[Russkinks]

Whilst realising I require a third bike for commuting to work (less than five miles). I’ve been on the lookout for a simple little single speed ‘run around’.

Thus I’ve come across Mango. Good enough reviews everywhere, but I wondered if any of you lot have experienced them or have suggestions for a similarly price bit of kit…

Topic

[timscully]

It’s probably too late now
It’s probably too late now but I was in a similar position earlier in the summer and did buy one to replace my battered commuter despite some worries about how Mango hit the price point.

It’s basically pretty good – I’ve done a few hundred KMs on it around London, primarily on my normal commute of about 13kms each way. It’s quick, the 44×16 gear is a good balance for getting it going and cruising along. The steel frame feels like it soaks up the bumps a bit better than the aluminium bike it replaced. The wheels remain true and there’s no sign of complaint from the bottom bracket or the hubs where I’d feared they might have saved some money with really cheap parts.

Some corners have been cut – the brakes are rubbish and I’ll be changing the pads before the winter arrives properly as I’m not sure I’d want to do an emergency stop in full wet conditions at the moment. I ordered it with drop bars and Tektro brake levers and they were very stiff out the box – it’s all been re-greased now and works much better.

The bar tape feels extremely cheap but that’s not much of a surprise on a cheap bike. The cranks have got cheap own-brand labels stuck on which got rubbed away on the inside of my shoe the first time I rode it, and the black paint is also already chipped so it’s not particularly hard wearing.

The seat post clamp needed doing up much tighter than expected and probably wants replacing with a better one. The seat post itself has also marked just as easily as the cranks. The bike’s also not a feather weight – I make it about 12kg but that’s no big deal for me.

It was also delivered with a slightly out of true rear wheel, though this was replaced with a new one straight away.

It’s relatively early days but for £360 (as well as the drop bars I specced it with Gatorskin tyres) I’m confident it’s decent value for money despite the niggles. The customisable colour scheme is a nice touch and it’s so far proving pleasingly maintenance-free. Time will tell how it does with all weather commuting through the winter!

[Author]

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