Arguably, that Mongoose hired ‘Magoo’ at this point was a milestone moment for the brand and one which helped to maintain the company’s trajectory and popularity. The man was and is a stalwart of the BMX scene, having remained relevant over multiple decades and having been behind the scenes of many different companies, events and products in BMX. Skip Hess started BMX Products, Inc. out of his home in Simi Valley, California in September 1974 with his first product being the famous Motomag One wheel. According to Skip “When the Motomags were the first and only product I produced, I could remain working from my home and garage in Simi Valley. I bought a van to transport the Cragar made heat treated castings to shot peening and then to the machine shop where after machining, the wheels were boxed and shipped.
After a couple years at the company and having progressed as far as the role would allow, a resignation was in order and the scene was set for Magoo’s next move, taking up a marketing and product management position at Mongoose. This article will highlight some of the key moments in the history of Mongoose BMX, touching on some of the ground-breaking products, the key characters, controversial moments and finally, the status of the brand and its presence in modern day BMX. Old school bmx decals for all your Mongoose and BMX Products bikes, including grips, pads, & seats.
Plus, the new Supergoose offers the same unique Mongoose Pro Class drilled aluminum rims for superior performance that won’t weigh you down. The 80’s are back, baby – live it up on the iconic Mongoose Supergoose. From the perspective of present day Mongoose, the machine grinds on. After a significant team revamp in 2010, the current roster is seriously stacked and a big reason as to the ongoing success. For example, the freestyle team is spearheaded by some of the craziest and most prolific riders on the circuit, including olympian Pat Casey, Kevin Peraza, Mykel Larrin, Greg Illingworth and Ben Wallace. And in a similar stroke of genius to the hiring of Magoo as team manager, the current TM (Leigh Ramsdell) is also a legend of the game and someone with a deep understanding of what makes BMX so awesome.
If it’s BMX or multi-speed mountain bikes your kid wants, Mongoose kids bikes are the perfect introduction to cycling. The other style of Mongoose Bicycles are those low-end, mass-produced bikes which are distributed by major chain-stores at discount prices. After a profoundly successful, yet abrupt time at Mongoose, it was Magoo’s sense of humour which spelled his demise.
It was an early run 1999 with the Twin Jet seat- and chainstays. Before the Cali, I raced on an aluminum ’97 Supergoose that was made in Taiwan. They were all good frames that I never had any serious issues with.
At this point, Mongoose is still one of the leading companies in progressing BMX and have been designing and manufacturing products for close to a decade. For the most part, Mongoose was renowned for pushing the boundaries of BMX technology in a popular and authentic direction, however schwinn mountain bicycles primarily in the BMX race scene. Leading up to and including 1985, it is important to understand that BMX freestyle was absolutely booming and Mongoose fell somewhat short of capitalising on this phenomenon, with brands like Haro and GT being frontrunners in this market.