3S1M

So.... I have a Schwinn Del Mar that is about 10 years old that when I ride it feels real good, dimension wise. It was actually my wife's bike but my daughter and I started riding it this year. We cleaned it up together. Well, being on a super tight budget we added 3 more bikes so all of us in our family could ride at once. Me, wife, son and daughter.

Well, the last two bikes I got were mountain bikes because they're so prevalent. I mean you can't look left or right without seeing one. My daughter seems to like the forward lean so hers is staying a mountain bike set up. Although she got a more cruiser like seat for it cuz it was more comfortable.

But the rest of us like an upright seating position. We got my wife a Schwinn Sanctuary for a pretty good deal and then the last bike I acquired for 15 was a mountain bike.

I'm basically working on turning it into a cruiser. It's a Schwinn Hurricane and I think it was made in the mid 90's . The handlebars on this one are more upright than some but I still want them a bit higher. And it needs a new, cruiser type seat.

I do notice that the frames on these bikes might put the pedals a little more under you. Or basically it looks like cruiser frames have a bit more angle to the upright bar that the seat is on that helps put the pedals more in front of the body. The difference between this hurricane mtb and my del mar is minimal but it's there. Maybe an inch or so. But I don't think that's a huge issue. Just makes it feel a little less reclined.

Anyways.... I'd be interested to see if there are any other folks out there who acquired a mountain bike on the cheap and then converted to a cruiser and how you feel it turned out. I can get pics up of mine as soon as I'm allowed to. I have not done a lot to it yet other than a really good cleaning. And I eliminated the front derailleur because the mechanism on the handlebar that changes the gears was not working and I don't think I can fix it. So I just put the chain on the middle sprocket and it feels just right. Actually I had it on the largest one for a bit but that was too high of gearing. So basically it's now a 6 speed. I put new tires on it because the old ones were super cracked. I'm not sure they'd qualify as cruiser tires but I liked the tread on them, but they're not super wide or tall.. 1.95 Schwinn comfort tire. It's got like a dual purpose tread which I like a lot.

Now I just have to see if I can get these brake handles off the old bars and if I'll need to run new wires for the brakes and gears. I would rather not so I don't think I'll go much higher and wider than the ones on there now. The handlebars on there are like a hybrid and have some rise and angle back a bit but I'd like a bit more rise to them.