beach cruiser...waddaya think??
 

does anybody commute on a beach cruiser? i have one that i enjoy riding and was thinking about riding it to and from work. it's about a 5.6 mile ride each way, and i am a little out of shape, so waddaya think? one more thing, where on these forums can i find out more and see more of beach cruisers, seems like everyone either has big mtb or fast racers, or special stuff. thanks for your imput. moondog:thumb:

I'd try riding it in to work on a day off. The downside is you'll have to turn around and ride back without a lot of rest. The upside is you'll know for sure what you can do, and you'll have had a nice ride.

If efficiency and time are not a great concern, and there aren't a lot of hills on your route, then a beach cruiser would be fine. As the above poster suggested, give it a go on a weekend. That'll give you an idea of how long it would take you and whether you want to do it at all or not. Plan to spend a little more time on the actual ride to work though, because there will be more traffic then and it may slow you down. Unless it's all a multi-use path through a ravine or a park... then you'll be faster, because fewer people will be on the path. :)

Try it out and see with the understanding that it will be a little tough at first due to fitness. Use the search forums link at the top of the page to look for posts about cruisers.

How hilly is your route? 5.6 miles on a beach cruiser is easily doable. I sometimes commute to work on my Townie3 and that's 7+ or further, up to more than double, depending on which route I take. I also tow a canoe behind this bike when I go fishing. Up to 10 miles or further depending on where I'm going.

Your commute on a beach cruiser is going to be slower than on a road bike, but I have found a road bike to not be the greatest choice for commuting anyway. I would expect this commute to take less than 30 minutes, probably closer to 20 if not fighting a head wind.

There is a lot of arguing, but really, nobody can convince anyone of anything on here. All I can say is that if it rolls and you can pedal it, it will get you there. It just might not be very fast or comfortable in the long run, and you will probably want to kill yourself the first time you encounter a significant headwind on your commute. But since you already have the bike, give it a try. I'm sure that if you continue to commute, you will eventually want something lighter - if not a road bike, then a good, fast hybrid, or a reasonably light unsuspended mountain bike.

It all depends on your ride. If you live on the beach and work on the beach then I can't imagine a better bike. :D

Me, I commute only 3 miles, but there are no flat spots on the ride, so I ride a mountain bike converted for street use. In past times my ride was 9 miles but fairly flat so I rode a 30 year old 10 speed. One commute was 17 miles with steep hills and long flat stretches. I rode a nice road bike. One commute had the center 5 miles of 7 going through a nature preserve, so I rode a mountain bike.

So if the beach cruiser will get you to and from work comfortably, easily and reliably, then go for it. Otherwise, look at the terrain, the weather and what stuff you must carry and get yourself a combination that will do the job.

If you have hills, the fact that the bike is likely a heavy gaspipe frame with 26 in balloon tires and single speed with coaster rear brake only may make the ride more work than on a lighter geared bike. Most beach cruisers have wide upturned bars with limited hand positions and a wide seat, meant to accommodate unconditioned vacationers who are in no hurry to go anywhere, they would be difficult to get decent speed or to ride into wind with.

You could do it, but I doubt it would be that much fun.

There is this girl I sometimes see on my commute. She rides an old Schwinn cruiser. When there is a headwind, she spends half the time standing on her pedals trying to fight it. Its painful to watch.

Ya, no problem. For a 5.6 mile commute, a single speed cruiser will work fine. I used to ride my son to pre-school by bike. He got to pick the bike and he always picked the big ballooner "Silver Surfer". I would drop him off and then bike 12 miles to work.

We tend to underestimate the efficiency of even the ballooner cruisers. They aren't as bad as they look.

That said, if you get on the wrong side of a stiff wind, call home and have the spouse hold dinner for you because you will be getting home later than usual.

I think it's totally do-able. With any bike, even a road bike with drop bars, a headwind sucks. You can always try to tuck down on the beach cruiser, but end of day you just have to tough it out.

One thing you may want to consider is changing the gearing. Many stock singlespeed beach cruisers spin out at about 10mph, going to a bigger chainring or smaller rear freewheel can really help the top speed.

I ride a fixed Surly Cross Check now, but have used a beach cruiser for many years as my "do anything" bike. They are awesome, and the ease of use and maintenance inherent to a coaster brake is not to be dismissed lightly IMHO.

Steve

I ride a Beach Cruiser Bicycle to work. It isn't this brand but similar to;

http://justbicycles.com/bike_details...-Beach-Cruiser

it is about 4 miles to work and I leave early enough that timing is never an issue. As to the ride
itself it is the best part of the day. Sure I'm passed by the MTB types but I have choosen the
relaxation over timing. Occasionally, I hade the evening drive but rarely.
Also, where I live in Dallas it is almost completely flat terrain. But Beach Cruisers
also come in three and seven speeds so that should not be a problem anyway. If
you are like me you will love riding your bike to work.

I use the cruiser on Fridays to commute to work and do a bit of shopping afterwards. But it's a 7-speed and I would suggest getting either an internal hub or cassette/freewheel derailleur setup if you plan on using it for commuting or multiuse/all-around bike. The extra gears come in handy for most terrain, or give you an option if you want to go faster on the flat sections, or give you a choice to which gear you want to stay in. 5.6 miles isn't too bad for a single speed cruiser bike with stock gearing, but it may get tiring afer awhile and you may wish you had more gears. It depends on how well you feel the bike meets your needs on your daily commute.

I commute 10 miles each day on a generic beach cruiser that does exceptionally well, except for the steep climb toward the last intersection on my ride home. That hill sucks and walking it takes too long, but there's no other choice with the bike I use. It's great that you would want to ride a cruiser, but know your limitations and ride smart.

If you don't have a hilly commute, a singlespeed can work really well. And, again, if your commute is pretty flat and doesn't involve too many starts and stops, it doesn't really matter whether your bike is heavier than most.

If you want a bike that allows an aerodynamic riding position without being really uncomfortable...

you will have to change the handlebars or get a new bike.

Not such a huge deal though. No bike is easy to pedal into a headwind, except this.

5.6 miles just isn't that much. Unless it's hilly, no problem.

You won't find a lot about beach cruisers on any one forum here, but there's some information scattered about. I ride a Worksman industrial bicycle, and did 64 miles this morning on it.

There is a guy on the www.Bentrideronline.com forums who told the story of his riding a cruiser. He wanted to get into cycling and got a beach cruiser. It was from a big box store. He didn't want to spend much money on a new bicycle because he didn't know if he would like it. He started riding and liked it. He put 5000 miles on that beach cruiser and then saved up money to buy a recumbent.

It just shows that as long as you have a working bicycle in good shape it can be ridden anywhere. The bicycles in the late 1800s weren't as good as the cheaply made bicycles of today, yet those people rode them everywhere on poor roads.

Keep air in the tires and oil on the chain and you'll do fine.