90% of the fun at 10% of the cost: Mongoose Beast, Walmart fat bike, first impressions

That's my first impression:  90% of the fun for 10% of the cost.

The unboxing

Beast

Yup...  wow!

About 15 minutes from box to riding.  I am 5'11" and it was no issue making it fit.  Simply would not work for anyone over 6' though without a longer post and a cramped feel.

I put all the stock parts on it and weighed it at 47 lbs and then removed reflectors, stock saddle, kickstand etc. as shown.  I did not reweigh it today but promise to weigh it again after some more drastic, still cheap/free, weight reduction measures.  I'll be leaving the chain guard on as the primary use will be commuting.

All of the parts are of decent quality and fit well with no issues right out of the box.  Extremely impressive for $200.

Frame is steel with a 1 1/8 ht, 135ish front spacing, 170mm rear, 100mm rims (I know there was some debate/question about those items)

I lowered the air pressure down to about 6 psi and headed out...

Here is the same shot of my own custom carbon bike...  more here, interesting how the geometry differs etc.

Initial impressions of the handling are that it is extremely stable.  The chain stays are super long and the bike does feel "heavy" but overall it's pretty neutral.  I think it's just about perfect for a true entry level offroad bike.  No trouble to take the hands off the bars and cruise around the city but also agile enough for some singletrack.

The tires are not the "spider" tires that I was expecting the bike to come with.  I was excited about the tread pattern as soon as I saw it...  the solid center is a nice touch for a bike that many will ride primarily on pavement but the progressively taller knobs felt solid on snow, even with ice patches.  They also provided significant float.  Overall they have a slightly larger contact patch at 7 psi than my "light larry's" on 80mm rims.

One of my concerns was how the coaster brake would perform.  It has almost immediate engagement and plenty of power.  It will take some getting used to in order to ride a coaster brake bike on ice and snowy singletrack, but I was immediately having fun with it.

I'm excited to ride the bike more and it will be my every day commuter going forward.  I am confident in the bike structurally for any conceivable use but the reliability of the hub could be a key issue going forward and is one that I'll be watching carefully.