| Pros | Stable frame, design, tires, gearing |
| Cons | No pegs, no rotating hub for the brake cables |
| Summary | The bike is suitable for everyone from entry-level freestyle riders, to seasoned veterans who need a backup bike, or just want to mix things up a bit, without spending too much. |
| Our Rating | 84/100 |
| Manufacturer | Mongoose |
Many are aware that the cost of an upper-tier road or mountain bike can cost in the thousands. If you’re a BMX enthusiast, or you’re looking to become one, rest assured that you won’t have to spend that much to end up with a very high-quality Mongoose bike that is worthy of competitions.
The Mongoose L60 is designed to offer expert-level performance for a mid-range price, making it one of the most popular type of BMX bikes on the market.
A strategic combination of frame design and high-end components converge to create a truly formidable freestyle BMX bike that is more than equipped to handle the rigors and demands of true street, vert, and park riding.
The result is a smooth ride, increased stability, and the reinforced strength needed to provide years of use in legitimate freestyle conditions. Oh, and it looks pretty great too.
And you can have all of this for around $380, which is one of the best bike deals around.
Introducing the Mongoose Legion L60 BMX Bike
FRAME: Steel
BREAKSET: Rim brakes
SHIFTERS: Single speed
MEASUREMENTS: 38 x 27 x 56 inches
TIRES: 36 spoke alloy wheels with oversized axles and color wall tires
EXTRA FEATURES: 3 piece tubular crank with 25/9 micro cassette gearing
When it comes to BMX bikes, a true balance needs to be struck between the frame ad components in order to ensure a cohesive ride that feels natural and maneuverable. The L60 is a great example of this, and you can feel it the moment you drop in.
The frame is made from high-tensile steel, but still manages to keep the weight around 30 lbs. This isn’t the lightest BMX you’ll encounter, but the weight is well within an acceptable range for a freestyle bike, helping give it stability, but not weighing it down too much.
The frame has an attractive white paint job, with minimal graphics and a few subtle details to give it a clean, minimal look that also gives it a very serious feel. No gimmicky graphics or weird color schemes here. We like it.
The drivetrain is one of our favorite aspects. The L60 uses a micro 25/9 cassette setup, which gives it not only a more appropriate gearing ratio for freestyle riding, it also gives the bike a ton of ground clearance, which will come in handy on the course or street.
The crank is a 3-piece tubular type, which attaches to surprisingly durable and sturdy hard plastic pedals.
Braking is kept to a minimum, with only a single caliper rear brake. This is preferred over a linear brake, letting you control your slowing and stopping without accidentally coming to a sudden stop because you hit the lever a bit too hard.
The wheelset is another impressive aspect of the L60. A 36 spoke alloy wheelset with oversized axles is perfect for the bike’s frame and design, offering the right amount of support, without adding much extra weight. As a bonus, the wheels and rims are black, matching the oversized tires.
The tires have a bit of added width, and a smooth tread, making them ideal for pavement and wooden park features, allowing for optimal traction and shock absorption, without taking away speed.
Steering is crisp and responsive, without being overly sensitive. This is due to the L60’s 4-bolt stem, combined with a 2-piece handlebar that is at the preferred height and width for freestyle riding.
The Mongoose L60 doesn’t go for flashy, but it does place an emphasis on the right components and frame design, which contributes to a very cohesive feel, along with snappy maneuverability and the right level of durability for freestyle riding in any format. It could easily go for a higher price.
What We Like
It’s a little difficult to single out any one feature of the L60 that stands out from the others. As we’ve said, the bike relies more on a combination of characteristics rather than one or two.
The frame is the heart of the bike, providing a sturdy foundation that doesn’t weigh you down too much. It feels responsive without too much effort, and definitely feels like it can handle the rough freestyle life.
This might be a little fickle, but the L60 looks fantastic. Something about the clean white frame, coupled with the black wheels and tires gives it such a commanding aesthetic that lets everyone know what it’s capable of.
The larger tire profiles and rear U-brake combine to create a smooth feel that is also highly controlled. The tire thickness takes away the landing impact as well, which is certainly a plus.
The gearing is appreciated as well. Sometimes a smaller sprocket size can feel a bit awkward, but not with the L60. The ratio is where it should be, and the additional ground clearance is a major plus.
What We Don’t Like
For whatever reason Mongoose left off two characteristics often found with freestyle bikes.
First of all, there are no pegs. This is kind of a minor complaint, but it’s just a little strange that a freestyle bike left the pegs off. It’s almost like they forgot. Maybe that keeps the price down a little, but almost every rider is going to go out and buy some anyway,
The other thing that’s lacking is no rotating hub for the brake cables. If you are planning on spinning your handlebars on a jump, you’re going to be disappointed.
Buying Advice
Be aware that the picture used in the L60’s Amazon listing shows only one brake, but there are in fact two, so don’t worry.
Also, the bike will not arrive fully assembled. You can use the included instructions to finish the job yourself, or you can take it over to your local bike shop so they can do it for you. If you are willing to pay more, Amazon will assemble it for you, and ship it ready to go.
Conclusion
Despite some minor misses, the Mongoose L60 is a formidable freestyle BMX bike that gives you way more performance for the money than it probably should. That’s a good thing, though.
The bike is suitable for everyone from entry-level freestyle riders, to seasoned veterans who need a backup bike, or just want to mix things up a bit, without spending too much.
If you’re trying to keep things around the $200 mark, and want the most bike for the money, the Mongoose L60 will be to your liking, to say the least.
