Day 1, Part 2: The Ride Home
I park my bike in my cubicle, and all my coworkers were used to seeing my Electra Zarape, which is a stunningly beautiful machine that gets constant compliments. When people saw the Gravity cruiser, they loved it as well. Because of the classic style, it brought up numerous "first bike" stories. The Gravity cruiser is certainly eye catching, especially with the bright red rims.
Anyway, after hours of working and answering bike questions, it was time to go home. My return trip is more difficult, being slightly uphill and into the prevailing wind. It's 5 miles, and takes about 30 minutes on my Gary Fisher and my 3 speed Electra. It took the same amount of time on the single speed Gravity cruiser. This doesn't say as much about the speed of the Gravity as it does my consistent cycling slowness.
The ride was just fine. The bike remained comfortable and handled the uphill ride easily. I never felt the need for a lower gear, and any time I felt that I wanted a higher gear I just reminded myself there was no rush, and maintained an even cadence.
One thing to note when riding a single speed cruiser: even if you are fit enough to pedal at a fast cadence, the geometry, upright position, and bounciness of the sprung seat will limit you. At a certain point, the pedaling will introduce too much bounce, and your efforts will be wasted. This point will be different for each rider, and I'm sure a younger, lighter cyclist can probably maintain a higher cadence than I can, at 51 years old and over 200 pounds.
I mentioned the handlebar grips in my previous comment. After my ride home, I really think they are fine. They didn't bother me a bit. I also noticed that my hands never became numb during either part of my commute, which was a big issue on the Gary Fisher, much alleviated but still present with the Electra. I attribute this to the very swept back position of the handlebar. There's no hyper-extension of the wrists at all.
The saddle remained comfortable on the ride home. I think most people would be happy with the included saddle, bearing in mind a cruiser is not meant to do centuries. Even though the saddle is fine, I did swap it for a Schwinn gel padded saddle which I'll try tomorrow. The only reason is that I had the saddle already, and it has a cutout to alleviate pressure on he tailbone, another of my age-related weaknesses.
I hadn't ridden a single speed bike since I was a kid, so I wasn't sure how I would like it, if at all. Obviously a couple of 5 mile rides can't tell you everything about a bike's performance. But based on my initial impressions, I'm very happy with the Gravity cruiser, and will probably make it my main commuter, saving the Electra for occasional use and weekend rides.
So, I'd have no hesitation recommending the BikesDirect cruiser as a fun bike if you're not trying to set speed records.