Originally Posted by Machka
I have a Mongoose very similar to that one:
http://groups.msn.com/BicyclingForumPicPost/winter.msnw
I bought it at Walmart 4.5 years ago and it has been a great commuter and winter bicycle. I have had it in for two small tuneups and have had the chain replaced. That's it. I made a few modifications on it and in total (including the tune-ups) I would have spent just over $400 on it. Meanwhile I have saved myself about $2500 in bus fares. I'd say that's a pretty good return on my investment!!
It has NOT fallen apart in 6 months. NOTHING has broken on it. NO cables have snapped. NO pedals have fallen off. There have been NO saddle problems.
In that 4.5 years I have put close to 10,000 miles on it including a number of centuries (100 mile rides) and a couple 200K rides. I did my first 200K brevet on it.
But then I take care of all my bicycles - even the inexpensive ones.
If your friend really wants to buy that bicycle and takes care of it, it will probably last him for years. Mine is still going strong!! Tell him to pay no attention to the people who insist he has to spend a whole pile of cash for a bicycle ... he can do amazing things with something that perhaps isn't the "best".
Just make sure he gets a size that fits him . . . that is the most important thing.
No one is telling him to buy a $1000 MTB... people here are just saying that for the much money you can buy an entry level mountain bike from trek and specialized among others. a trek 820 is $210 at my LBS. it will most likely still be made from taiwan but with that purchase you will most likely get a year of free service from your LBS if not a lifetime... and if anything breaks you can go back to that same store and have someone look at it and help you out. you cant say the same thing if you buy it from a department store. the dick sporting goods online store is the same as sportmart, sport chalet, fog dog, etc. they are all coming from the same warehouse.
my first bike was a mongoose and it did last me awhile... thats was back then before pacific acquired mongoose in 2000.