Also known as cruiser bicycles, beach cruiser bikes are cool rides. These single-speed bikes have balloon tyres and steel body.  Their seating are in such a way that the rider sits with upright posture, making you ride in a comfortable and expressive style. Cruiser bikes have gained popularity since the heydays due to their strength, style, comfort and affordability.

Cruiser bikes have undergone a long series of development since their inception way back in 1930s. The earliest cruiser bike was made by Schwinn at a time when bicycles were not doing well in the market. This was due to the perception that most Americans had; that bicycles were products of luxury, recreation or sports. So when Schwinn developed the Schwinn B-10 Motorbike, a cruiser bike which largely resembled a motorbike, they were readily received especially by the largely resilient youth market.

Schwinn B-10 Motorbike

Schwinn B-10 Motorbike had features similar to Excelsor and Henderson motorbikes which the company had developed earlier in the 1920s. It also included two top tubes inside 2 Inches tyres made from Germany and a strong canti-levered frame. The result was a heavy and modish cruiser bike that could take on other bicycles by head. The inception of the Schwinn B-10 Motorbike saw other bike manufacturers in the United States introduce bikes with balloon tyres. This made the industry very competitive. As a result, Schwinn had to remodel the Schwinn B-10 Motorbike so as to remain ahead of the game.

In 1934, Schwinn B-10 Motorbike was restyled and became the current renowned Aero Cycle. Although today’s Aero Cycle bike has no much design difference from the early one, the 1930s featured a streamlined frame, a headlight which was powered by a battery and a faux gas tank. In fact, this Aero Cycle was the original definition of a beach cruiser bike as far as design and style is concerned.

Cruiser bikes development

Cruiser bike popularity remained steady all through 1930s to 40s. This was mainly due to their strength, stable and wide tyres as well as the single speed mechanical technology which made it suitable for rough terrains. With time, other competing manufacturers like the Monark, the Huffy, the Columbia and the Roadmaster came up with distinct makes with stylish features. For instance, Donald Duck came up with a cruiser bike that featured fringed saddlebags, Springer fork suspensions, capgun holsters, extensive plating made of chrome and some horn tanks similar to motorcycles. The huffy came up with the 1950s popular radio bike which had a huge AM radio mounted.

Cruiser bikes from Europe

During 1950s and 60s, the US market was invaded by more agile bikes imported from Britain and other European countries. The bikes were lighter with three-speed gears, narrow tyres compared to the American models and taller wheels as well. Due to their gears, the English racers had greater ability in climbing hills. US manufacturers had to switch their gears and adopt some features that came with English Racers. This is the only way they could defend their market. For that reason, Muscle Bikes and the West Coast Motorcycles came up with new cruisers which featured over-sized shift levers, “banana” seats, and less heavy frame. This gave birth to the modern BMX.

Modern Cruiser Bikes

1970s led the popularity of light-weight bikes which were equipped with derailleur as more consumers were interested in bikes made for recreational biking. This was the era when the term “beach cruiser” had the greatest meaning. It was a fad to own a beach bike cruiser mainly due to its style, comfort and affordability.

New bike manufacturers stirred the industry with Schwinn, Roadmaster, and Columbia among others coming up with successive productions of bikes that were faster, stylish and powerful. Some of the new models included the Johnny Loco Bicycles, Electra Bicycle Company, Shine Bicycles, Phat Cycles, Sixth-Three-Zero, Nirve, Kustom Cruiser and the Aero-fast.

Today, most of the bicycle manufacturers will at least have one beach cruiser model. The sales continue to rise with some clubs coming up to sponsor beach cruise sports as a means of promoting the fun facet of bike cruising. The evolvement of the beach cruiser bicycles has inspired a cross-section of motorcycle manufacturers. This has seen the emergence of motorcycles with features that are similar to motorbikes. Most of these motorbikes feature low-leveled frame, wide tyres, suspension forks and seat-posts, fenders and large paddles fitted with large springs.

Beach cruiser fanatics can customize their rides with additional accessories which are not available during purchase. You can also choose different color spray with your favorite prints, graffiti or anything else you can think of just make it stand out from the rest. It can also be enhanced with some gadgets to achieve a faster speed. However, all this comes at some extra bucks.