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Just in: Mango Bikes Black Series 18-speed road bike

Customisable entry-level road bike from British company Mango Bikes arrives for testing

This is the new Black Series 18-speed road bike from British company Mango Bikes, featuring a steel frame and fork, Microshift R9 drivetrain and deep-section wheels. It normally costs £449.99, but it is currently discounted by 15% making it £382.49.

Mango focus on offering affordable and thoughtfully design entry-level bikes ideal for new cyclists, and the geared road bike is intended as an ideal upgrade for anyone that has come into cycling via a single speed or fixed wheel bicycle, or equally as a competent first road bike if new to cycling. Uniquely at this price, because each bike is built to order, they can offer a full custom build service allowing you to choose from a palette of colours for just about every component, from the frame to the rim, saddle, bar tape and much more. That's not the sort of service you'd expect at this price.

A little while ago we paid a visit to Mango Bikes to check out their newly launched 18-speed road bike, their first geared road bike following on from the single speed model that launched the company back in 2012. The company have enjoyed quick growth as a result of the single speed bike, and the new geared road bike is based on that model with obvious changes to accommodate gears and expands their range to a wider appeal, especially to new cyclists wanting a traditional looking road bike with drop bars whether it's for getting fit, commuting to work or doing their first sportive.

You can get it in two builds, either with a flat bar - which would be ideal for town and city riding, or with drop bars, which we have here. The bike uses a steel frame and fork with the same tubeset as used on the singlespeed, with space for 25mm tyres and a useful complement of mudguard and rack mounts. Simplicity abounds with externally routed gear and brake cables.

A Microshift R9 groupset, comprising the shifters and derailleurs, is partnered with a Chasewood semi-compact 52/38t chainset and a KMC X9L chain. Brakes are C-Star dual pivot calipers. The deep-section 41mm aluminium rims carry over from the single speed with 32 spokes per wheel, with Chasewood sealed bearing hubs and Maxxis Re-Fuse 23mm tyres.

The seat tube accommodates a 25.4mm seatpost (the same diameter as the Cannondale Synapse) and is topped with a Mango Bikes branded saddle with chromoly rails. On the road.cc scales the Mango weighs 11.6kg (25.57lb).

Mango Bikes offer the 18-speed road bike in three sizes. We’ve got a size medium here, and it measures up with a 556mm top tube, 105mm head tube, 73 degree head angle and 75 degree seat angle, 400mm chainstays, 61mm bottom bracket drop and a 995mm wheelbase.

Now the obvious other candidate for a road bike at this price is the B’Twin Triban 500 SE we tested this year, which costs £330. That gets you an aluminium frame and carbon fork which have obvious weight saving benefits, and it’s built with a Microshift 8-speed groupset and triple chainset. 

We're going to hit the road on the Mango over the next few weeks to see how it performs. More info at www.mangobikes.co.uk

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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6 comments

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jacknorell | 9 years ago
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It'd be silly to argue about any performance for this bike.

The brand is wholly aimed to the [insert big city] hipster crowd...

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MKultra | 9 years ago
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It's not the geometry in it's self, it's hard for geometry to be "old fashioned" compact frame or not. What is odd is the tiny one size fits no-one head tube coupled with an uncut steerer and looads of spacers . The seat tube looks like it came from a traditional non compact 56cm steel road frame for someone around 5'10" ish while the head tube looks like it is the same piece of tube stock they use on BMX frames and kids road bikes. It's just odd.

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mtbtomo | 9 years ago
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It looks quite stylish but a hi-tensile frame for £449  29

Decathlon / Boardman and Halfords own brand Carrerra offer much better value at that price. There are probably others too.

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Dnnnnnn | 9 years ago
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Nice-looking thing at a sensible price but "Hi-tensile steel frame and fork" (from their website) doesn't augur well for weight. Quite an old-fashioned geometry too?

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Jez Ash | 9 years ago
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The actual same seatpost as a Synapse? Or just the same diameter...?  1

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David Arthur @d... replied to Jez Ash | 9 years ago
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Jez Ash wrote:

The actual same seatpost as a Synapse? Or just the same diameter...?  1

Same diameter, of course. Amended the article to avoid further confusion

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