Mongoose Legion L500 vs. Wethepeople Reason Overview
Both two bikes are very close to the same price and close to the same level of quality. However, there are a few variations between the two. One bike has geometry more for responsive technical riding, and the other has more of a flowey and controlled feeling. One comes with two doublewall rims and one comes with 1 single wall rim and 1 doublewall rim. Throughout this post, I’m going to break them both down and help you figure out which one is the right choice for you.
Mongoose Legion | WTP Reason | |
| Price | $589 | $599 |
| Weight | 29 lbs | 27.2 lbs 🏆 |
| Frame Quality | Full Chromoly | Full Chromoly |
| Rim Quality | 2x Double Wall Rims 🏆 | 1x Double Wall Rim |
| Geometry | Flowy/Controlled Riding | Snappy/Responsive Riding |
| Look Score | 18 | 25 🏆 |
| Street Score | 23 | 29 🏆 |
| Park Score | 12 | 15 🏆 |
| Dirt Score | 8 🏆 | 5 |
| Quality Score | 25 🏆 | 20 |
| Dougsterbob Score | 105 | 109 🏆 |
Price
Comparing the price of these two bikes really is tough. Because they’re so similarly priced you really have to look down at the quality and what type of riding the bike is for to determine if it’s a good price. On a lot of the reviews that I do, I use a price to quality ratio where I look at the overall quality and then I look at the price and I decide if that bike is actually worth that price.
The 2021 Wethepeople Reason costs $599
The 2021 Wethepeople Legion L500 costs $589
Weight
The lighter of the two is clearly the Wethepeople Reason. It weighs 27.2 pound vs. the 29 pound Mongoose legion. The reason is a lighter bike mostly due to the fact that the parts are slightly more aftermarket therefore they weigh less and are of better quality. The single-wall rim on the reason also could contribute to weight just a little bit.
The 2021 Wethepeople Reason weighs 27.2 lbs
The 2021 Mongoose Legion L500 weights 29 lbs
Frame Quality
Both of these two bikes have full chromoly frames. Chromoly is a stronger and lighter alternative to high tensile steel which is on cheap complete bikes. Since both of these bikes have full chromoly frames you can be assured that they’re going to last a lot longer than a cheaper and weaker chromoly complete bike.
The 2021 Wethepeople Reason has a full chromoly frame
The 2021 Mongoose Legion L500 has a full chromoly frame
Rim Quality
Surprisingly, the 2021 Mongoose Legion L500 is the better bike in this section. The Mongoose legion has 2 double wall rims. The Wethepeople Reason only has one double wall rim in the back and a single wall rim in the front. While this may not be the end of the world, if you’re going to be spending almost $600 on a bike you should get one with two double wall rims since they’re going to last a lot longer. The Mongoose legion takes home the win in the section.
The Mongoose Legion L500 has 2x double wall rims
The Wethepeople Reason has one double wall rim in the back and a single wall rim in the front
Geometry
It’s impossible to pick a winner in the geometry section. This is totally personal preference based on what you like to ride most. A longer chainstay and less responsive angles on the frame make a bike more flowy and controlled for high-speed high air riding. A shorter chainstay with more aggressive angles on the frame makes for a responsive and snappy feeling bike best for technical riding. You need to think about what you want to do with BMX and then decide which bike is best for you.
The Wethepeople Reason is built for technical riding. See the Specs here
The Mongoose Legion is build for flowy riding. See the Specs here
How are they scored?
Now we get to the single-handedly most important part of the Dougsterbob scoring system. This whole system is designed to give you great insight into how good each bike is for certain types of riding. To understand how these are scored you need to take a look at the Dougsterbob score page you can view that by clicking here. That’ll break down the curriculum for every single score so that there’s no question as to which bike is better in each section.
Look Score
The winner in the looks section is going to be that Wethepeople Reason. The Reason just looks like a much better bike it looks cleaner but both of them come in two really nice-looking options.
Both bikes are fully customizable which means you can replace any part on the bike with any part from an aftermarket bike shop. This section is not super important but it is nice to know because the way your bike looks does mean a lot to some people.
Street Score
Both of these bikes scored relatively high in the street section. However, the Wethepeople Reason is more orientated for street. This is mostly due to the fact that it has more of a responsive geometry for technical street riding. Both bikes do come with freecoasters, 4 pc. bars, and strong enough quality to withstand big drops and big gaps.
The Wethepeople Reason is a better bike for street specific riders.
Park Score
If you are a park-specific rider you’re not going to want either of these bikes. Neither bike comes with a gyro, neither of these bikes come with a really low standover height on the frame, and overall they’re just more street-specific bikes. However, if I had to pick one, the Wethepeople Reason would be the winner here. This is because of the slightly responsive geometry that it has, it pushes it a little closer to a park-specific bike and it’s going to make tricks like 720s, double whips, and things like that a lot easier to land.
Neither of these bikes are for park specific riding. But if you had to pick one, go with the Wethepeople Reason.
Dirt Score
Very similar to the park section, neither of these bikes are very good for dirt-specific riders. If dirt is your main goal in BMX don’t get either of these bikes and get something with a bigger sprocket, more controlled geometry, and dirt-specific aftermarket parts. However, just going solely off the scores… the Mongoose Legion L500 is the better bike for dirt because of the more flowy and responsive geometry. It has a freecoaster so riding dirt on it is still going to suck and I do not recommend it.
Quality Score
When giving a bike a quality score I mainly look at the quality of the frame, forks, and handlebars. I also look at the rims and how many aftermarket parts the bike comes with. These two bikes were pretty close in this section but I had to give the trophy over to the Mongoose Legion L500. The Legion has about the same quality as the Reason however the main difference was two double-wall rims instead of 1 double-wall rim. If you’re going to spend $600 on a bike you really should have a bike with two double-wall rims that can withstand spins and drops.
The Mongoose Legion Is better than the Wethepeople Reason when looking at their quality.
Dougsterbob Score
The Dougsterbob Score is all of the other subscores added up to see which bike has the most amenities and the most amount of features. The Wethepeople Reason got a 109 while the Mongoose Legion only got a 105. This suggests that the Wethepeople reason is a better bike than the Mongoose Legion. Despite the reason only having one double-wall rim.
The Mongoose Legion scored a 105 in the Dougsterbob score
The Wethepeople Reason scored a 109 in the Dougsterbob score
Better Bike Overall
When it came down to deciding which bike was better and which bike I wanted to move on to the next round, I had to choose the Wethepeople Reason. Overall, the Reason scored higher in most of the different sections. That one singlewall rim can be upgraded for a small price to make it WAY better quality than the Legion. I think the geometry of the reason is a lot more practical for 99% of BMX riders, and I think Wethepeople does a lot more for BMX and the BMX community than Mongoose.
So what’s going to happen next is the Wethepeople Reason is going on to the next round to face off against another bike. If you want to watch that video of the comparison click here. Otherwise, join my texting community by texting me at +1 (575) 213-5934 text me and let me know if you think the Legion should have won or if you agree with my decision that the Wethepeople Reason is the better bike.
