This review is for those who are not convinced yet that they should plunk down $1000+ to try fat tire biking.

The Hitch arrived in packaging without any damage. It was shipped within its own box that was enclosed in another box. After assembling it for about 15 minutes, I weighed the whole rig( with stock pedals and seat), which came to roughly 44 lbs. The seat post requires some force in tightening it around the seat but was secure afterwards (don't forget to grease your seat post).

After calibrating the brakes, I found that the front rotor was not totally "trued" (thus 1 star subtracted) and still had some scraping sounds during the front wheels' rotation. After riding it for two miles, the scraping sound was gone and the brake pads were seated well.

Of course, being a steel bike, the Hitch is heavier than the more expensive aluminum ones. However, the ride quality is stable and almost bouncy and the braking power is adequate provided you've calibrated the brakes well. I still have to test it in the trails but have ridden it in snow and ice (streets of Ottawa ON) with 10 PSI on front and back tires. The tires were grippy and surefooted. The 7 speed transmission may be a limiter for those (including me) who are not super fit, but then again, I am mostly going to be using this on flat to moderately rolling trails, not extreme technical routes. I figure the extra 25 lbs (compared to my aluminum frame CAAD10) will hopefully translate into stronger legs and lungs. At $249, with drilled out rims and disc brakes, you can hardly go wrong with this choice and can gain quick entry into the fun world of fat biking.

So, the bike it awesome! My husband is a big guy and he rides it with no issue. He did get a different, wider seat to have instead of the standard one that comes with the bike. PLEASE READ THIS PART CAREFULLY!!!! The original bike that came was a returned product that was missing pieces, had broken and damaged pieces. When I called amazon, they replaced it and a new one came to us this time. So, a little bit annoying that they would ship a product that is clearly destroyed, but we were happy to get the right new product we paid for. Then, came the assembly. The instructions are not clear enough and the front break and rotor are attached differently form most other bikes.(which is what we think happened to the person who returned the bike we originally got) This is not specified in the instructions and regular assembly will cause the front break to unwind and fall off the bike (very dangerous). Luckily my father found a phone number (on the bike, not in the manual) and they know it's a problem, but haven't included any special instructions for people. Clearly a Mongoose issue, not amazon. The bike is awesome once it's together properly! HAPPY RIDING!

It's a great bike for my first ever fat tire bike! I would give it 5 stars however the shipment was delayed by UPS whom had to rebox the box. It was shipped in the standard box and was missing huge sections of cardboard on the side and end of box. UPS reboxed it and taped it all over. The UPS driver and I opened and checked the condition of the bike before I accepted it. The bike is heavy and a standard cardboard box should not be used when shipped separately across the country. I did replace the seat with a gel seat and also ordered new grips and thumb shifter rather than the twist shift style. I have yet to swap out the shifter and grips but soon. All in all it's a fun bike for the money. Now if the temps would only cool down to really enjoy it.

was easy to assemble rides and looks good

This bike is truly amazing! I received the bike about a week after I purchased it. The bike arrived double boxed. Every single piece of metal was wrapped in packing material. The bike came semi-assembled. I had to install the front tire, and handle bar. This is my first fat tire bike and the Mongoose Hitch has been so much fun!

I upgraded the knob-style gear shifter to a trigger-style rapid fire gear shifter. I also upgraded the bottom bracket to a sealed YST bottom bracket. I thoroughly greased the bearing cups with parktool bike grease and verified the crankset spins freely with no friction. I also replaced the cheapo bike seat with a better one. These were my first upgrades I have ever performed on a bike and they were extremely easy. I plan to upgrade the grips and the pedals as soon as they are in stock on Amazon.

My Hitch Mongoose rides soooo smooth and shifting is so much easier now. Its a big, beautiful bike that gets a lot of attention and definitely gives a nicer ride. I love how they packaged my bike so much, I plan to write the company expressing my gratitude.

This bike is a must buy!