ScottJ175

A little over a month now that my 15 year old expressing an interest in mountain biking led to a friend giving him an old Mongoose and me buying a 2013 Diamondback.

My wife expressed interest as well and we got her a used comfort bike because she has zero interest in trails.

So I've been pondering another bike for non-trail use with her or perhaps a second set of wheels for my MTB. I've had my eye on a Trek Antelope fixed fork MTB for $100 or best offer with the thought of throwing touring tires on it.

Then I remembered my brother has a Pacific Kulana Hiku cruiser that's been gathering dust on rotted tires since 2017. Brought it home today and threw on some new comfort tires and tubes and all of a sudden I find myself with a bike fleet. Plan is to use the cruiser for flat hard surfaces with my wife. Hills won't be much fun with the single speed.

Vintage Schwinn

Naw, you're a genius..... because it is all about having fun with family and friends.
Just remember that comfort and possibly certain accessories , maybe color coordinated or personalized in a certain way, might significantly matter to the women in your life.
You also must realize that everybody must have fun when yall are goin' riding.
I'm just mentioning that because many times I witness this, usually from guys who get too much like a tour de france coach or a drill sergeant. Obviously, they mean well, but not everyone desires to be like Lance Armstrong, so even though you might ordinarily like to ride fast and hard because you're a super athlete when it comes to cycling, you've got to dial it back when on family rides so that everyone has fun throughout the entire ride! You don't realize how many folks just don't get this. It ain't all about how far you can ride, or how fast you can ride..........it is about the experience outdoors having fun! You can still train for the 2023 Oceanside IRONMAN or the 2024 Tour de France if you want to, but you'll need to do that either on solo rides or with a like minded "hardcore" group of super athlete riders.
I'm not saying that you would ever make this all too common mistake but I simply mentioned it for the benefit of those who perhaps might, now and in the future since others may stumble across this thread-topic.
Have fun! Make sure everybody has comfortable seats, handlebar grips, adequate water, with bottle(s) located wherever they prefer that particular location on their bicycle. Little accessories such as bells, mirrors, phone mount,simple wireless speedo-dumb computer, or gps based smart computer, or rear carry rack, seat bag, front wicker basket, old timey metal basket on front or at rear...............................Hey, you gotta remember that different folks may like certain things that you might find unnecessary and silly. It is never silly or unnecessary if people enjoy it and have fun with those accessories.
All too often, too many 'cycling' people here on this forum and everywhere, get too carried away with "the way that cycling should be". Not everyone needs to dance like Lance. Everyone needs to find their own groove and beat, and just have a good time outside riding in the sunshine. Everybody needs to enjoy that day's riding experience when you're out with the family group or just with your wife or sweetie. Find a nice, very low traffic area where everybody is safe and protected, while still has nice scenery and maybe nice areas to stop/rest/eat-drink/picnic/shop-browse,etc. Most important have fun!

ScottJ175

Thanks for the great reply. Funny you mention that. We initially bought a red early 2000s Specialized Vita for my wife. But she sort of cast a side eye at the Gatorskin road tires on it. About a week later she sees in a local yard sale group a more recent vintage Schwinn GTX3 with slightly more aggressive looking tires and it happened to be in her favorite color of purple. So she had the idea of getting it and making the Vita our 13 year old daughter's (daughter is the real challenge as she never learned to ride when little and claims she can't now).

I'm not likely to be the pushy, aggressive training type. I'm a man of far too many hobbies and I try very hard not to make obsessions out of them because the point is to have fun. But I definitely get your point warning against that. I am a little hesitant to wade into the MTB forum reading some of the posts there as I'm unlikely to ever want to venture much past a novice level single track. That's why I didn't want to drop $700+ on a new bike and bought a used 2013 Dimaondback originally sold through Dick's. Prevailing opinion seems to be I have wasted my money on junk but since this is a new adventure for all of us (catalyst is it's the first interest my son has expressed that isn't a video game so we're all for it) I don't want to dump a bunch of money if this doesn't stick.

Another advantage (to me) is older bikes give me an excuse to tinker. I've turned my own car wrenches for years. Bikes are just different machines to work on. Most encouraging is my son wrenching on his. After years of me wishing he'd join me wrenching on cars he's jumped right in on his old Mongoose. We came back from our first single track adventure with his rear tire rubbing on the frame. He's trued both rims and replaced tires and tubes all on his own and is now in the process of converting from grip to lever shifters.

For those interested I posted the whole backstory over in the intro forum but I'm still too new to make links yet.

OldCruiser

You’re just getting started . LOL ! I have about ten that can be aired up and ridden . Not counting the frames I have upstairs in the garage.

OldCruiser

Very well put .

ScottJ175

Since I can post pics now here's the cruiser after unloading it from the truck when I got it home.

GeezyRider 

Love that bike! That green looks great with the black components.

ScottJ175

Thanks. I know it's just a basic bigbox store bike but this photo I took to do research really hooked me on the color.

JehD

This times 100.

Over the years I've picked up bikes for the Mrs or she found her own but shes just not a rider. The last one she found was an old kind of rusty and faded Huffy Panama Jack. She like the look and with a new seat she liked the ride. I've still learned that this is my hobby and not hers. I may get her to ride with me (wherever she wants) maybe once a year and that's fine with me. I'll keep her bike lubed and tires pumped up so it's ready when ever (not cleaned she likes the patina)

We are all different and I use the time to ride and listen to books. but thats me.