Cruiser Bikes

Usually when I see someone riding a bike I think "way to go, good for you!", even if they're breaking all kinds of traffic laws. This is not the case when I see someone riding a cruiser bike. The firs thing I think when I see someone riding a cruiser is "what a moron, what are you doing?" I can't help it, even if they aren't breaking any traffic laws, they just look stupid moseying along on their cruiser.

Its not the person its the bike. Cruisers are heavy, slow, and ugly bicycles. The frame of a cruiser bike is designed for looks and not much else. Those wide curves are just wasted steel. Steel is heavy and strong. Its strength and cost makes it a fairly good material to make bicycles with. On the other hand its weight is a drawback since the less a bike weighs the less work you have to put into overcoming its inertia and getting it up to speed. Really good steel framed bikes get around this by using as little steel as possible in straight narrow steel tubes to make the frame. Cylindrical tubes are strong and light and make for a pretty good bike frame. Cruisers curved, and stylized frames throw this out the window by using way more steel than should go into a good bike.

But all that steel isn't the only thing slowing you down if your riding a cruiser. Many cruiser bikes are single geared monstrosities that can't go very fast even if you want to. Gears are meant to give you a mechanical advantage. On a bike with multiple gears you can use low gears to get fewer turns of the drive wheel per turn of the petals. This is good for getting started and getting up to speed. Once you get up to speed you can switch to higher gears to get progressively more turns of the drive wheel to turns of the petals. This allows you to reach higher top speeds, by putting more energy into each revolution of the petals. Cruisers with only one gear have to use some middle ground where it doesn't take too much effort to get going, but can still deliver enough power to ride at a reasonable rate. But your top speed is limited by how fast you can turn the petals so once your going you just kind of cruise hence the name. Not bad if you want the cycling equivalent of taking a stroll but horrible if you need to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time, or if you run into any hills.

I guess that if cruisers are built for style and people by them, then they can't be unfashionable, but looks are subjective and I say they are ugly. Their appearance suggests all of their other problems and I say that makes them ugly. I certainly don't enjoy seeing them.

So loose the cruiser and get a real Bike!