cweb99

please no! Never get a bike from Walmart or Target. Even if it’s a cruiser. Those bike are for people with a death wish

tds101 

You DO KNOW that quite a few members here have bought Wally World cruiser bikes, right? And we do our own adjustments/mods to them, right? FYI The Walmart bikes are now IN LINE with bike shop bikes, as long as you know what to look for. Maybe you need to check out KevCentral on YouTube and become enlightened... It will do your soul some good!

GeezyRider 

Hey! Bite your tongue! My Walmart Schwinn (via FB Marketplace) was really hurt by that.


Schwinn Riverside after weight loss surgery.

cweb99

sorry lol that is a sweet looking bike!

2old

New "cruiser"; second owner of a 40 year old (AFAIK) Hon. It's a hoot to ride and has the requisite (for me) coaster brake, riser bars, single speed drivetrain and comfy seat.

3speedslow

That Hon is way cool!

victorm

RCMoeur 

The frames and structural items on big box bikes seem OK, except weight weenies may object (almost all straight gauge hi-ten). But derailleur-equipped bikes, including cruisers, almost always use stamped steel Shimano Tourney components, which can be adjusted but will almost never remain adjusted, and bend on their own without the need for psychic powers. Although it has 3 too many letters, "Tourney" is for me a four-letter word.

tds101 

Most are actually decent quality aluminum nowadays. Even if they're hi-ten steel, who cares about what a weight weenie wants when it comes to a cruiser??? WTH are you even bringing it up for??? It's a cruiser, and most are boat anchors, and people, for the most part, DON'T CARE. Now, cheap parts can be upgraded, which is a recurring theme here, and with KevCentral. And even if upgrading isn't an option (simply because the owner could actually care less), quite a few others here never bother to go above the most basic of derailleurs. And what about single speed cruisers? Those are quite popular here as well. Are the weight weenies trying to cut grams with SS cruisers too???

RCMoeur 

It would seem you read more into my comment than I actually said. And you are correct that a substantial and growing percentage of big-box bikes are using aluminum frames. And yes, owners can upgrade these bikes without making a poor investment due to standardized componentry. What's on the floor these days at the big box is far better than the spot-welded bikes of 40-50 years ago. But a big-box bike owner may not be aware of upgrade opportunities that could make a big difference in performance.

I have nothing at all against coaster brake cruisers, having owned more than one and assembled many a Cranbrook and others out of the box. The only issues seemed to be when a boxed bike had a bad trip across the ocean and arrived bent, dented, or mangled. They do good service for buyers at a very attractive price point, and resell well if not neglected or rusted.

However, I now recall another type of big-box bike that has vexed me - the 16" / 18" / 20" wheel "easy assemble" kids' bikes that use a plastic bushing for the top headset race so the buyer can easily drop in the handlebar assembly perpendicular to the front wheel. Great concept, but poor execution. There's no ability to repair or upgrade, and a faulty or failing headset results in junking the entire frame & fork. So far, these haven't yet seemed to spread to the larger adult cruisers discussed in this thread, but if they do, it won't be good.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to beat up a misbehaving Tourney derailleur...

tds101 

Um, I read into it what you stated. And after reading all that text, I'm trying to figure out what the 16/18/20 inch wheeled bikes have to do with this "show me your cruiser" thread...

Enjoy your misbehaving Tourney derailleur

RCMoeur 

*plonk*

tds101 

DesmoDog

WRT big box store bikes. A few years back I saw a "Schwinn" cruiser on Amazon for something like $200 delivered, so I took the lunge and ordered it. Absolute worst case, I'd only use the frame and fork for a project I had been thinking about for years.

I already posted a thread about it here but to recap - I was pleasantly surprised when it showed up. I worked as mechanic in a Schwinn shop for about ten years starting around 1978 so I have experience with "real" Schwinns (Yes I am highly biased). The bike was packaged a lot better than they used to be. The paintwork was nice. The hubs were one piece aluminum, better than the hubs low end bikes had back in the day. So far so good. The frame/fork would work for what I wanted. On to assembling it.

Holy crap. NONE of the bearings were adjusted correctly. And they had virtually no grease. The cable housings were all too long. The fender braces and chainguard were about half as sturdy as the classic bikes. The rims were painted and trash - the brakes weren't great and could not be made to not squeal. Sidenote - I detest the straight pull (Linear?) brakes or whatever they call them that cheap bikes get these days. Every one I've dealt with has been trash. Too flimsy.

To make a long story shorter, virtually EVERYTHING on the bike had to be pulled apart and rebuilt. Hubs. Headset. Bottom bracket. All cables.

Once the bike was completely rebuilt, it wasn't bad. Aside from the brakes never getting quiet. Yes I know how to adust them. These would not shut up.

Bottom line, I don't see where the average Joe would have ended up with a decent bike just following the assembly instructions. If you have the resources to rebuild a bike they're decent IMHO. If you are expecting to pull it out of the box and spend half an hour assembling it, forget it. There is no way I beleive that if I had bought this in a store that it would have been assembled/set up correctly. And if you take ti to a bike shop to be set up, they're gogin to want to rebuild everything too, and it won't be a cheap bike anymore. So I'm torn on how I feel about them - decent if yo uare ok putting the work in, dissappointing if you just want to buy and ride.

I was happy with the purchase, but I always qualified it with "for what I paid..."

Then... while searching for stronger fender braces and better pedals, I went off the deep end.

EDIT: Here's the thread with more info on this bike. https://www.bikeforums.net/beach-cru...tuary-7-a.html

Forgive the repost (this has been posted here before) but here it is in it's current set up


Front brake upgraded. Yes the angle of the pad was corrected after I saw this picture.


5 speed IGH with drum brake. The derailluer is bluetooth - no cables! Actually it's just a tensioner - the frame has vertical drop outs. But the shift cable is still hidden. ;-)


Drum brake that's strong enough to lock the rear wheel. The frame mounted linear brakes are just to hide the welded on brake bosses.


Upgraded rims, stainless spokes, QR front hub



It rides a lot nicer now, and the brakes don't squeal.

But I have a skootch more than $200 into it at this point.

Henry III

I'll have to one up your walmart Schwinn sorry, lol...aluminum Point Beach with XTR wheelset(sun cr18 rims, Sapim db spokes, dt alloy nips, 11-42 cassette),Schwalbe Knobby Nick 26x2.4 tires, E13 crankset, 1x chainring, older sram x9/x0 shifter and derailleur, Brooks Pro saddle, XT v brakes avid brake levers, MX two piece bars. Only original parts is the frame, fork and headset but the fork and headset will be getting swapped out to a threadless setup and carbon fork. The frame also had a few things removed and bottle bosses and upper rack mounts added with rivnuts. Plus new decals are coming in a few days.

I love these Schwinn cruisers honestly. Especially the harder to find aluminum frame models which are three pound frames but ive also built up a couple of the steel models like the one above also. Now if they only used a 1-1/8" headtube it would of made things really easy on the build. The steel versions would make adding disc brakes a lot easier though. Though how it sits is low 20 pounds and not too far from my Dean titanium 26er build.



Originally started as this homely looking thing...

GeezyRider 

As do I. I've always had a fondness for cantilever frames. The Walmart Schwinns are an economical platform for building a custom, versatile and fun ride.

2old

I picked up this Micargi as a basket case hoping to salvage either the motor or the bike. The bike was repainted, the chrome was polished and the aluminum was sanded with increasingly finer paper. Surprisingly, the motor operated perfectly. The picture doesn't show the result of removing 30" of wiring from the motor and "display" or the custom battery holder.

tds101 

Excuse how I'm going to say this but DUDE!!! That bike looks friggin AMAZING!!!

2old

tds, thank you so much; it was a fun project and I gave the bike to my daughter's fiancee. He's a really good artist (but I'm biased) shaping broken records. This is a wall-sized "picture" of David Bowie.