Just want to share my experience... Bought my first Momsen in 2011 the AL329 as I only started mountain biking. Was quite impressed with our South African brand and eager to support them. This year in January I bought myself the X-AL (Big guy bike) Advertised as the one for the manne as I weigh about 116kg and 1.94m tall. First issue with the bike was the bottom bracket which was in the first two weeks of me purchasing the bike(not a momsen issue). Next was the back wheel hitting the frame as I cornered .I then had my wheel trued twice at different bike shops with no change. The Sram X9 front derailer that sits on the back of the down tube was millimeters away from the back wheel . This caused the smallest strain of grass and mud to get stuck and felt like I was riding with my handbrake on!! The X9 was then replaced with a X5 About 3 weeks ago I went for a morning ride and I hear weird noises coming from the bike and behold…………the dreaded crack in my frame. With this all happening Karoo 2 Coast is just a few weeks away, my first one for that matter!! I phoned my LBS where bike was purchased and said there should be no problem with Momsen replacing the frame. About a week and a half of hearing nothing I phoned Momsen Head Office in PE to hear if they would honor their warranty. The person I spoke to said if the X-AL frame did not last for me their Normal frames won’t last either. Only after phoning Momsen for the second time my LBS phoned me and this is what Momsen is offering me: R2000 credit with my LBS(to buy a new frame anybody that knows of a good NEW XL frame in this price bracket please contact me asap) Or the2014 AL 529 frame. Apart from looking a hell of a lot better the X-AL has a Thru Axle frame is Alloy 7000 butted tube set with internal routing. VS the AL 529 (which according to Momsen HO won’t last either) 6061 butted Alloy with standard quick release hubs and no internal routing. This means if I choose the AL529 I have to pay to get the conversion done. Just have to throw a spanner into the works my wife her friend and my sister all bought Momsens in bringing our count of Momsens bought to 5. I am now looking at the Merida big nine 1000 lite frame . It goes for about R5000. The reason for Merida is all the bike shops I phoned said if I had a Merida I would have had a new frame in two days. The biggest issue for me is I am not getting what I paid for.I do not want to bad mouth Momsen as I was more then happy with my first bike.I just expected better from SA s leading bike company. Needless to say after this we are all cured of Momsen fever due to their (lack off) customer service.
