So I rode a beach cruiser today...
 

What a horrific experience. I pedalled my guts out just to maintain a brisk 4.93 MPH. A toddler on a tricycle smoked me on the bikepath and a septuagenarian on crutches staked by, cackling as she left me in her dust. I was moving so slowly I could hear rocks eroding.

Who enjoys beach cruisers, masochists?

Well, just don't ride one again if it didn't suit you. :twitchy: These guys like them https://www.bikeforums.net/beach-cruisers/

Lol, my beach cruiser is my favorite. I rode it around the neighborhood twice yesterday in between some swimming and gardening...few beers mixed in. Just hop on and go for as long as I feel like going. :thumb:

h t f u

A woman who used to ride with us, before moving to another state, was riding a beach cruiser. Don't know the specifics, but it was a 1 x 3 or 1 x 5 (thinking it was a 1 x 3), something like that. Anyway, she could move right along with it. When she got a new hybrid, she flew! So, not all are slow, it just depends.......... They may not be for everyone, but what is?

They aren't really meant for exercise. They are fun to ride at the beach and bar hop on. If you are trying to ride it fast, you are doing it wrong.

I rode around Sanibel Island on a breach cruiser.

You should get out more.

We had a full set of cruiser bikes when my daughter was a kid. They were great fun for riding to the Dairy Queen and such.

Horses for courses.

Before the pandemic I used to see a fair number of these for sale at garage sales nearby. Most were near-new in pristine condition. Just for jollies I would ask the seller how much they had ridden the bikes. Most answered not much. I'm not surprised give the weight and lack of gears on most beach cruisers. Maybe it was a throwback to their childhoods when this is what they probably rode. To those who love them, go for it. Anything that gets you on two wheels is better than sitting on a couch.

Use the wrong tool for the job and blame the tool = tool.

Ive ridden them a few times- always at a resort or on an island. They are called a 'beach cruiser' for a reason. Ambergris Caye in Belize has basically 0 feet of elevation thru the island and you either driver a golf cart or ride a beach cruiser.
Its a great bike for that application.

If I want to ride 50mi of hilly rural farm roads, it wouldnt be a bike I would turn to, though I would still choose a beach cruiser over a recumbent since I have basic pride in life.

My wife likes her Electra Loft 7D for its upright riding position, even though she is a skinny size 2.

Even the ones that have multiple gears seem to be geared too high. My wife's Electra Loft 7D came with a 44T chain ring and a Shimano 7s "extended range" (14-16-18-20-22-24-34) freewheel. I greatly improved its useability by installing a 40T chain ring. The non-step-through version of this bike comes with a 46T chain ring (for big descents)!?

Seriously, if you couldn't keep it over 5 mph, the problem isn't the bike.

I've ridden these pretty fast, probably 18 mph or so. The last one I rode was a Walmart Huffy Nel Lusso Cruiser, 50+ pounds, and they're absurdly easy to pedal with the balloon tires. It's actually fun to crank one up because no one expects to see one of those moving fast, and you can get a lot of double-takes.

In my teens, I would occasionally take my mom's tiny single speed Schwinn cruiser out to see how fast I could ride it around Lake of the Isles. This was in the mid-1970s, and there wasn't any way to time it. A guy yelled out of his car window "Hey, you know you're going 23 mph?"

I will give you that they are not a lot of fun climbing hills.

That is pretty fast! I am barely exceeding the speeds you cited on my road bike.

That is cruising speed.

Just like road bikes, there are all sorts of cruisers and beach cruisers.

I'm pretty sure I can find a road bike I wouldn't like to ride either.

They are not 50lbs. I had one. Yes they aren't that slow for a cruiser, they have a standard 40t crank.

What kinda cruiser was that? My LaJolla with stock gearing was faster than that. Sounds like a personal problem. I love cruisers, the cantilever frame is just beautiful.

Walmart website lists them at 49.5 pounds. I never actually weighed it myself, did you? Otherwise, I don't think Walmart has an incentive to overstate the weight. Also, I have had to lug it up a flight of stairs and it seemed about that heavy.

We're the two people who've taken long rides on them as I recall.

I too have an upstairs apartment. Even with that ugly rack, they weigh that much more than a cranbrook? I made mine a ratrod. I could actually picture mine weighing that much, but not a stock one.

Guess you don't know your own strength!

I almost recently bought a 2005 2007 schwinn ssx blackout cruiser.
But then I remembered that I had given my town hybrid custom build to my nephew as I just never rode it.

Maybe if I lived in town?

I am more than willing to take the bike shops cruiser bike and go pick his lunch up though. he is like tip? I'm like no thanks for the ride!

Is faster better, always?
gm