Mongoose Salvo Comp Adult Mountain Bike 12-S

This review is for the Mongoose Salvo mountain bike, size large frame. I purchased this bike to commute to lunch during work hours and for the occasional off-road riding. The bike comes in a large box with a few parts requiring install such as: handle bars, front wheel, reflectors, seat and pedal wheels. Everything is wrapped and protected for shipping. It did not come with assembly instructions but did come with a nice owner’s manual. Installing the parts without assembly instructions was fairly intuitive. The package did not come with tools for the install. You will need a decent assortment of allen wrenches and a ¾” wrench to install the pedals. It took me a little over an hour to unbox and assemble. The allen screws appear to have lock-tite on them from the factory, that is a nice touch ensuring they won’t unscrew. I am 6’-2” tall and weigh 180 pounds. The large frame fit me perfect. I would say a shorter person could fit on the large frame as well as the seat is lots of room for adjustment. The bike is fairly light which makes it nice to pick up and maneuver if need be. I have never owned a geared mountain bike so the shifting gears depending on the terrain slope was new to me. Be careful when continually downshifting the gear for uphill riding, the chain will shift off the gears. This happened to me and it took some work to get the chain back on the gears. Proper understanding of the shifting and realizing there is second lever for upshifting will eliminate your chain and gear problems. Overall the bike rides and feels great. It is very sturdy and the shocks really do a good job dampening the rough terrain. The front and center shocks are all adjustable to your liking. I see myself riding this bike for years to come. The front and rear brakes have some serious stopping power I might add. I purchased the black color which has a semi-matte finish. It's sleek and a really good looking bike.