'93 Mongoose Switchback - Childhood Nostalgia

[clarkbre]

Sometimes the project find you!

Christmas of '93, I was 12 years old and my parents gave me a blue Mongoose Switchback MTB. Dad got it at a local bike shop, Bugaboo Bicycles, that was near his work a couple towns over, which is my hometown now. For the next few years, I rode the Mongoose, racking up lots of good adventures and memories. That bike is long gone but I've stayed riding and tinkering on old '90's MTB's....mainly Trek.

Christmas '93 with my new bike:


On Saturday, driving about 1/2 mile from home, I saw a "Free" pile with a bookshelf, old lawnmower and two '90's MTB's. Scoping them out, I noticed one was a Mongoose and instantly got excited. Upon a closer look, I saw it was a Switchback that appeared to be the same blue '93, similar to what I had as a kid. This was exactly the second Mongoose Switchback of that color and year I've seen...my previous one being the first. Both bikes looked like they sat for decades in a barn but I brought both home.

"Free" Bike:








Once home, I started giving the Mongoose a closer look and noticed a faint, silver sticker. With the right lighting, it read “Bugaboo Bicycles”. This old bike was likely sitting in the same bike shop as the one I had 30 years ago. And, this newly picked bike is an 18” frame which is perfect size for me now. With that, I was thrilled and started carefully tearing it down.

Faint bike shop sticker:


My plan is to bring it back to life and keep it as stock as possible. The only “modification” I’ve planned is swapping out the cup & cone bottom bracket to a standard cartridge bottom bracket. Everything else looks like it just needs to be taken apart, cleaned, greased and reinstalled.

Clean headtube with Mongoose logo:


Cleaned and restored 3x6 shifters:


To be continued!!!

 

[JCS]

Wonderful story. It’s meant to be!

 

[L-Note]

very cool!

 

[clarkbre]

Making some progress on the Mongoose. After tearing it all down, I started assessing and cleaning all the components. The derailleurs were both in really good shape and just needed a cleaning. The wheelset has been delivered to the LBS for truing.

After cleaning & greasing:

 

[clarkbre]

More improvements!

The frameset is cleaned up and nearly ready for parts. It has some definite wear and patina; however, free of any dents or serious issues.


The rear wheel was pretty true to start with but the front needed some wobble removed. The LBS did a great job bringing the rims back to life. I scrubbed the freewheel with some automotive alloy wheel cleaner and it really helped remove the gunk and bring back some shine. The tires are older 26x1.95 Kenda K847 Kross Plus that were laying around. After its built back up, I'll likely change them out.


The handlebars have some wear on the paint. After cleaning, the shifters and brake levers were reinstalled. The original foam grips were pretty bad due to age and the bars had extensions. Trying to keep true to the original like I had, the extensions were discarded and the grips were replaced with foam, lock-on grips that are nearly identical to the originals. Putting these bars back together really made me remember the view I had as a kid.

 

[clarkbre]

Worked this afternoon on completing the rebuild of the Switchback. Everything has been dismantled, cleaned, regreased and reinstalled. Overall, I was able to reuse most of the original parts and am very happy with that.

The 2nd bike I picked up with the Mongoose became a donor. From that, I salvaged the crankset (identical to the original but in much better shape), pedals (bearings were smooth and serviceable) and the cartridge bottom bracket (the original cone & cup was rusted a bit and I have the tools for the new one).

Picking through spare parts in the garage, I had the tires, tubes, saddle, 3 of the 4 cables and misc. small parts like cable ends.

The only things purchased for the rebuild were a brake cable, chain, grips, brake shoes, & truing the wheelset. In all, the rebuild cost $85. Money well spent to experience my childhood bicycle with more appreciation!!!

While it still has some of that 30+ year old patina, I'm beyond thrilled about how it turned out. I can't wait for better weather to start putting some miles on it!