Bike room glut: blame the cruisers!

By final answer ( report abuse )

This (totally rad!) cruiser looks like it has been used once. Will it live to see a second ride?

I see cruiser bikes all over Capitol Hill. The problem is that they're never actually moving. Instead they are locked up (and usually rusting away) or clogging up apartment building bike rooms. Unless your entire life is isolated to a few north-south streets, our hilly 'hood is less-than-ideal for cruising around in a steel tank with limited gearing. So why are there so many cruisers clogging up prime bike parking real estate? Do all of those California transplants drag their beach bikes with them when they move? Or are cruisers one of those impulse buys that "seemed like a good idea at the time"?

p.s. J, just a thought, but how about adding some questions to the census to empirically test this. e.g., "What kind of bike do you own?" and "How often do you ride your bike?"

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tags: bikes + add tags

posted on Fri, Oct 10, 2008 10:54 AM

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Utility First bySirLearnsalot2 months ago

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I have owned a few bikes in my time, and I have done bike commuting in places like Tacoma, Portland and now Seattle. I have to say that I find cruisers and even single speed bikes to be illogical in Seattle.

I suppose I can understand wanting to ride around on a fixed or single speed because at least those put you in an efficient pedaling position, but cruisers are everything dumb about bikes. They reinforce the idea of bikes as toys and not as tools.

	RE: Utility First byms2 months ago	( report abuse )
	I commute every day on a fixed gear track bike (with front brake) which I raced a couple of times this year at the velodrome. I also do occasional road bike rides for larger distances... like 30-100+ mile rides. So I live in both worlds - the urban fixie, pants rolled up, messenger style and the roadie world - lycra'd up and equiped for speed and distance. Bikes are tools, recreation, and a way of life. No need to argue about what style is better than another. I've been out riding in the city with a buddy who can keep up with most people on his heavy beach cruiser - it was parked the same amount as the rest of the bikes in the group. The only tools are the people who stereotype others because of what they ride or look like.

good observation! byjrrrl2 months ago	( report abuse ) ( reply )
i own a cruiser bike because i knew nothing about bikes and thought it looked really cool. you're 100% right -- i only use it to go north-south a mile or less. even riding it west from broadway to 15th ave almost gives me a heart attack. i ride it less than once a week, but i'm glad i have it when i need to go to first hill. i want to swap it for a road bike, but i'm pretty lazy. :(

transplants... byzeebleoop2 months ago

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that would be my argument.

most of the people i know moved here from somewhere else where the bicycle was a form of leisure that was enjoyed on relatively flat streets. move to seattle, bring your bike, try riding it a few times and then realize, wrong bike for the city. so it sits in a bike room or locked to a fence, etc.

or it could be that these cruiser buyers just wanted some form of recreation (a toy) and are not looking to be a spandex clad tour de france wannabe (a tool). i think it's fine to point out that buying a cruiser for the seattle landscape may not be the smartest idea but to say that a bike should be for utility first is a bit narrow-minded. for some people bikes ARE just toys, to be enjoyed now and maybe never again.

Road Bike byAnthony2 months ago	( report abuse ) ( reply )
My bike: new, light road bike, tons of gears, ridden almost exclusively on the flat Burke-Gillman trail. My first Seattle bike was a mountain bike--I moved from the midwest and that's what a bicycle is there.

gosh bywes2 months ago

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Oh my gosh. you guys got the argument all backwards. All those 25 (or whatever) speed bikes ridden by spandex clad tools (you are correct there about the tool) are riding bikes as toys. Meanwhile, cruisers are the utility bike incarnate. A skinny narrow tired no rims no rack no chain guard bicycle is just for recreation. Ya, a cruiser may not work well going up and down big hills, but there are plenty ways to utilize a cruiser while avoiding big hills.

Where, using a bicycle in the utility sense, do you go that you need a $1000+ bike and clad yourself head to toe in neon spandex? Downtown? pfft.

Bike store on 12th byjseattle2 months ago	( report abuse ) ( reply )
I'm agnostic. Need a new bike. Definitely agree with wes that I don't want a tool bike. So, that bike store on 12th? Is that where the locked up abandoned cruisers go to die and be reborn?

Yer Basic bike byAndrew Taylor2 months ago

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I've had my basic REI Novara cross bike for ~ 4 years and and ~ 5,000 miles. Cost ~ $350. Cost about $250 at 2020 Cycle (on Union in CD) for new wheel, cogs, chain - all trashed after 5,000 miles. It takes me easily up and down the hill to Lake Union every workday, and it goes out many weekends for recreational rides on rail-trails or on rural roads. AND it's cheap enough and plain enough that you can take it on errands and park it downtown.

All this without the benefit of lycra, cleats or fancy clothes. Bikes used to be (and can still be) everyday tools for everyday people to get around on.

Get a real fancy one and you'll finish up being a slave to it. Meg and I were out on a ride on the Centennial Trail north of Snohomish. Stopped at the rest area at Machias. I was amazed to see a woman take her fancy bike into the bathroom with her. Meg (who was in there) was even more amazed to see the woman take the bike into the [handicapped] stall with her!

"He who owns little is little owned".

How about a good used bike? bydd2 months ago	( report abuse ) ( reply )
If you are looking for an affordable ride, I would try BikeWorks (www.bikeworks.org). They have a lot of donated bikes that they recycle into the community after they are fixed up by top-notch mechanics. It's a small shop, but they have a warehouse of great rides. They are a non-profit and the shop proceeds benefit their youth programs.