Getting a Good Deal on a Beach Cruiser

The beach cruiser scene has been heating up recently, with more brands and brighter colors hitting the market. Cruisers provide a very comfortable ride while also being affordably priced. Basic Beach Cruiser bikes are available for under $90, plus shipping, on the Internet. It can be a lot of fun to buy these, and then assemble them the way that you want to, if you have the mechanical ability. All the really tough parts, like the gears are assembled already. Try different types of fenders, from Chrome, to different colors. You can have standard handlebars, or even get chopper style straight handlebars. A plain old beach cruiser bike is good too. I find this to be a great way to go to stores to buy small purchases up to about 1 ½ miles away. I personally don’t like a metal front basket, I think it is not that cute for a guy to have, so I put my purchases in a backpack. Saving gas by avoiding using your car can save you some real money too.

Probably, the best deal is if your neighbor or someone down the block is selling one in a yard sale. Then you are all set to get one for under $30. Beware that once these bikes, like any bike, become rusty, they have to be lubricated. And that means not only the chain and the brakes, but the inner lubrication of the pedals and even things like the handlebars, which just proves the old adage that it is hard to get something for nothing. The key thing to avoid is going into a pro-bike shop and getting some fancy mountain bike or speed racing bike for $500, when you know you are out of shape, and not going more than a couple of miles from your house. It’s a lot cheaper to have the mechanics in a shop assemble your beach cruiser, and making sure that it is safe. You are going to have to get acquainted with your local bike shop if you do any serious kind of biking, if you put on a good amount of miles a week. You are better off saving them for putting optional features on your bike and for help with routine maintenance. Options can run anywhere from electric night lights to rear-view mirrors, to wider fenders that have enough surface to paint some angels or devils on. Decorate the body of the bike with Design labels And a bell or horn can be useful, especially if you have been sneaking on the sidewalk, and you want those pedestrians up ahead to get out of the way.

Be aware that if you are doing any sort of speed biking you must wear a helmet, which is not that much fun. You can wear a helmet with a beach cruiser too, but I think it is optional. Don’t worry too much is your beach cruiser bike has 7-speeds or no speeds, because even in the hilly country of the North Bronx, NY, at the speeds I am going, it doesn’t make that much of a difference. And whether you have multi-speeds or not, you better have a pretty strong pair of legs to get up a big hill, otherwise, either way you are going to end up walking up it.

Howard Giske writes about Beach Cruisers and decorating them with Design labels