Around 2000, Mongoose bikes embraced ugly, to be fair it wasn't just Mongoose, it seems all BMX bike manufacturers thought BMX should tone itself down after the bright and colourful heyday of the eighties and nineties.
The 2000 Mongoose Brawler 24 originally rolled out of the bike shop with an uninspiring gloss gunmetal grey frame, forks and low cruiser bars. Some of the old school vibe however was not lost, the black anodised rims were laced to high flange polished alloy hubs. Many other parts were hidden under a layer of black paint.
This Mongoose Brawler 24 would have been built in 2000 and appearing in bike shops (not K-Mart) in 2001. The frame is chromoly CR-MO and Hi-Ten steel for strength, it's from the Mongoose Pro range of bikes which featured quality parts at the time.
To bring some life back into my 2000 Mongoose Brawler 24 BMX, I decided to change the colour scheme. An 1984 DP Firebird that popped up on the BMX Museum homepage, this was my inspiration. I started by sourcing 24" white wall tyres, not available in Australia, they were imported from OS. The Alex Y2000 24" alloy wheels were in pretty good shape and just needed a clean and polish. The high flange Mongoose silver hubs were perfect for the look I was after. I also wanted to make the bike more rideable for the bigger guys, like me. Removing the low cruiser bars and replacing them with higher rise S&M bars has completely changed the stance of the ride.
A respray in my garage gave the bike the right colour and from there it was a matter of getting it back together. To go with the old school flavour, I designed a new set of decals based on my favourite 86 Mongoose decal design. I've used these decals a fair bit across other Mongoose bikes. The custom 2000 Mongoose Brawler 24 decal design is printed in black and then a chrome foil backing is added. These new decals are weatherproof and super hard wearing.
I have polished a few alloy parts recently and wanted to try a new technique for the faded and dull seat clamp and head clamp. Both were stripped and given a silver brushed alloy look, not a perfect match to the hubs but they look great. The locking nut on the head clamp was sanded back and sprayed with clear coat.
The ugly corrugated steel chainring was replaced with a slightly newer 2003 Mongoose Motivator chainring in black and white. The grey AME grips and grey soft touch velour seat are a nod to the Brawler 24's original colour.
With resprayed S&M slam bars, refurbished pedals, gyro polished seat clamp and stem and a new set of cranks (the old ones were bent) and the bike was done. The photos say it all.
Finally finished the 2000 Mongoose Brawler 24 BMX is now a great looking cruiser ready to hit the streets again. It was a fun project, the old bike rides really well and could pass as new again (if you squint your eyes).
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