good 4X bike, the 4 inches of travel feel consistent and help when the landings get sketchy or the trail gets rough. Although my Nugget was a size small I did take it on a couple of trail rides but I found that the weight and small size just didn’t allow comfort for trail rides so I stuck with taking it to bike parks and jump spots only. Perhaps if I would have a larger frame and lighter components then the bike would have performed better on the trails and could be made to a decent trail rider as the suspension works well without any bobbing.

I’ve been used to riding DH bikes so when I took this on some of the bigger trails with larger drops I did feel a bit out of control and felt out of its element. I assume this could just be my lack of skills on a smaller travel bike as I constantly see guys ripping on small travel bikes. I had my Nugget faired with a 4 inch travel Marzocchi 55 and the suspension worked well together.

In terms of quality the Mongoose frame is put together quite well, it may not be the same caliber as intense or some of the boutique brands but the frame held up all season without any issues . The pivots stayed smooth but after heavy riding I did find towards the end of the season that on occasion they came loose, easy fix was to simply tighten them but one of the pivots is hidden behind the chainring making tightening a challenge.

So overall if you are looking for a fun bike, a bike that you can dirt jump, ride slopestyle or 4x I believe this is a great bike. The bike held up with no major issues and was always extremely fun to ride. If you get a larger frame I also feel this would be a fun trail bike as well.