16 January 2012

Cruising

Copenhagen Bikehaven by Mellbin 2011 - 0214
Priceless Pink Power machine coming up! With their over sized wide handle bars, broad wheels and laid back riding style cruisers definitely look cool.

And those who ride them seem to like standing out of the crowd
Copenhagen Bikehaven by Mellbin 2005 - 3204

Still, cruisers are fairly rare here in Copenhagen. A main reason is that cruisers tend to stand up poorly to the harsh northern weather - leaving owners to combat rust if they want a clean machine.
Copenhagen Bikehaven by Mellbin 2011 - 0923

On the other hand cruisers are fairly simple machines. Few have any gears. They are the embodiment of slow biking.
Copenhagen Bikehaven by Mellbin 2012 - 3186

Just cruising along. See ya...
Copenhagen Bikehaven by Mellbin 2011 - 0627

Happy cycling!

4 comments:

kfg said...

How does a cruiser know it's a cruiser and therefore should be more prone to rusting than any other sort of bike?

Franz-Michael S. Mellbin said...

The bike dosn't know - but cruisers are mostly made by manufactures who's main customers do not face the harsh weather we have in Denmark where even cars corrode. Thus the impressive Red Schwinn bike (pic #2) is simply not built to last in our climate the way a Danish manufactured bicycle is. In sunny California its a different story.

kfg said...

Cruisers for sunny California originally came from cold and snowy Chicago, Dayton Ohio and Little Falls NY; The Rust Belt, where cars corrode before your eyes and people drive SAABs while dreaming of the pleasant Danish winters. The bikes were made for it. The one I have parked out in the yard is 50 years old.

The main customers are still there, although few ride them in winter and the bikes now come from Taiwan and China; just like many Danish bikes. For decades before a rental shop in Venice California started calling them "Beach Cruisers" all across America they were known as "Bicycles."

But a Dane should know that anything near a salt water beach is gonna rust if it can. Faster if it's sunny. Before your eyes if you let the water actually touch it.

They rust in sunny California.

They don't rust because they're cruisers. They don't rust because they're in Denmark. They don't even rust because they come from China.

They rust because they're cheap ass.

Je Suis - said...

Beautiful photos!