gavtatu

for me...as you said, just to look cool !!!

Looigi

WTF??? I ride for pain and frustration. HTFU

Nightshade

I am. Now answer my question.........

calamarichris

That makes about as much sense as making a Harley with enough power to pull the string from a cat's @$$.
Some folks have no appetite (or perhaps ability) for fast, hence the market for Harleys & beach cruisers.

Squirrelli

I-Like-To-Bike

Not only look cool - Be Cool!

Built for Comfort, Not Speed.

Nightshade

THAT'S what I'm talking about!

surfrider

Try carrying a surfboard while riding upright on a beach cruiser, then try carrying one while bent over riding a TT bike. Pretty obvious which one is better for the task. And which would you rather leave locked up at the beach for a few hours while surfing - your rusty (but trusty) Schwinn Typhoon beach cruiser, or your uber-sexy Cervelo TT dream machine?

nelson249

Me too.

They aren't my thing but there's a lot of stuff that aren't my thing. If people like 'em and are out riding and having a blast then who cares?

Keith99

I might, if they would have more fun on more appropriate equipment. But a beach cruiser seems pretty appropriate for cruising the beach. So even my evil but in side sees beach cruisers as fine on the beach or other similar situations.

For racing they do seem silly.

NukeouT

That is a very important benefit over many other bikes that I never knew about!

It's just as easy to find a relaxed easy ride that will allow you a bigger range of choice as to what A and B are. At the same time I have now seen several cruisers with multiple gears and lighter frames.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on what aesthetics they like. I personally dont find them to be pretty. To me they look like modern SUVs, where the form looks trendy but by being built in that way undercuts the potentual of efficiency.

They are built to cruise casually: excess weight, inefficient geometry, no gears, thick tires, ornamental frame additions, harder to pedal on flat terrain. For me all this boils down to a bike where more energy input results in less milage. Plus for a worse energy to milage ratio customers are paying more price for the art/fasion acsessory aspect.

My statistic is derived from the majority of people whom I have talked with who own a beach cruiser. As far as I am aware, all of them purchaced a beach cruiser as opposed to another type of bike because it was trendy, in order to blend in, due to a recomendation, or because the shop advised them to. They belive that cycling is hard specifically due to their experiences on their beach cruiser. Those same people have therefore developed a pretty good understanding of the limited range of their beach cruisers and still drive when A to B is more than a few blocks away, when they could easily have biked it had they had a bike with a more efficient energy/milage ratio. As a result most of them dont own or plan to own another bike in the near future.

My statistics are based on my observations and my experiences with about 20 beach cruiser owners. That is why I made a thread about this question. To learn more. Not to force anyone to change what they like.

Just like with cars consumers should be well informed first. Unless they really really like the look or need tires so resiliant they cant find them on a mountain bike, they should strongly consider alternate types of bicycles for the advantages each could provide them over a cruiser.

For the resources and money spent rather than manufacturing and utilizing an inefficient machine the goal should generally be to provide the most versitility, longetivity and efficiency for a balance between least cost or best quality. To go back over the SUV example, there is a built up demand for those vehicles over more efficient cars/bicycles, because a lot of people own them not because they are more effective as a mode of transport.

It does not matter what type of cycling is done, just that other types of bicycles allow a cyclist the a better range of choice.

If you know from 'experience' that you have more fun on it, go for it !

Nope. I can tell from a visual observation and from talking with owners that they are less efficient than the bikes I own at converting energy into motion.

Yep. My theory is that the experience of owning only a beach cruiser is an inhibitor for many of them to take it to the next level, such as commuting or running errands that take more energy.

If someone knows they are slow and inefficient and is okay with that, then by all means. However I doubt many stores use that in their sales pitch.

If you like it, ride it!

If they really want an easy ride there are bikes out there that are easier to ride specifically because they are more efficient at converting the rider's energy into motion across a larger spectrum of situations.

That's exactly what I am talking about! In this case you've got a mountain bike because it has more efficient geometry and tires for your needs.

Perhaps this is part of it?


Are there seriously no other bikes that exist which are just as or more comfortable?

I would not ride holding a surfboard with one hand because of the danger to myself and others. Living on the beach, I have seen all manner of bikes with proper surfboard attachments.

Wow. Longest post ever...

Cyclaholic

Meh, beach cruiser got nothing on a la-z-boy on wheels (AKA recumbent trike) when it comes to comfort and low speed ability...

NukeouT

Yep, thats what I have heard and witnessed as well. Recumbent bicycles do everything a beach cruiser is supposed to do better. Plus they are actually easier to ride than standard bicycles because they are more efficient at converting the riders energy.

BlazingPedals

Recumbent trike riders tend to be a particularly enthusiastic group. They even evangelize to other recumbent riders.

Cyclaholic

ooooooohh listen to mr "I ride a no-com ergo my fecal excreta is odorless" (yes, I'm jealous and want one... there, I said it, OK? )

Roody

Are you kidding? The Munising area has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. (And I have been to many of the beaches of the world)

keiththesnake

That's what I want next, a cool beach cruiser. Gonna cruise craigslist right now.

Flying Merkel

So there I was in Newport Beach riding the ferry across the bay. A nice woman in her 50s was next to me with her beach cruiser. She'd owned the bike for over thirty years. She had ridden it about 12 miles that day. No other bike appealed to her. Cruisers have their limitations. Few who ride them care. I have a beautiful steel racing bike from the 80s. Riding on the boardwalk is a royal pain, from the head down position to the skinny little tires hitting sand drifts. Don't get me started on the clipless pedals. This is what a cruiser is for. Riding on a Socal boardwalk with hordes of supermodel looking female humanoids and the prospect of a beer ahead is one of the great pleasures of life.

Criticizing another persons ride is what high school kids do. Relax, don't stress out about the other guy.

____asdfghjkl

I think cruisers are cute. I want one.

DX-MAN

Nukeout, you need help; not everybody subscribes to your mindset about riding.

Most efficient? No; but does it matter? Again, no. It's a bike, it beats walking AND driving!

You don't even have to look cool on it; are you enjoying the ride on one ("you" in the abstract, not you specifically, nuke)? If the answer is YES, then the bike is worthwhile.

There are days and times when just piddling along, no A to B required, is the most soul-salving thing you can do.

Several years ago, I was building up a cruiser at work, out of spare parts; I was a brake job away from buying it when I went on vacation. A week later, when I came back, some ass who should have known better had let it get sold. Now, if I want one, I can throw down $96 and roll it home; there's just other things more important and urgent right now.

JanMM

I'm surprised that they don't go door-to-door with their message.

Robert Foster

All you have to do is spend some time at the beach and the value of a beach cruiser becomes easy to see. They don't cost much. They are easy to ride. You can leave them parked outside so they are available for quick trips down the beach. You can ride them bare foot. You can sit on the saddle and put your feet down at a light or stop sign. If it gets nicked they are easy to replace. It doesn’t matter if they are easier to maintain than many other bikes because people living at the beach tend not to do much more than hose them off now and then. No one has to get “used” to the saddle. You can ride one wearing a swim suit, wet or dry. Basically they are trouble free, worry free transportation that is easier than walking.
They may not be the best bicycle for the person dedicated to road cycling. Mountain Biking or utility cycling but they should work fine for someone dedicated to hanging out at the beach and they want something a bit quicker than walking or more relaxed than skateboarding. Beach people are not interested in cycling as a life style. They tend to be interested in cycling as an addendum to their life style.

Artkansas 

I went back as far as I could, 1886 or so, and looked for American bikes.

Is this a beach cruiser?

Nightshade

No, it's not a "beach" Cruiser since that name came later from California. It is, however, a Cruiser of it's day.

wiredfoxterror

Don't give them any ideas!