Remember there are different levels of Mongoose(geese?) bikes. The older Mongoose was a very good bike and equivalent to Rockhoppers, Giant, Trek and other major brands. But when they were sold out to Pacific cylcles and became WM bikes the quality plummeted. As far as drop bars vs upright, swept back. Take a look at pictures of OLD touring bikes, the bars were above the saddle, not below it. Moving large loads requires grunt, low end power. The upright bike if designed correctly is better at that than the current racing style, where the saddle is farther forward and the bars are below saddle level, kind of like the difference between a Mazda Miata and a Ford F150.
Aaron
