The most common bike from the 97 range had to be the 1997 Mongoose menace, It features a competition high tensile looptail frame in chrome, gloss black, matt blue or matt orange with a chrome 1 inch hi ten fork, Mongoose alloy 4 bolt stem, Mongoose 2 piece handlebar. Mongoose PVC grips, Mongoose alloy side pull brake on the front, Shimano alloy Canti brake on the rear with Mongoose alloy levers, Mongoose 36 hole alloy rims with Formula hubs and Mongoose blur tyres. Mongoose 1-piece crank with a 43 tooth sprocket, Mongoose composite pedals, 26.0 millimetre seat post, Mongoose padded flight seat and 3 bolt seat clamp.
Headset Size
1"
Seatpost Size
26.0mm
Top Tube Size
Unknown
Original Colours
HFFX000000 HFGY000000
Made in Taiwan.
Fourth Letter in the serial indicates year of production. F=1996 or G=1997. X in the example above indicates production Month (E to L - May to Dec). Y in the example above indicates production Month (A to D - Jan to April).
Bikes made in Taiwan usually had an 8 month production and shipping timeline before they were sold in bike shops around the world. In May of any year, factories would usually switch production to making models for the following year.