I was forced to buy Arianna after a homeless person stole my other Huffy (it’s customary in Santa Monica to blame virtually everything on the homeless). But I went to a few bike shops and all the cruisers cost between $300 and $1,000. Arianna has held up remarkably over the years, especially considering the abuse I have subjected her to. She has been left for days in the rain, sleet and snow in both California and Aspen. She has been vandalized by homeless people and has taken a few spills on late-night rides home from the bars.
It was still a pleasant ride, though, especially considering how the serious road bikers stared as they passed me on their expensive bikes in their ridiculous clothes. The lower center of gravity also allows for better leg extension when pedaling. You will reduce the chance of wrist, neck, and arm pain with the raised handlebars on this cruiser bike.
Their younger siblings have begun building their own custom “lowrider bikes”. Lowrider bicycles are usually built on old Schwinn Sting-Ray or other “muscle bike” frames, but the entire lowrider look of “old school” accessories such as springer forks and bullet headlights is in the cruiser tradition. Several manufacturers offer “chopper” style bikes in their cruiser range.
Kind of like the reverse of Bill Belichick’s scientific explanation for Deflategate, if you will. Indeed, on the steepest downhill stretches, I crouched as low as possible to futilely try to eek out the maximum amount huffy nighthawk of speed from the Huffster. Strava later revealed that the maximum velocity attained was a mere 35.8 mph, or less than what Peter Sagan would casually crank up to in a flat sprint finish in the Tour de France.
Indeed, there seemed to be plenty of blue sky ahead and to the south. “Hey,” I asked the cashier at the Shell station, “is there a bike shop in town? ” The hope was I might be able to pick up another tube before heading back to Fort Collins. It seems, however, that the sun-baked asphalt and 95-degree temperatures in Walden were enough to increase the tire pressure just enough to cause the tire explosion.