It is perhaps at this point that the story skips forward, with there being way too many moments and characters to emphasise. Coming only a year later was the 1983 Australian film ‘BMX Bandits’, arguably resulting in an even more significant impact on BMX than ET. The film is famous for being shot in the northern beaches of Sydney (primarily Manly), featuring Nicole Kidman in one of her first ever acting roles and for its portrayal of BMX in its freestyle form. Originally written with 9 year old characters in mind, the lack of finance meant that the script was re-written by a different team, this time pivoting to teenagers as the central characters.
We have spent decades gathering information from many, many sources, including our friends at bmxproducts.com, bmxproducts.com.au, vintagebmx.com, bmxsociety.com and bmxmuseum.com. We don’t claim to have all first hand knowledge, we just wanted to condense all the information out there into one place schwinn mountain bicycles for all of us to enjoy. In fact, most of the product descriptions are taken from BMX Products Inc. catalogs and are available to download in the catalog section on this site. So if you see something that just doesn’t seem right please email us, and we’ll do our best to clarify the inaccuracy.
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 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.
From the first products – to our current crop of BMX, Mountain and pavement bikes, Mongoose is synonymous with bikes that perform on the smoothest single track to the biggest drops and riders looking for trails that never end and keep the party going. While Magoo’s tenure at Mongoose only lasted for 3 years (until 1991), this was a fruitful period in which the essence of the brand was strengthened and the future direction of the company crystallised. For example, one of the first moves Magoo made after taking up the role at Mongoose was to hire Dennis McCoy and Tim ‘Fuzzy’ Hall.
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.
Beyond that, Mongoose are still supporting bikers in all forms (particularly racing, freestyle and mountain bikes), contributing to jams and events as well as producing some of the raddest products available. The mid 1980s resulted in a significant downfall to the growth of BMX (primarily racing), enabled through the rise of adjacent modes (i.e. freestyle, mountain bikes and scooters) and a lack of mainstream interest. It was a time to either stick to your guns and perish or reimagine and grow.
Founded in the mid-70s, Mongoose is one of the biggest names in bicycles. The company was founded by Skip Hess in Southern California and manufactured BMX bikes before quickly becoming one of the largest companies. Mongoose Bikes was a brand name of bikes originally designed, manufactured, and sold by BMX Products, Inc. Nonetheless, the popularity of the ‘Mini Scoot’ meant that the company was able to strengthen and consolidate its vision, the Mongoose brand continues. Another character falling under the ‘iconic’ umbrella is the infamous Harold ‘Magoo’ McGruther. With a BMX resume like no other (stemming from the early 1970s in which BMX was emerging), ‘Magoo’ arrives at Mongoose headquarters after having diversified and finessed product development knowledge at GT in the years prior.
Having absorbed the extent of Mongoose history, it is evidently clear that the brand is deeply intertwined with BMX, not surprising given that the two have been in partnership since 1975. So in remembering all the things that BMX and Mongoose have been through, when everyone stops to stare at your slick, shiny steed, never forget that you’re on a bike made by the leader of the pack. Mongoose now has a number of decades to the history of the brand, with BMX now moving towards the 21st century and entering a new era, literally and figuratively.
A friend of mine had a solution pro back in like 94-95,, that bike rode awesome and my other buddy had the first run of the Tim Hall frames in like 95 I think,, that was a great trail bike, that thing rode like a Cadillac. BMX bikes designed by Mongoose in the 1970s and 1980s shaped a generation of innovation and design. It’s a fat tire BMX bike like a monster truck on two wheels with the Argus MX 20″ fat-tire BMX bike from Mongoose. You can conquer rugged terrain on this Mongoose Argus Trail 26 fat tire bike. With this bike, you’ll have better stability on the sand, snow, or slick roads. Plus, it’s strong, stable, and lateral rigid, thanks to the Tectonic T2 aluminum frame and rigid fork.
About a 1 ½ years later when I chose to manufacture frames and complete bikes I leased a small industrial shop in Chatsworth. Within the next 2 years we moved three times in Chatsworth to accommodate our rapid growth. We settled in the Irondale facility until April when we moved to our wholly owned, newly built, 105,000 sq.