Mongoose Legion L100 Freestyle BMX Bike

This review is coming from someone who has riden bmx for over 20 years, and has worked in or been a part of the bmx industry for over a 15 years now. So I know a a few things when it comes to high end, low end and everything in between.With that out of that way, let me say this, the L100 has a lot of good going for it. If managing to catch it for under $400 you can't go wrong. The full 4130 chromoly frame fork and bars is a huge step in the right direction and an excellent starting foundation if wanting to upgrade the bike in the future. The sealed rear wheel, mid bottom bracket, and internal headset are also nice, but I'll touch on those in a bit. The frame accommodates wide tires, I've pictured a 2.4" eclat fireball in the rear. The forks also have ample space for large tires as well. Stock pivotal seat is pretty comfy. Brakes feel pretty solid for stock brakes.Now, where the bike does fall short. The front wheel, it's unsealed. At the original asking price, there are other bike companies out there in this price range offering better specs. So I would have liked to see a sealed hub here. Now, the rims on these bikes are pinned instead of welded. While not a huge deal when you take in to account who this bike is marketed to, it's still something to make note of. The sprocket suffers from the "mass produced quickly" so it was rather bent causing some tight spots. Usually this is something you can't avoid on complete bikes like this. Stock chain is dainty, so I upgraded to a shadow v2 half link. There was grease on the clamp area of the stem where the bars go. I've never in my life greased that area, and I definitely recommend anyone gets one to check it before slapping the bars on.All in all, I purchased this for my wife to pedal around with me at skateparks so I wasn't expecting to be wowed. However I wasn't let down by the quality. Mongoose may be known as a department store brand, but they do have quite the bmx heritage. I think if you can score this bike on a deep discount, or sale and swap out the wheels, chain, perhaps stem and cranks at some point. You'll have a solid bike. Straight out of the bike, it's great for beginnera and intermediate or that old guy getting back in to it after years off the bike.Also, one thing to note, some of reviews are of people who bought a bmx bike and don't really understand what they bought. So for those reviews noting the chain guard or a kick stand. This isn't meant for a kickstand. And the chain guard is there because it has to be, you really aren't expected to keep it on the bike.