Mongoose Envoy Cargo Bike 26-Inch Wheels

I'll first hit the high points, then dive into packing, assembly and the problems I found.- The Envoy rides very well. Really well. It is lightweight and does not feel like what it is, which is a longtail tank. Its rattle-free except for the chain when you pick up and drop the bike... and for a 142-link chain that is as long as it is, some frame contact can't be helped.- This bike has a super-solid, sturdy frame. Its lightweight alloy (the fork is steel). Riding it I cannot feel any slop or flex, which you'd kind of expect on such a long wheelbase. You don't notice the length unless you try to thread thru something.- The seat is a gem. Probably the first time I will leave a factory seat on a bike without replacing it with something fancy. The rear handle is solid and a big help.- There are M5 bosses *everywhere* in the back half of the frame. On the rack top. On the rack sides. On the frame sides. On the lower rack. Everywhere. This thing was designed to let you figure out whatever custom solution fits your fancy.- The included bags are very nice. They hook on easily. They are heavily built. I do wish they were deeper than 6". Say 8" or even 10" (that'd be wider than the bottom rack butt I can devise a semi rigid bottom myself no problem). But still, at about 38 liters each before you start piling stuff on top, you have a decent cargo hauling solution literally out of the box thanks to these.- While the current tires seem perfectly adequate, the frame will allow larger tires. You should be able to do 2.5" without running into frame clearance issues in the rear (2.35's are stock). The rims are fairly narrow so proceed with due care.- The fenders are surprisingly robust. I would ordinarily chuck full coverage plastic fenders into the trash bin and replace with something 'better' but not this time.---I use bikes as a by-choice auto replacement. As such I wanted a dedicated cargo hauler for local shopping runs. One of my criteria was to NOT do a ground-up build or an expensive catalog buy: the bike will be sitting outside of stores for much of its life and I don't want to burst into tears if someone manages to steal it.Enter the Mongoose Envoy, whose retail price is roughly half of the next lowest-cost longtail cargo bike, and less than that if you count higher quality models. Mongoose has a reputation in the DIY ebike community or fantastic frames and basic, budget components that are typically replaced/upgraded. Also the Envoy was sold in Canada for about a year at a major retailer, with reviews of it out on the internet. So I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into. I expected a great design with basic components and good functionality.And that is what I got. Despite the issues I will detail below, this bike is a great value and highly recommended as an entry level cargo bike, or the basis for an experienced builder to upgrade.The bike came to me fast (Amazon Prime) and I found it well packaged. One corner of the box was torn up - right where the forks are - but the internal packing was good enough there was no damage. The bike was wrapped up pretty much everywhere in cardboard tubing which made for a bike that is completely unscratched (in the accompanying picture, I have removed about half of it). There was also enough styrofoam and plastic bumpers where needed to keep things from getting crunched.Part of the packing job involved zip ties tying everything to everything else, and the bike was a single, monolithic piece. I was very surprised to easily lift it all out of the box in its entirety without drama. Believe me that is seldom possible and speaks first to the bike being a lot lighter than you'd think, and also to the fact that someone thought thru this packing job. Once out of the box, there was so much cardboard tubing I thought it would take a long time to assemble the bike. In fact it took maybe 45 minutes, and that was so long because I did find problems that needed solutions (see below). As packing jobs go, I'd give it a 8.5 out of 10 with a 100% successful result.The two jobs that take the most effort in assembly are:1) the front forks - two cables were wrapped improperly - one shifter around the wrong side of the frame, and the front brake cable went inside of the fork instead of outside. Both of those took a little head scratching to deal with and if you just jump up and attach the handlebars you could potentially have to undo that and start over. So pay attention to this during assembly.2) the rear lower rack. I won't get into how they set this up for packing except to say on the surface it looks goofy and turns out is sort of genius. The lower deck is attached to the bike with four nut/washer/bolt combinations. Here I have a gripe: The bolts are M5 low profile hex head bolts that, strangely, have a Phillips head socket in their center. You find out why as there is nowhere near enough room to use a wrench on at least two of these bolts. Fine but... bikes have standard hardware for a reason. One of those standards is that all M5 bolts are socket caps (they need an Allen key aka hex key wrench). Socket caps would work great here. Why break that mold? Especially when you already use a zillion of them all over the bike? Probably to save the two cents it would have cost to include a hex key (anyone assembling a bike should have one anyway). So, when assembling... make sure you have a Phillips head screwdriver. I will replace these bolts with hex caps so if I am ever on the side of the road with a problem I have one tool that will work for everything.The next gripe is fairly serious... but can be dealt with either by the experienced home bike mechanic or the Local Bike Shop - the front brake on this bike does not work. I originally thought the caliper was broken (I edited this review as thats what it first said). So I replaced the brake caliper entirely. Once the caliper was off the bike I found it to be in working order. So the front brake was so maladjusted it did not work... as delivered it only barely touched the front rotor, and that was after pad adjustment. My best guess (since I already pulled the caliper off) was it was mounted on the adapter so badly (the cable pulled just fine) that it did not give any more but the barest contact to the front rotor. Needless to say this was extremely dangerous and not visible unless a pre-flight check is conducted or the new rider finds out the hard way.For the not so mechanically inclined, this is an instant full stop disaster requiring contact with Mongoose service or a trip to the local bike shop, where you have to ask them to work on a new bike you didn't buy from them.Next gripe: The front derailleur is completely out of adjustment. The bike comes in its lowest gear. Upshifting its click-stop shifters in front and its instantly clear the adjustments are totally out of whack. If the shifters were old-school friction you could just tap them a bit by feel to the spot they need to rest at (and this is what you have to do to get them to shift the chainrings at all) but modern shifters work on a click by click basis and these just don't. At present, riding on the largest chainring the front derailleur rubs the outside of the chain pretty much constantly. This is the sort of thing a local bike shop will take care of with a standard-issue new bike tuneup (its a simple adjustment if you know what you are doing). But someone at the Mongoose factory in China should have done this for the consumer who isn't ready for the bike to not work out of the box.Last gripe: Rear derailleur has exactly the same problem. Totally, badly out of adjustment. Clicks either don't shift or I need two to shift over a single cog in the rear. Or I need to finesse the shift manually to get it to move. Also, the rear derailleur cage is bent out of true just a bit - angles inward. the combination of these two things means the chain chatters and jumps while riding, and derails when you push the bike backwards. The cage issue could be from shipping or just a reflection of the quality of component used. Here again this is the sort of thing a Local Bike Shop is accustomed to dealing with on a tuneup. But for someone who thinks they will take the bike out of the box, assemble and ride it... not going to happen.Enough with the griping. Everything else about this bike is great. The stuff above is minor except for the broken front brake. Because of that failure on such a crucial safety component, and the fact that the un-adjusted derailleurs ruin the riding experience for a new buyer who doesn't have bicycle mechanic skills, I'm knocking off two stars.But bear in mind these items are easily fixable and then you have a 5-star value.