Beach cruisers are experiencing a resurgence in popularity as a bicycle to own because of their comfortable style, upright seating posture, balloon tires, straightforward steel construction and single-speed mechanics – however there are bicycles made with other speeds.  Pack all this up into an expressive style bicycle and you have one of the trendiest bikes on the planet right now.

During the Great Depression, while bike sales were sharply declining, the Schwinn Bicycle Company introduced the first beach cruisers for sale which were mostly purchased by kids and young adults because it was considered a luxury for the purpose of recreation for sports, neither of which adults were participating in because they were out looking for work.

The beach cruisers were popular with paper boys and bicycle couriers because of their big fat balloon tires that were perfect for flat terrain and made their jobs easier; however some of the beach cruiser bicycles weighed in the range of 50 pounds or more. Today’s beach cruisers are much lighter at 30 pounds or less.

Back then if an individual was shopping for a beach cruiser, there was a lot of competition for Schwinn from companies like Monark, Columbia, Shelby, Huffy and Roadmaster.

To make their beach cruiser bikes more appealing to kids, many of these bicycle companies manufactured them to resemble various other forms of transportation like a motorcycle, a Donald Duck bike which included a quacking horn, the Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy bicycles featured a capgun holster and fringed saddlebags. Huffy’s version contained a large integrated AM radio which was also popular with the girls.

Other bicycles being manufactured around the same time were the muscle bicycles with the banana seats and ape-hanger handlebars that are still seen on many motorcycles which were the inspiration for the bicycle handlebars. Plus, several years later, the new BMX bike was born for off-road cycling and tricks, mostly for younger and teenage boys.

Today, beach cruisers are popular with Baby Boomers who enjoy a comfortable bicycle and like the ‘retro-style’ look.  They know that exercise is good for them, however they want to be comfortable and look good doing it.  These aging Americans would rather spend their money on a comfortable bicycle than a mountain bike or racing style bike they may never use.