Mongoose Switch or Stun BMX Bike, 18 Inch Bike for Kids Ages 5-8, Steel Frame, Mag Wheels or Removable Training Wheels, Padded Seat, Coaster Brakes or Coaster Brakes and Hand Brakes

Reading some of the reviews I was expecting a pretty cheapie bike, but was pleasantly surprised. My son outgrew his old bike and I had a used on I planned on sanding down, painting and putting back together. When I priced out the materials, paint they were almost the price of this bike! Using up a weekend fixing it up made less sense than buying an entire new bike.Fast forward to receiving this, it was very well packaged and an absolute cinch to set up. I'm really surprised at the complaints of installation difficulty. It's not rocket science putting it together, and that's with not even reading the instructions. If you are even a tiny bit handy and have a socket set this shouldn't take you more than 10-20 minutes to put together.I added a push bar which immensely helps in pushing my son, who at times just doesn't have the muscle to make it up hills. Cranks and wheels turned smoothly and perfectly, brakes worked well, my son was very happy. The only suggestion I'd make is for Mongoose to include a cheapie bell, for what probably costs pennies at scale I think it would make kids happy. But no biggie, I'll just spend a few bucks and buy one. Overall a great bike for a kid, especially someone who you know will grow out of the bike in 2 or 3 years anyway.

solid bike

I had a Mongoose bike when I was a kid and it was indestructible (even the mag wheels was metal). Things have changed in the 40 plus years since I had mine, I guess we will see how strong this bike actually is.

Bike is super easy to assemble, but its pretty heavy. Easily 5 lbs more than my 20" Kink Whip. Wheels are not straight and you can feel how unbalanced they are when they spin. The wheel bearings are kind of loud and not very smooth. If you give them a quick spin with no load and they don't coast for very long, but all that said, the bike does seem solid and will likely hold up for a few years with typical use from a smaller child under 100lbs. The adjustable parts will also let you keep the bike comfortable as they grow.For around $120 shipped wasn't expecting much more but would have preferred they take some of the budget spent on the THREE brakes they put on this bike and instead put it toward better wheel bearings... you don't need a coaster brake AND front & rear hand brakes.... come on man...PSA: front hand brakes on bikes targeted for small kids is kind of dangerous. (I removed both hand brakes for now but will reinstall them after my kid gets more experience)

**Update from last review**We went head and ordered a 2nd exact same bike for our other son. This time we got a Amazon return (One at a discount).The bike had a few minor imperfections, slightly bent front wheel (2min fix w/ a spoke tool) and a bent right side crank bearing (Pretty simple and painless fix if you know how to repair it). Also did a rear tire coaster brake conversion to a freewheel since my son wanted a bike that could back pedal.Am I happy with both bikes, YES.Are my sons happy, YES.If I had to buy them both over again, YES I would buy them.***First post***Read lots of reviews and to be honest. Allot of folks should just buy a preassembled bike if they can’t read directions. Very strait forward and easy to put together. Make sure you have all the tools needed before starting on this, plan on it taking 20-40mins depending on your mechanical skill level.Does Not come with a kick stand! No problem, we pulled the adjustable one off my sons old bike that we got on Amazon for $5.I will be buying another one of these again for my other son when his B-Day comes around. If he behaves 😉Absolutely yes a good buy!

I was not pleased with this item. Had I not been very handy with bikes, this birthday gift would have been a failure. Note to self... buy things that need assembly well before they are needed. Had I had time, it would have gone back immediately.1) The front forks were too narrow for the front tire, but I luckily had a clamp that i could use the spread the forks out enough to fit the tire. This is basic. I was lucky to have tools to overcome this severe obstacle.2) The front brake was set at the factory to be too narrow to fit even the *rim* of the front tire. I was forced to pop out the cable to open the brake in order to fit in the tire. Because the brake cable was cut at the factory for a distance that was too narrow, I had to go purchase a replacement brake cable. Very irritating. The design of the caliper brakes did not allow for easy maintenance.3) The bolt that holds the front brake in place is a poor design and the front brake gradually moves out of center and starts to rub on one side of the tire. If one tightens this, the brake cannot compress.4) The threaded bolt that can be used to adjust the tension of of cable for the front brake where it comes out of the brake handle was badly bent and broken. (see attached picture)5) The bolt holding the handlebar in place does not hold well enough even at the middle height of the handlebar. I could tighten it as hard as I could, but the 8 year old kid in the bike was easily able to move the handlebar out of alignment with the tire during leisurely riding, let alone the pounding riding that a kid's BMX bike is going to endure.6) The reflector mounted on the seat post was not in alignment. It was 30 degrees off. This is easy enough to fix, but a simple visual inspection of this bike at the factory would have seen this.

This is an all around great bike for my son. It looks “cool” and has all of the functions needed for a novice rider. I like how it has pedal breaks as well as handle breaks so the user can use the pedal breaks as a back up as they learn to use those on the handle. The wheels are wide enough to make for an easy ride. The only thing I’ll say negatively about the bike is that it’s tough to put together. The handle bar breaks were especially difficult to figure out. I had to call a friend over to help me and don’t think I could have figured it out without him.