A cruiser bicycle, also known as a beach cruiser, is a bicycle which combines balloon tires, an upright seating posture, a single-speed drivetrain, and straightforward steel construction with expressive styling. The bikes, noted for their durability and heavy weight, were the most popular bicycle in the United States from the early 1930s through the 1950s,[1] and have enjoyed renewed popularity since the late 1990s.[2] Development Schwinn developed the cruiser at a time when U.S. bicycle sales had declined sharply due to the Great Depression; adults purchased few bicycles, which were seen as luxury products intended largely for sport or recreation. In response, Schwinn conceived a sturdier, affordable bicycle designed for the more resilient youth market—originally marketing the Schwinn B-10E Motorbike—which resembled a motorcycle but carried no motor—in 1933. Schwinn adapted features from the Henderson and Excelsior motorcycles his company had built during the 1920s, including a heavy "cantilevered" frame with two top tubes and 2.125-inch-wide (54.0 mm) "balloon" tires from Germany. The resulting bicycle could endure abuse that could damage other bicycles. Within two years, other bicycle manufacturers in the USA introduced competing balloon-tire bikes.[3] In 1934, Schwinn successfully re-styled the B-10E, renaming it the Aero Cycle. While the Aero Cycle featured no technical improvements over the original B-10E, its streamlined frame, faux gas tank, and battery-powered headlight came to define the cruiser 'look'.[4] Modern cruiser bicycles retain these design elements.[5] [edit]1950s heyday Cruisers were popular throughout the 1930s and 40s and gained greater postwar success. Their combination of substantial weight (some models weighing over 50 pounds), single speed mechanicals, and wide tires made the bicycles primarily suited to flat terrain. They were popular with paperboys and bicycle couriers.[6] Competing firms including Ro dmaster, Columbia, Shelby, Monark, and Huffy used styling features and distinctive models to attract buyers—including a Donald Duck bike with quacking horn, "cowboy" models named after Gene Autry or Hopalong Cassidy, and details such as fringed saddlebags, capgun holsters,[7] springer fork suspensions, motorcycle-style horn tanks, and extensive chrome plating. The Huffy Radio Bicycle featured an AM radio built into the oversized top tube.[8][9] [edit]Decline of the cruiser During the late 1950s and early 1960s, bicycles imported from Great Britain and Continental Europe became popular, especially lighter and more nimble sports roadster models or "English racer". These models featured three-speed gearing, taller wheels, narrower tires and lighter weight (35–40 pounds)[10] and greater hill-climbing ability. By the late 1950s, U.S. manufacturers such as Schwinn began producing their own version of the English racer.[11] The cruiser also ceded market share to muscle and lowrider bikes featuring banana seats, oversized shift levers, and ape-hanger bars inspired by West coast motorcycle customizers—which in turn gave birth to the modern BMX bike, while the cruiser went into a steep sales decline. By 1972, a new wave of lightweight derailleur-equipped bicycles led a wave of new consumer interest in recreational bicycling, resulting in the bike boom. Derailleur-equipped sport bikes or ten speeds inspired by European racing bicycles soon dominated the adult market. While largely obsolete by the late 1960s, the cruiser remained popular for utility and recreational use at the beach, where they soon earned the title of "beach cruisers".[12] The term "beach cruiser" started in 1976 at Recycled Cycles in Newport Beach when Larry McNeely coined the phrase and used it as their Trade Mark for the production of the modern Beach Cruiser. Secondhand cruisers found new life on America's coastlines as practical transportation for beach bums and surfers.