Department Store Bikes, California Style
by Steve ~ February 25th, 2008. Filed under: From the Web.
You thought the Bike of Doom was cheap? Check out the beach cruisers at cruiserstyle.com - bikes from XYZ Bikes and Greenline Bikes starting at $88 and going up to $210. I’ve included these pics because, hey, when am I ever going to be able to show sand and surf on this site other than in this post?
$88 for a new bike? Regular prices for the bikes are in the range of $125 to $200, depending on the style, but the Specials page lists a number of items below $100; The Bike of Doom was $99 Canadian, which makes these bikes kissing cousins. They are, essentially, department store bikes. Most are single speed, which is a good thing… you don’t want to be dealing with complex gearing on a bike that costs less than $100. A couple of the latest releases seem to have Shimano 7-speed internal gearing, and still fall below the $150 mark.
CruiserStyle.com does have a store, but they are set up to sell bikes online. Ordering a bike over the web seems a bit tricky to me, but I’ve seen it done. Mike and I met a guy last year who was riding a Cadillac road bike purchased from Costco. He paid $800 for his. I’d be a little less concerned about spending $88. It might be worth it to see what you get.
CruiserStyle.Com’s fine print mentions that the bikes come 80% assembled when shipped by parcel or FedEx, and they recommend a professional put them together, or they’ll put the bike together if you’re picking it up from their showroom. ( 2972 Columbia St., Torrance, CA ) If I lived in sunny California, I’d be there. These bikes are not meant for hard riding, just for rec rides on smooth surfaces, I’d say, but with a basket I think they’d be a great errand bike to keep around the house.
Do you think CruiserStyle would be willing to ship me one of these babies so that I could do a full Bike of Doom test-ride and review? I’d be happy to comply!
If you don’t have $88 to spare on a bike, you can still spend 5 minutes to check out their website at www.cruiserstyle.com.
Related: Warren at Commute by Bike actually rides one of these bikes, and gives a nice review on that site. He uses it for winter riding!
Related posts:
Department Store Bikes and Department Store Telescopes
Sheldon Brown on department store bikes
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Hello from Ottawa,
I bought one of those beach bikes from California.
Purchase price $75
Tax, transport, exchange etc. another $114.
Thus is cost more than the Cdn tyre job but with my dislocated shoulder a more upright riding position.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Cool. What’s it like to ride? Do you have any pictures of the one you bought?