Originally Posted by
JackSokool
I'm no bicycle genius but I love going on bike rides! I live in a suburban type area with short hills and side walks and biking keeps me occupied on a good day. This holiday I wanted to get myself a new bike. I currently ride some cheap BMX I got from target and it's starting to get small and real old. I love the looks and style of a beach cruiser, it's handle placement, and The seat of a cruiser is awesome. I want it to be as light as possible (to deal with those hills.) my old BMX doesn't have gears. with this cruiser some new gears would be great. my brothers bike is a size 26 x 2.125 tire and I find it fits me perfectly anything around that is good. color doesn't matter that much but a light blue or yellow would be awesome. Ive been researching these types of bikes on YouTube and I can't ever seem to find exactly what I'm looking for. Any thoughts?
Okay here's my 2 cents! As some have already said cheap and light are not two words that go together when it comes to bikes. The things you like about your BMX would be the same on a coaster brake (single speed) cruiser. A geared cruiser just makes a heavy bike heavier don't get me wrong I own more geared cruisers than I'd like to admit but I live near the beach and a fairly flat bike path.
May I suggest an alternative? Lightweight, high quality, 21 speed mountain bikes are usually available around $100 especially older ones. If it has crap tires all the better just look for a motivated seller. A local bike shop can put street tires on it for you and you can change out the flat mountain bar for cruiser bars and mountain seat for a cruiser seat easy enough without breaking the bank. One thing is replacing the brake and gear cables because the new bars would increase the distance they run, a nice guy mechanic can save you a bunch by reusing the rear brake and gear cables for the fronts. You would still need to buy 2 new cables and 4 lengths of cable housing. Still with the right choices you could come in right around $200 for a bike ready to eat up some hills in comfort.