Fat bikes are heavy and not ideal for every day riding. That isn’t to say the ride was all sunshine and roses. There were a couple of aspects of the mongoose fat tire bike Beast that made it a challenge to ride for extended periods of time. For instance, I wasn’t overly fond of the stock seat that comes with the bike.
He did a good video recently on some more budget parts (including hydraulic disc brakes) as well as he has been playing with a Walmart MTB recently. As with any bike, stay within your budget but get the best spec you can afford. Your bike will simply work better, and you’ll have more fun riding it. The Mongoose Argus Trail handled my excursions with ease. The bike carried my body weight well, did not flex, and is durable. This bike will outlast my son’s use because of it’s strength and componentry.
Very few bike companies build 24-inch fat bikes. I don’t know of many that go smaller from there either. In addition, with 24-inch wheels, my son’s bikes are getting big enough that I am able to ride them without damaging anything. I’m not taking them off jumps or going for sustained rides, but just trying to get the feel and experience of the machine.
The traits of handling and stability will most certainly transition to snow riding as well. Riding the Beast is certainly a no-frills affair. It is a single speed bike with 26″ wheels and cruiser brakes. It didn’t take long to adjust to the old school breaking system, but I’ll admit there was a moment of panic before it dawned on me how the brakes worked. There is a low level shimano hydraulic disc brake kit that is SO NICE compared to the cable disc brakes.
That said, there are plenty of families who need a kids fat bike for niche riding either in sand or in snow. For those select families, there is the Mongoose Argus Trail. Hopefully some training will allow him to be able to climb on his own for some of the ride. Sticking to flat nordic type trails for fat biking in the snow might be our best bet. The components as a whole function as they should.
Kid sized fat bike frames are rare so taking him out this winter will be a unique experience. With that said, it was fun seeing my son experience something truly different on the dirt. Despite these issues though, I did find myself enjoying the Beast far more than I would have expected. Sure, its big, heavy and ponderous mongoose bmx bike and yes it lacks any kind of amenities that I’m use to on a bike. But in spite of all of that, it is still fun to ride, and isn’t that one cycling should be all about? Sometimes in our rush to get the lightest, fastest and most tricked out bikes, we forget how important it is to enjoy riding just for the sake of riding.