In Defense of the Beach Cruiser

The beach cruiser is iconic. I'ts flowing lines, balloon tires and swept back handle bars just look like a good time. A good time? sure. Serious cycling...."no way man, that's too heavy, you need drop bars, carbon this, titanium that, tight little pants and colorful shirts, that bike is for kids or people who buy their bikes from a department store, no way they can be used for serious cycling."

Ok, you're not going to win the Tour De France and possibly not even the Tour De Donut on a cruiser, But come on... who doesn't see someone on a vintage Schwinn Typhoon and suddenly have bike envy.

Exercise is exercise isn't it? Riding a cruiser (I'm dropping the "beach" in the name since there aren't any beaches round these parts) can be just as beneficial and satisfying as riding a thousand dollar road bike. It won't be as fast as a light roadie and as far as "efficiency" is concerned, you would get more of a workout per minute bent over with your be-hind in the air,  but your smile will be wider and your street cred would go through the roof. 

Riding a cruiser is good for the legs & good for the heart. It's great your your over all fitness - and you're gonna need it to kick the ass of the person who calls your cruiser a "Pee-wee Herman" bike.

When we think of a cruiser, immediately the name that comes in our head is Schwinn. Schwinn was building cruiser style bikes in their Chicago factory since the 1920's. Some had a tank, some had a straight bar and some had the popular "Cantilevered" frame. They were single speed or possibly would have a 2 speed kick back hub or even fancier, a Sturmey-Archer 3 speed hub. Most cruisers had a coaster brake - not the best brake in the world but could stop you most of the time. They were heavy but built to last. it's not unusual to find these bikes still perfectly rideable even after hanging in a barn for 50 or so years. 

Tastes change - in the 60's kids wanted the fancy new "Muscle bikes" with banana seats and ape hangers. By the time adults (a long neglected market in the US) rediscovered cycling, Imported drop bar "10 speeds" from Italy, France or Japan became the go-to bike. Alas, cruisers became the thing of newsboys and kids who couldn't afford new bikes. Old cruisers were stripped of all their bling and rode down big California hills. These "Clunkers" became the modern day the mountain bike. I clearly remember the second bike boom of the early 90's. It seemed like everyone had a mountain bike hanging on their wall even if they never rode it. If it was good enough for Jerry Seinfeld, it was good enough for them. 

Tastes expand - Brands like Trek and Giant started seeing a market for a casual bike, Something that can be ridden by Nana and Pop-pop or by the guy who wants to start riding to work to save on gas (or they guy who just got a DWI and has to spend his money on court costs rather than a 49cc scooter). They call them comfort bikes or Hybrid bikes but they sure have a lot of cruiser spirit in them. Some companies go as far as making full out old school beach cruisers. Electra and Felt have some of the coolest bikes around and are clearly being taken seriously. 

I'm not really the expert on cruiser bikes but a lot of the folks at ratrodbikes.com are. I would suggest going to the forum and get lost in the thousands of photos of these rolling works of art. 

And of course, here's the short story of mine:

I was looking for a new project and this thing came across Craigslist. I was told it was from the 80's and I have no reason to doubt him - though I thought cruisers were pretty much dead by then.  It was an American built Murray Moterey. Nothing fancy, just a single speed all steel old school looking bike. The two tone paint scheme was actually achieved by using decals, I didn't care for the color so I removed all the decals (and there were quite a bit) sanded the frame here and there and rattle canned the sucker a nice dark green.

pre

post!

This was my first real complete restore. I got the Shimano nexus 3 wheel set from a guy on the ratrodbikes forum. The grips and tires came from the usual internet sources ( I'm a sucker for cream tires). The saddle was from Bell and was incredibly comfortable for a cheap, non leather saddle. This was one easy bike to ride. It got instant looks every time I rode it. But I had bigger plans for this bike-more on that later.

When it was time to move, however, everything but the wheelset was donated to Bworks. Cruiser frames are a dime a dozen and I can always build one up again. It may well be my late summer project. 

one more  before I go

I really dig cruisers. Everyone should have one in their stable. C'mon, you know you want one.

Until next time, keep on cruzin'