1987 Mongoose Decade
A dream come true
Thou shalt not covet another's bike... well I always wanted the Malibu Mint Mongoose Decade that the older kid down the street had, (it may have been the blue decade). And after many ebay watch notifications I finally pulled the trigger on an original frame, fork, bars, seat post/clamp, and Spin Tech neck.
All the work I didn't realize I was getting into, in retrospect was actually fun and therapeutic. Instead of spending a couple hundred extra for a complete, I bought it with many missing pieces and rusty scratches all over (see picture).
My list for era correct pieces turned into that extra hundred or two. The de-rusting and touch-up painting became a long and methodical process.
Extra special help with the project came from reading a combination of forum posts and researching loads of pictures found here at bmxmuseum!
Some parts i took of a Schwinn Freeform EX:
White "Yo" seat
Dia Compe White/Hot Pink - front and rear brakes with levers
ACS rotor and stem (the spin tech that came with this was missing the lever and some other pieces)
The biggest debate I had was if I should get a match code and have a paint shop re spray it and then order a new sticker set or for me to just touch-up the rust spots with my own paint.
After spotting other bikes on here that were re-painted, none of them really look like the original Malibu Mint color. What i did won't win me any awards for paint finish, but without super close speculation you can't really see the touch up differences. I sanded and killed all the rust as best as I could. Re primed all the spots with gray metal model paint. Then purchased a yellow, blue and white to mix my own "malibu mint" which I would have to do many times for repeat coats. Finally a new gloss top coat, and hopefully there will be no return of the rust.
05_19 updated photos, show new Skyway Tuff pink mags. Just the front screw in pegs, the rear standers I took off cuz my heels would hit them.
12_21 updated main photo
05_23 updated main photo
Freestyle / Flatland
