wayne2000

1. It should be inexpensive. You shouldn't have to pay $500-$700 to get a bike to ride 10-15 miles round trip to work. My cruiser was $229 at Bikes Direct. $250 should be enough for a decent bike to ride to work. You won't need to pay for any adjustments to the brakes or shifters.

2. It should be easy and care free. A cruiser has one thing, pedals. You pedal forward to go and backward to stop. It is geared easy to handle small to moderate hills. You get on and go. There is no adjusting the shifters, no adjusting the brakes. No clicking from the drive train because the chain isn't quite adjusted perfect. No squeaking from the brakes.

3. It should protect you from the elements. My cruiser has fenders to keep road gunk off me on a rainy day or after a rain. It has nice wide tires that can take on the road, sand, gravel, pot holes, and other road irregularities. It has a chain guard so your pants won't get grease on them.

4. It should be comfortable. The cruiser has a nice comfortable seat. You sit in an upright position that is comfortable and easy to see incoming traffic, and easy for traffic to see you.

5. It should last a long time. The frame is aluminum so won't rust.

Finally for the final reason.

6. It should have a kick stand. No more asking someone to hold your bike. No more leaning it against a tree or laying it on the ground. You have an engineer designed kick stand, not an after market stand that is too tall, too short, or too weak to hold your bike up.

20160721_073727_resized.jpg

1nterceptor

If it works for you and your happy; then that's all that should matter. Sure you can recommend it to others;
but that would only help if the other person has the same exact needs as you.

I need gears for the steep parts in my area, brakes are necessary to control the speed down, needs to be small
to go under my desk, no need for a stand - my bike has a parking mode:

Bike To Work by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

UNHQ, NYC by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

Cyril 

Meh...I count six normative claims each telling someone else the proper way to ...I dunno...buy a commuter bicycle??
Folks commute on anything and everything for a plethora of reasons. Not everyone will see your laundry list as canon.
BTW, If your kickstand is so wonderful, how come you aren't using it?

Johnny Mullet

I also use a single speed coaster brake cruiser for commuting........

JanMM

A short wheelbase recumbent is the perfect commuting bike - for me.
No, I don't work on a bridge.

Viich

And my 2x6 80's road bike outfitted with fenders and a rack works great for me. At $40 12 years ago, can't beat the price either. I don't have a kickstand, but don't really need one. I wouldn't be commuting without a rack, but if you don't feel you need one, why would you add one to your bike?

A good commuting bike is one that you enjoy riding for the distance and has enough practical features for your needs. I see plenty of people commuting on new road bikes with a backpack, some with Canadian Tire mountain bikes, some with fixies, some with 'hybrids' of various levels of aggressiveness. I've seen downhill mountain bikes, e-bikes, even Tri-bikes.
I would suggest that if you're commuting you should have some basic repair skills and carry basic tools. Like the OP says, a single speed or fixed gear is less likely to need much repair - My commute would be a 1/2 hour longer on a cruiser though - it was 5 min longer on a fixed gear (geared at 48-16 with 700C).

AlmostTrick

Beach cruisers are great fun, especially for short rides. I haven't ridden mine in a while... need to pull it out for a spin.

wphamilton

It just goes to show how different people can adapt to vastly different bikes and commuting styles, and yet enjoy their respective commutes!

coffeesnob

lbs put a kickstand on my trek d.s. when i bought it works like a charm

wolfchild

I prefer to use fixed gear bikes for a general purpose commuter bike. Mine also has fenders. I hate kickstands and would never put one on my bike.

Maelochs

When I commuted daily I needed to take a couple changes of clothes, weather gear, other gear, tools and tubes, at least two meals, and a bunch of water--I tended to leave at 7 a.m. and get home after 10 p.m.

I needed a light bike with sturdy racks, a lot of gears (hauling loads up hills every day and night regardless of whether I felt like it, ) and excellent reliable lighting. No kickstand ... so i guess I have to return my "Daily Commuting" participation medal.

TenSpeedV2

Your idea of a commuter and mine are very different except for the aluminum frame and single speed.

wphamilton

I like commuting on single speed also, with yet another approach. But I'd trade for your's in a heartbeat .

bud16415

I could commute on my cruiser but even with the gears 30 miles is more than I want to do at 4:00 am. I would rather use it for my Saturday and Sunday morning rides to get coffee, and as soon as I retire my everyday ride for coffee.

BobbyG

There's a fellow bike commuter I cross paths with occaisionally. He used to blow past me on a nice, but older touring bike. Now he blows past me on an old, single-speed, coaster-brake Schwinn Typhoon. We shared a stoplight a few months ago and he said the Typhoon was more fun. He rides 10 miles each way.

Stadjer

Yes, I would never commute without a fully enclosed or 3/4 chaincase either. But I like his line of thought for what he needs for his commute, and the fact that an upright position not only gives you a relaxed feeling but also a better view of the traffic is often overlooked.

Maelochs

Right he just says his bike is "A" perfect commuter, not "The" perfect commuter.

jade408

After test riding some road bikes on the city streets I realized that the benefits for visibility with more upright positioning can not be overstated.

Maelochs

i think that overstates the benefits.

Wileyrat

If I were to commute, I'd put streetish tires and do a drop bar conversion on my old rigid frame Trek mtn bike.