Balloon tire or cruiser

[Hukah]

Just when I think I'm getting a hold on this stuff something new comes along that I thought i had settled out already.
I recently seen a conversation that was making the distinction between a cruiser and a balloon tire bicycle.
I was of the impression that they were one in the same(?)
What gives?

 

[GTs58]

The word cruiser is a none discript name that could mean just about any bike that was ever made other than a racer or road bike. Beach Cruiser is another popular name that doesn't mean squat too. Schwinn did name one of their "beach cruisers" a Cruiser though, and it was a stripped down balloon tire bike.

 

[Freqman1]

I wouldn't get hung up on this--just ride! V/r Shawn

 

[barneyguey]

A

I wouldn't get hung up on this--just ride! V/r Shawn

Amen!

 

[mrg]

I would think all Cruiser's are balloon tire!

 

[tacochris]

Honestly “cruiser” and “beach cruiser” are usually words that clue me in on how little someone knows about old bikes and usually means they would’nt know the difference between a 39 or a 69.
These are usually the same people who think anything with a cantilever frame is a schwinn and worth 2000 bucks.

 

[Superman1984]

Honestly “cruiser” and “beach cruiser” are usually words that clue me in on how little someone knows about old bikes and usually means they would’nt know the difference between a 39 or a 69.
These are usually the same people who think anything with a cantilever frame is a schwinn and worth 2000 bucks.

You mean my '65 Cantilever isn't a Schwinn & not a $2,000 bicycle? The Taiwan cantilever isn't a $2,000 Schwinn either? Lmfao guess the Murray rear "dropouts" & the Taiwan "Huffy" didn't drive up the values as much as I'd hoped. Lmfao.

 

[Superman1984]

Just when I think I'm getting a hold on this stuff something new comes along that I thought i had settled out already.
I recently seen a conversation that was making the distinction between a cruiser and a balloon tire bicycle.
I was of the impression that they were one in the same(?)
What gives?

If it doesn't come factory wearing 24 or 26"x2.125"+ it's Not a Balloon tire bike. You can make a Fat tire bike out of anything but my opinion is like this; jus'cause you stuff 10 lbs of crap into a 5 lb bag doesn't make it special & worth so much more for your efforts.

 

[bloo]

Don't get too hung up on it.

Beach cruisers emerged in the mid to late 70s and were mostly stripped down balloon (*x2.125) tire bikes. There were also some factory built ones, some of which looked more like BMX frames, still balloon tired at that time. "Cruiser" sort of evolved to include all those, plus balloon tired bikes that still had fenders and/or other equipment.

I don't think there's a difference between "cruiser" and "balloon tired" other than perhaps middleweights tend to get lumped in with "cruiser" these days and they generally didn't back then. Also "balloon tired" is the term from the time when these bikes were ubiquitous in the USA. The term "cruiser" emerged much later.

You also see things like English 3 speeds, mixtes, and other random lightweights getting called cruisers on craigslist, ebay, etc. Nope.

If someone is talking about balloon tired bikes, it is more likely to mean the 1933-1965 originals with *x2.125 tires that we have a forum section for. It wouldn't have to mean that though. You can go down to Walmart right now with $150 and ride home on a balloon tired bike. Whether it is any good or not is a separate issue.

 

[Archie Sturmer]

Wikipedia has an article about “cruiser bicycle” (a rap/rapper song).
I believe that some BXM kids, born in the 1970’s or so, thought that cruiser referred to an oversized 24” wheeled BXM bike, perhaps for the bigger kids.
One might even find a bicycle ad from the 19th century (1800’s) that used the noun to describe their product(?).
If a cruiser might be any bike, can we just call them Frigate Schwinns(?); and then what are the Destroyers — people who part-out bikes?