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Cruiser for college student

Old 10-25-20, 01:07 PM
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Eswau
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Cruiser for college student

My daughter is wanting to have a bike for her next 3 years of college (on campus). Campus is flat to slightly hilly and will be rode on the paved streets. She's currently renting a generic single speed from the college - but wants a newer one of her own. Not interested in many speeds and the bike will be kept outside locked in a bike rack. I'm more interested in getting something that won't attract a lot of attention and be a target for theft. Looking for suggestions of brands in the middle of the road that will last 3-4 years and beyond, but hopefully stay below $500.
Thanks
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Old 10-25-20, 02:48 PM
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If you want to get her anything halfway decent, I would encourage her to keep it inside. Bikes left outside are likely to get stolen even if locked in a rack.

Bikes left outside after a couple years turn to garbage anyway, so I would perhaps suggest a Walmart bike so you aren't out too much. Anything more than a Walmart or comparable used bike is going to be a target.

If she does get something nicer, you certainly want a U-lock. I rarely left my bike locked outside at night, but it did have the cable lock cut one night. It was nothing fancy, just an average department store mountain bike.

That being said, I would suggest a hybrid, they are super useful and great for city/town/multi-use path applications and tend to be a bit easier to pedal than a similarly priced mountain bike.
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Old 10-25-20, 03:03 PM
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You want to buy her what is euphemistically known as a "beater bike". That means a used bike that it is safe to ride but looks like crap. If it is locked outside in all kinds of weather in a place with a real winter (snow and rain) then you will not be so upset when it suffers the effects of being outside. I used to work at a federal facility on the UNLV campus and we had a summer student from the Midwest bring his bike to campus for getting back and forth. It was securely locked outside a dorm and gone within three days. If you want to read an interesting article about the campus where I once was a student, read this: https://uwpd.wisc.edu/news/uwpd-seiz...likely-stolen/. I would not buy a brand new shiny bike of any price for use at college. BTW, that same federal facility where I worked had a locked bike compound but my own beater bike, a $20 Motobecane Mirage disappeared one day. One of the maintenance workers decided it was abandoned so he cut the lock and took it home. I still had the front wheel in my office. I got it back but without a front brake because the thief took off and threw away the front brake when it wouldn't work with the wheel he used as a replacement.
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Old 10-25-20, 03:18 PM
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Note also that on a beater bike, the cost of having a reputable shop do a tune up is likely more expensive than the bike itself. Most of the typical tasks related to a tune up can be learned from a couple minutes on you-tube and can be accomplished with a bike multi-tool.
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Old 01-25-23, 07:36 AM
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I flip fair quantities of single speed cruiser bikes and have found that Nirve and Electras stand up to the elements better than big box dept store bikes, fwiw. I don't think they would attract much more thief attention than dept store bikes would.
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Old 01-28-23, 07:56 PM
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Hey Brandon & RB1:
THERE IS NO BETTER CAMPUS CRUISER BIKE ON THE PLANET THAN THE ANCIENT CHICAGO SCHWINNS!!!!!

I am sure that Eswau's daughter is now midway through her Junior year in College now, since the original post was from Oct 2020.

Still, it is great that you did revive this topic because there are always students in college and students going off to college for the first time.
They always need durable and reliable campus bikes.
None are better than ancient Schwinns!
There is a reason that some of those ancient Schwinns have served as campus bikes during Grandma's generation at College (1966-1970) and also during Mom's generation at College (1991-1995) and now for little Brittney's generation at College (2023-2027).
****There is a reason that thousands of old ancient Schwinns get dusted off, and new tubes and tires each AUGUST as those fellows across the country located in the big college towns look to sell USED dependable campus bikes to the thousands of FRESHMEN arriving on campus each fall.
No joke, the ancient Schwinns are probably the biggest sellers every year for the past 55 or so years.
Nothing withstands the rain,and the snowfall like the ancient Schwinns with their durable high quality enamel paint and the fact that they featured the best chrome plating that the bicycle industry has ever seen. The ONE PIECE Ashtabula crank is a marvel of simplicity and is also one of the most durable if one liberally greases the two #64 crank bearings with synthetic waterproof GREEN grease. Heck any fresh grease that could be anything from 1940 military spec grease would be okay as that is what they originally had in the 1940's through the 1970's. Schwinn bicycles featured the finest bearings of any manufacturer in the bicycle industry. The same is true for their chainrings and the rear gear cogs. The same is true for the strength and durability of Schwinn frames. The same is true for the kickstand. Schwinn chrome plating was by far better than any other bike manufacturer on the planet, ever. This means that Schwinn's are more resilient against the elements of weather and do not rust quite as quickly as other bikes do. About the only things on an ancient Schwinn that were not superior to every other manufacturer's bikes were the PEDALS and the SEATS. (****on 10 speed bikes, Schwinn did employ a HURET ALVITT rear derailleur WHICH WAS INFERIOR to the 1967 SHIMANO LARK and all other later Shimano rear derailleurs.......the HURET ALVITT rear derailleur WAS INFERIOR to all Maeda SUNTOUR rear derailleurs from about 1969-'70 on **** .........so yes there were numerous Columbia's, Murray's, Free Spirits etc as well as Japanese bikes from 1968 to about 1978 that did have better made Japanese rear derailleurs (Shimano or SUNTOUR) rather than the second rate Huret Allvit that Schwinn continued to employ on the Varsity, the Continental, and the 10 speed Suburban.

No single speed bicycle on the planet is built better than any single speed SCHWINN that was produced in Chicago between 1954 and the end of 1980!!!
The build quality is second to none.
You can find LIGHTER bicycles that weigh less and are easier to lift and carry up stairs into a second floor apartment.
You will not find a bicycle which rides better than an ancient Schwinn made between 1954 and the end of 1980!!
You will certainly NOT find a more durable and reliable bike than the ancient Schwinn!!
They are simple to Do-It -Yourself service as are any ONE PIECE Ashtabula CRANK bicycles.
The tried and true, proven reliable, old school method of oiling the chain with MOTOR OIL (fresh motor oil, the same as what your car's engine takes...) IS THE BEST WAY TO PROCEED FOR ANY BICYCLE THAT WILL BE LEFT OUTDOORS FOR ANY PROLONGED PERIOD.
When it gets grimy and dirty, using throwaway rags or ripped up throwaway towel, clean the grime and dirt from the chain with the throwaway rag damped wet with either Lighter Fluid, Gasoline, or Kerosene. (NO NEED TO REMOVE THE CHAIN FROM THE BIKE!!! just be sure to do it outside away from sparks, flames, pets, children. ...wear protective gloves, and old clothes) .....Immediately apply a liberal amount of new fresh motor oil on to the entire bicycle chain......wipe of excess such that it does not drip oil, but is completely oiled. If you do that, your bike will withstand the prolonged period of being left outside in the elements.

Let me tell you that a TREK or SPECIALIZED is NOT a better campus bicycle than a HUFFY CRANBROOK from Wallyworld!!!!!
Yes, the TREK and the SPECIALIZED are better and more capable bicycles but nothing much is needed to get across campus.
TREK and SPECIALIZED bikes will be much more likely to be STOLEN since they carry significant re-sale values and are very capable bicycles for more than campus use. GIANT, NERVE, and ELECTRA bikes are also likely to be STOLEN although they aren't that good as far as being considered as quality bicycle.
Being left out in the elements will take its toll on any TREK or SPECIALIZED. Electras, Giants and Nerves won't survive as well as they are not built any where close to TREK quality. The HUFFY CRANBROOK from WALLYWORLD is going to exhibit rust after one month outside that exceeds that of any 75 year old Schwinn that has been left outside for years. The reason is the poor excuse for chrome plating which rusts from ordinary humidity almost like you poured Clorox all over it. You can mitigate this problem by installing ancient Schwinn handlebars on the new HUFFY (something such as old 7881 Schwinn handlebars or 7819 Schwinn handlebars or anything really old when chrome plating was chrome plating....anything from the fifties, sixties, or seventies from any bike with chrome steel handlebars with the standard 25.4 clamp area would work. ----Assemble the new WALLYWORLD Huffy Cranbrook properly and make damn certain to liberally GREASE the one piece crank's two bearings(because they don't provide adequate grease, almost none as that insures the bike will develop problems soon if the owner isn't smart enough to realize that).
Then check and do the same for the headset bearings (steering of handlebars...).
Routinely OIL the bicycle chain with clean fresh motor oil, and using a golf tee, a small piece of coathanger wire, or a nail, DIP the golf tee (or Nail or coathanger wire) into the fresh clean motor oil, then using that golf tee....etc, as a means of dripping drops of fresh motor oil into each side of your WALLYWORLD Huffy cranbrook front wheel axle (by turning the bike on its side.....spinning the wheel while dripping a good two drops of oil into there while the wheel is slightly spinning........flip the bike to the other side and Do the same thing for the other side of the front axle)......................Now then do the same thing with both sides at the rear wheel axle.
You'll have to do this at least once a month on a New wallyworld Huffy Cranbrook, because neither their grease quality....lack of, and lower quality bearings compared to a Schwinn from 60 years ago............but if you do this, your HUFFY CRANBROOK will be an outstanding reliable campus cruiser that will serve you well. If you don't do this, the cheap, minimally lubricated bearings in the axles will rust and become pitted and problematic. Bicycles are simple. Liberally oil those cheapo chinese wallyworld Huffy Cranbrooks and they will do fine. Wallyworld and other box stores figured out that by not spending an additional $0.15 per bicycle to have them come with an adequate amount of grease and lubrication, that the bicycle will become unuseable six times as fast, thus requiring mr. & mrs. jones to buy a new Wallyworld bicycle that much sooner within a few years.
Oil & Grease the heck out of those new chinese Cranbrooks, change out those plastic cheapo pedals and change out the soon to become rusty cheapo chinese handlebars with something nice from a 50 year old Schwinn, and that new $164.95 WALLYWORLD Huffy Cranbrook will be an incredible campus cruiser.
You don't need something expensive from your Local Bike Shop for a college campus cruiser bike.
The only doofusses that will tell you that you do need to only consider Local Bike Shop bikes are the guys that own local bike shops, or work in them and have a significant vested interest in convincing you that bike shop bikes are the only bikes that you should ever consider.
Just like, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, you don't need anything special or expensive for a campus bike!

Hey, if you do want to see some potential old ancient Schwinns, and to see what various frame sizes and cool snazzy colors that that came in back in the day, GO and GOOGLE: 1961-1970 Schwinn Catalogs
(***You will see the WATERFORD site link to CLICK ON......the waterford site houses 1971-1980 Schwinn Catalogs, also the 1961-1970 Schwinn Catalogs, & 1951-1960.)
GOOGLE: 1971-1980 Schwinn Catalogs

GOOGLE: 1951-1960 Schwinn Catalogs

Yes, you have about six hundred pages for each decade block with the total number of pages for all ten years of that decade's catalogs,

My advice is that you are MOST LIKELY to more easily find 1966 through 1976 ancient SCHWINNS.
Of those, perhaps the world's best basic single speed in my opinion is the step-through Women's SCHWINN BREEZE model.
Unlike the new chinese Wallyworld bikes such as the Huffy Cranbrook and new local bike shop bikes like TREK, SPECIALIZED, ELECTRA etc, those ancient Schwinns came in a lot of sizes, many of which are larger than what you can get today........also the old Schwinns came in more size choices than what is currently available today.


Spend some time there on those Waterford links looking at the many ancient Schwinn models there in the catalogs such that you may wish to seek and find for your campus bicycle. Schwinn sold hundreds of thousands of those ancient bikes because as Captain Kangaroo correctly said "Schwinn bikes are the best." *
* Hey, if you are under 60 years old, you'll probably have to GOOGLE who the hell Captain Kangaroo was, and yeah he was compensated for saying that on his tv show and for appearing in print ads for Schwinn saying "Schwinn bikes are the best."

Last edited by Vintage Schwinn; 01-28-23 at 08:00 PM.
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Old 02-03-23, 12:42 PM
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Another point of view

Wow, that was a long one! I lost my love for the Schwinn bikes a very long time ago. As a child I only owned Schwinns. The last one I had was a Schwinn 3 speed that got stolen when I was in high school. I quit riding bikes for a while but decided I needed a bike for going from my apartment to the college chemistry lab, a distance of about 5 miles. When I went looking I came across two bikes, a Schwinn Varsity and an Italian Fiorelli 10 speed. Both were $100 and I chose the Fiorelli. It was about 10 pounds lighter and had quality components (low end Campi). I could also use it to comfortably ride with the college bike club on their 25 - 40 mile rides. That $100 bike lasted more than a decade. I'm sure had I bought the Varsity it would only have gotten ridden to and from the campus.

More recently a friend asked me to resurrect her Schwinn balloon tire, tank type, cruiser with horn and light that she has had for decades. I think it was her one and only bike since childhood. It's pretty simple, no gears, had been stored indoors, and was in remarkable shape. I took my car and bike rack to her house and after lifting the bike decided it would be far safer to put it in the car rather than on my 3-bike rack, It weighs a ton, After I went through the bike and replaced the tires, I took it for a ride. That reminded me why I would never choose a vintage Schwinn for myself. Sadly, she never has ridden the bike as I expected because at her age and physical condition it would be a real chore. She has ridden one of my trikes so I know with a light bike she might have a chance.


There are two reasons why I would not buy one of these for a college student. It's heavy and inefficient so if the student wants it for more than local transportation you would be better getting a lighter bike with more gear choices and a choice of frame sizes so you can get one that fits. "One size fits all" is a cruel joke. The other reason is these vintage Schwinn bikes go for a fortune. Apparently there are lots of people who have nostalgia for their childhood and are willing and able to spend $$$$, A quick look at my local Craigslist shows just a couple of vintage Schwinns, There is a Schwinn Breeze for $400, a 1981 Deluxe Cruiser for $1K, and a "real bargain", a Schwinn Varsity for only $135. The rest are more modern, entry level Pacific Cycle Chinese made Schwinns. A lot of the older bikes like the Treks, Giants, and Specialized are available far cheaper, especially if half the age of the ancient Schwinns. None of the older bikes I refurbished for kids who do BSA Cycling Merit badge cost anything like that, even figuring in replacing rubber parts like tires and brake pads. I choose carefully and if somebody offers me a bike to refurbish and it isn't worth the trouble I decline.


Read the story of why Schwinn in Chicago went bankrupt. It's a bit sad. Once the Japanese began to import bikes into the US in the early 1970s it was all over for Schwinn . If you insist on building welded frames instead of the butted frames that quality Japanese builders (including Panasonic who built lightweight Schwinn 10 speeds) were using to make much lighter bikes it was all downhill.
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Old 04-18-23, 09:43 AM
  #8  
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I'd suggest a Priority Ace or a Priority Classic Plus. These are simple city bikes -- much more efficient and fun to ride than a beach cruiser. They both come with a carbon drive belt instead of a chain, which is a HUGE advantage if the bike will be parked outdoors. No rust, no grease, no worries. The Ace is a single-speed and the Classic Plus has a 3-speed hub (no derailleur to rust or get bent).

Get her a rear rack that she can bungee stuff to, and possibly some Wald folding rear baskets she can put stuff in. And of course, a good U-lock! If you get her a simple, useful bike now, there's a good chance she'll want to use one for the rest of her life.

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Old 04-20-23, 11:51 PM
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Originally Posted by VegasTriker
Wow, that was a long one! I lost my love for the Schwinn bikes a very long time ago. As a child I only owned Schwinns. The last one I had was a Schwinn 3 speed that got stolen when I was in high school. I quit riding bikes for a while but decided I needed a bike for going from my apartment to the college chemistry lab, a distance of about 5 miles. When I went looking I came across two bikes, a Schwinn Varsity and an Italian Fiorelli 10 speed. Both were $100 and I chose the Fiorelli. It was about 10 pounds lighter and had quality components (low end Campi). I could also use it to comfortably ride with the college bike club on their 25 - 40 mile rides. That $100 bike lasted more than a decade. I'm sure had I bought the Varsity it would only have gotten ridden to and from the campus.

More recently a friend asked me to resurrect her Schwinn balloon tire, tank type, cruiser with horn and light that she has had for decades. I think it was her one and only bike since childhood. It's pretty simple, no gears, had been stored indoors, and was in remarkable shape. I took my car and bike rack to her house and after lifting the bike decided it would be far safer to put it in the car rather than on my 3-bike rack, It weighs a ton, After I went through the bike and replaced the tires, I took it for a ride. That reminded me why I would never choose a vintage Schwinn for myself. Sadly, she never has ridden the bike as I expected because at her age and physical condition it would be a real chore. She has ridden one of my trikes so I know with a light bike she might have a chance.


There are two reasons why I would not buy one of these for a college student. It's heavy and inefficient so if the student wants it for more than local transportation you would be better getting a lighter bike with more gear choices and a choice of frame sizes so you can get one that fits. If you want your daughter to ride a bike and think about her studies, the rule "One size fits all" is a cruel joke. The other reason is these vintage Schwinn bikes go for a fortune. I spoke to one of these owners for this communications study, and I can say I don't quite understand these people. Apparently there are lots of people who have nostalgia for their childhood and are willing and able to spend $$$$, A quick look at my local Craigslist shows just a couple of vintage Schwinns, There is a Schwinn Breeze for $400, a 1981 Deluxe Cruiser for $1K, and a "real bargain", a Schwinn Varsity for only $135. The rest are more modern, entry level Pacific Cycle Chinese made Schwinns. A lot of the older bikes like the Treks, Giants, and Specialized are available far cheaper, especially if half the age of the ancient Schwinns. None of the older bikes I refurbished for kids who do BSA Cycling Merit badge cost anything like that, even figuring in replacing rubber parts like tires and brake pads. I choose carefully and if somebody offers me a bike to refurbish and it isn't worth the trouble I decline.


Read the story of why Schwinn in Chicago went bankrupt. It's a bit sad. Once the Japanese began to import bikes into the US in the early 1970s it was all over for Schwinn . If you insist on building welded frames instead of the butted frames that quality Japanese builders (including Panasonic who built lightweight Schwinn 10 speeds) were using to make much lighter bikes it was all downhill.
Thank you for your post. It was interesting to read about the history of Schwinn, I've never been interested in it.
After all, memories are all we have, and if someone, after buying an older Schwinn for decent money, can get some good rides for themselves, that's great. No one forbids having something for the soul.
On topic, I'd go with something electric for a student these days, but I'm not sure there are worthy examples within $500.

Last edited by MilesMG; 04-27-23 at 04:55 AM.
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Old 04-21-23, 06:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Eswau
My daughter is wanting to have a bike for her next 3 years of college (on campus). Campus is flat to slightly hilly and will be rode on the paved streets. She's currently renting a generic single speed from the college - but wants a newer one of her own. Not interested in many speeds and the bike will be kept outside locked in a bike rack. I'm more interested in getting something that won't attract a lot of attention and be a target for theft. Looking for suggestions of brands in the middle of the road that will last 3-4 years and beyond, but hopefully stay below $500
I've read that college bikes are often stolen & vandalized. sounds like a rental w/ insurance is a good way to go!

if either of my kids wanted a bike at college, which they did not, I would have moved their trek FX bikes. maybe you can find one of the correct size. there are always some on craigslist

btw - it's not a "cruiser" not sure why one would want a "cruiser". but a Trek FX is not one of those style bikes

Last edited by rumrunn6; 04-21-23 at 07:00 AM.
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