Mission or Teocali

neither, but a pitch

Hi Mitch,

I am just about to get my third Teocali. See further down for details.

As an all round trail bike, I find it handles very well. Excellent on the down hills, superb on the technical sections but average on sustained smooth or steep climbs (feels a little cramped but I am 194cm). For technical (out of the saddle) climbs it performs well providing excellent traction. The Freedrive system works (IMHO) very well.

Its not been without problems however. It has made several trips back to the shop soon after purchase for jumping gears mostly (run full length cables), but also constantly loosening linkages (I don’t have the tools or time to remove the crank to re-tighten and to be honest expect little things like this to be addressed by the LBS when initially assembled).

The biggest issue I’ve had however is the cracking of frames. My 2006 frame cracked in March 2008 and was replaced under wty with a 2007 frame. This frame broke back in March this year (there’s consistency for you). If you do your research, you’ll see that frame failure is VERY common in the 05 – 07 model Teocalis and they are replacing them with considerably frequency. To those wondering, the failure occurs due to stresses applied during seated pedalling, not big drops (unless you enjoy being seated on big drops).

Whether the problem has been addressed with the new 2008 (and now 2009 frames) I don’t know. I have been told that I will be getting a 2008 model to replace the broken one so by next year I should know!

However, WHEN I get the frame is a different story. It broke in early March, I was told it would be ready for late April and now find out that it MIGHT be in Australia by the end of May. As you might expect, I’m not particularly impressed with having no bike for almost a quarter of the year so I wrote to the marketing manager for Cannondale Sports Group who own Mongoose and explained (fairly clearly but politely) my situation and frustration.

Here was his response:

Matt,

Before I can respond we must speak with the distributor to get a full picture of the situation. Once they have contacted us we will get back to your. (sic)

Regards,

No regret of the situation or “we’ll get onto this ASAP” or a hint that they give a flying Daffy Duck. This was sent to me on April 20th only after I chased him following my initial letter. I have since requested a follow up and heard nothing back.

So if you (Mitch) or anyone else has a spare 5 mins during the day and wants to contact Andrew Hawley at Cannondale Sports Group (ahawley@cannondalegroup.com) to see if a below average level of customer service is what can be expected following the handing over a good amount of cash for your new bike, then maybe you could also check to see where my new frame is! 

To conclude though, as a bike I have been very happy with its ability. As for the build quality, well I think its getting addressed. But customer service, well I’ll let you be the judge.

If your budget stretches, maybe have a look at the GT Force as this features the same Freedrive (“I-drive”) but I believe has had far fewer build issues.

Cheers

M

That worries me a bit because im not the most graceful rider, more a bash and barge type.

Ill take a look at the GT's

Hers's my bit.
In no particular order, Trek, Giant, Specialized and Kona represent toughness in the bike industry. The only GT I like is the Force for general trail riding and the Commencal bikes are proving to be robust also.
Santa Cruz is also tops yet very dear here in Australia and I'm a big fan of Marin yet they are thin on the ground here. Norco are also good.
I hate to be the one to point this out. Diamondback and Mongoose are quite simply at the very tail end of any quality queue.

that combo would be last after the Diamond Back and Mongoose

I have a diamondback mission 3, I ride it reasonably hard and the frame seems to be holding out no worries. So far all the broken bits have been stamped either SRAM, Shimano or Truvativ.. hardly DB's fault.

Still I'm Interested to know if anyone's got any real experience with Diamondback frame problems?

I'd be interested to see how you go when you get a new bike - skill wise, timing etc. I've got a Yukon FX too and after the DirtWorks 50K yesterday I am thinking what difference a decent bike would make to my time. The Yukon weighs in at over 16kgs I think and I had gear issues from the start.

I'm sure most of it is down to skill but still - if it took 5 mins off the race would be good to know.

Anyone else have an experience that shows the bike really does make a difference?

I would be on the phone and emailing them at least 3 times a week and sending them links to many online discussions I would be having about it, clearly they don't give a damn that your life has been significantly affected if you don't have another bike to ride and I don't see how they can't have you back on a bike in 2-3 weeks if they wanted to.
PS I will never buy a Mongoose due to their 3 month plus replacement service.
John.

I don't think you should be made to deal with the head office in Canada to get service, but firstly the bike shop that sold the bike to you should be pushing the distributor here in Aust. and if that wasn't working then I would be on to them regularly as it's the 'squeaky wheel that gets oiled'
Good luck.
John.

I'll point out here that this discussion should be about frame quality of a particular model within it's designated role. So if a model is aimed at the all mountain market it should be all mountain tough.
Matt P is one big dude. Anyone who has had the good fortune of meeting him will agree that meeting him whilst on a friendly cycle is the ideal place, and not a dark alley.
I'm also large and weigh well and truly over 100kg especially kitted out in my normal riding attire and my backpack is resplendant in muesli bars and sandwiches.
For the most part most bikes will survive a lot of abuse however we all need to be reasonable, which is why I mostly ride my Glory. All riders need to take some responsibility for the bike they choose and what they wish do do with it.
I don't want to be overly critical about a certain brand yet I find it very odd that I constantly hear these things about Mongoose Teocali frames. I can happily testify that Matt P is riding well within the limits of an all mountain description.
I didn't intend to slam Mongoose or Diamondback outright. I'm certain that their bikes are pleasant to ride and make their owners happy. However, as time rolls on and I become even more experienced I gain a firmer opinion about where I wish to invest. It's the brands I mentioned earlier.
Big names and mass production is where it's at.
You get what you pay for.