Walmart Beach Cruiser = Stairway to Heaven

My Favorite Thing: My 29-inch Walmart Beach Cruiser

Since 2012, I’ve found Bliss on a Bicycle with my Genesis Walmart Beach Cruiser

Let me paint a picture for you.

In 2012, I moved to a new state with a wife and a small son.

Three months later I was asking for a divorce.

A short time later, the business I owned imploded.

Divorced in a new state, with a young son, I didn’t know a soul. I went from making tons of money to making no money. I needed something. I felt trapped in a new state. Trapped without access to the places I ‘used to go’, like the places from my childhood. Sound familiar?

I got fed up and went to the bike shop

They were cool, but they wanted to sell me the Lycra Vision and a 5k road rocket.

I wanted to chill. I wanted to ride a bike, not race LeMonde.

I went to all the bike shops. They had cool bikes, but they were mountain bikes, gravel bikes, and spendy touring bikes.

Cool people, good experience, not my vibe.

I tried the comfort bikes. I was over 40 at that point and it felt like a golf cart at a senior home.

Not that rad.

So I what a lot of o us do in this situatioeach cruisern and I went to Walmart.

Disclaimer: This is not an advertisement. The 29-inch black beach cruiser bike is NOT FOR SALE!

Most people DON”T think, “Should I get a rad beach cruiser bike at Walmart?”

But, in truth, my experience with Walmart cruiser bikes has been great.

In 2012 I bought a Genesis beach cruiser from Walmart.

It’s NOW 2021, it’s still My Most Favorite Thing: A Cheap Beach Cruiser

No other thing has given me more joy than my Genesis Onex beach cruiser. *(People are things, I suppose, but are not included) Aside from people, this is my favorite object on earth, but 100%. 1000%.

The bike is an absolute masterpiece. It is not, as far as I know, currently for sale. You may find a used Onex. If you find one, buy it. Or, the frame is very similar to a lot of modern beach cruiser offerings.

The Cruise

Kent beach cruisers sold the bike. They supply bikes to large chains stores like Target.

I have not spoken with anyone at Kent, but they have good reviews and appear to be a US company. The frame was made in Taiwan, like most bikes.

When I bought the bike, it cost $169 dollars at Walmart. At that point in my life, I needed a reason to find some happiness and the price was right.

They didn’t have a car rack that fit the Subbie that day. And it would NOT GO INSIDE the Outback without tools that I didn’t have on me.

Now, this is the point in the story where we stop to clarify something. The Size of this bike.

This is a men’s 29 inch beach cruiser. Which means it has massive, sweeping beach cruiser handlebars.

Beach Cruiser Bicycle Handle Bars are the Best. They remind me of the horns on longhorn cattle or the reins on the back of a chariot. They are massive and glorious.

The 29er, as it’s sometimes called, has galactic, 29-inch wheels. They roll over disasters without a trip to the hospital.

Miss your turn and have to hit a curb at full speed? No problem. The Onex has your back.

The wheels are big, bulbous outriggers on a catamaran. They make languid turns a thing of absolute bliss. They provide stability I have not known on a bicycle.

The 29-inch wheels on this bike, separate it from the rest of the cruiser bicycles in the crowd. In my opinion, the 26-inch beach cruiser is a fun bike, but if I could only have one bike, it would be the Onex or a 29-inch wheel, hands down.

The height of the bike makes for deep and satisfying turns at delightful speeds, like a bird turning circles in the sky.

There may be other beach cruiser bicycles with 29-inch wheels.

I don’t care, to be honest. I have my ‘One True Bike’. I am not looking for others.

Once I got the Genesis Onex 29 beach cruiser home…

I stripped it of all its decals. After all, if you get a bike, make it your own. You can customize it however you like.

I recently took my bike to the shop and had it upgraded, after almost 10 years of riding, with virtually no repairs.

After the world went bonkers in 2020, I started riding over 5 times a week. The bike needed an upgrade!

But it is a testament to the fact that a Walmart bike could easily be worth the price you pay for it.

I paid $169 in 2012. I replaced the tubes and tires as needed, I replaced the coaster brake a year ago (with help from a friend). And I spent A LOT of time on my bike in 2020, almost every day I was able. So that’s almost a decade with almost no maintenance.

Side Note: When I took the bike in for repairs, the bike dudes told me the frames and forks are usually decent on the ‘department store bikes’. It’s the components that wear out, like the bottom bracket and coaster brake. Thus, buying a Walmart beach cruiser can turn out to be great. If you fall in love with a style, you can explore other options from bespoke dealers of beach cruisers or whatever your vibe is!

Where were we…?

Oh yes, when your black beach cruiser comes home from Walmart, or wherever you buy the bike, trick it out.

Add some bike accessories.

There is NO end to how rad you can make your bike. I went the other way, taking everything off the bike, to the point I wear a backpack if I need to bring something.

But the test should be, do I LOVE riding this? And if the answer is yes, move on to step B. which is more rides.

The History of my Walmart beach cruiser starts for me in 2012.

But I am here to tell you, the bike, ANY BIKE is the way to go.

Just go to Walmart or wherever and buy whatever you vibe with. I personally love the 29-inch black beach cruiser bike, but you do you.

If you are like me and needed something to do during these bonkers times, a 29-inch beach cruiser bike from Walmart was a nice relief.

In some ways, it helped me see my life from a different point of view. Allowing me to stop drinking shortly after taking up riding in summer 2018.

How is a 29 inch black beach cruiser bike from Walmart unique?

It’s all in how it rides. To me, it’s ALL about the 29er inch rims on the beach cruiser bike from Walmart.

It’s such a unique approach for a ‘one size fits all’ brand. The 29-inch black beach cruiser bike seems like the offering from the rad shop in Huntington Beach, right?

Also, this should not be understated, it’s not stupid. It’s a rad adult bike. It does not have a 10-foot long front fork or a sidecar. It’s just a simple bike that feels great to ride and looks great going by.

The Nod

Up until recently, I would always look people in the eye when I went by them. Most people (which is mostly lawyer dudes on spendy bikes where I live) don’t look at you at all or grimace at your bike choice.

I smile when I ride my Onex beach cruiser. And some people will see you smiling and smile back. Some, seeing your massive, beach cruiser bike where the closest beach is a two-day car ride… They give you the Nod.

The Nod is an acknowledgement. It is rad recognizing rad.

The Nod is what you get when you ride a genesis 29-inch beach cruiser. I promise. I promise you the Nod. If you can find this bike used somewhere, it will deliver you unlimited joy* and The Nod. (* The unlimited joy thing is up to you, but 100% on The Nod.)

What’s in it for you?

Everything and nothing. The Beach cruiser bike is a mysterious adventure. Here are some things I GOT from riding a black beach cruiser for almost a decade:

• VIBES: People of all walks of life give you mental high fives. Everyone lives the big black beach cruiser. Some children are frightened, but you can’t win em all.
• FRIENDS: People come up to you and want to talk to you about your bike. People who you wouldn’t normally talk to jump into the vibe.
• FITNESS: You can’t roll a big black beach cruiser with 29er rims and be rotund. I tried. Good side benefit.
• PAIN: Lack of pain. When you get fit, you stop hurting all the time.
• JOY: Remember riding bikes when you were a kid? It hasn’t changed. It’s still fun. Go get some joy on a

Mysterious Black Beach Cruiser Bike (from Walmart)

Here’s why some people hate beach cruiser bikes:

• VIBES: They prefer lycra vibes the best. All other vibes will not be considered.
• GEARS: The 29 inch Onex beach cruiser is a single speed bike. You may not switch to an easier gear to go up hill. To those people I say, do you boo. But does it really NEED to be easy to do everything? Jeesh.
• HILLS: “OH MY GAWD, how did you get up that hill on THAT BIKE?” My 29 beach cruiser works like any bike. You pedal it. Strop try to act like someone is assaulting you because “SINGE GEAR….” Don’t ride the 29 beach cruiser, more for me.

How do I know this is real?

I have images of my genesis 29-inch beach cruiser from Walmart that will shock you. They are so astonishingly beautiful because I love the bicycle. It is my favorite thing I own by 1000%. I can’t think of anything I have ever loved as much as the black beach cruiser. I even named the bike.

Why am I doing this?

For now, it would be easy to say that this bike, this 29-inch beach cruiser, totally transformed my life.

I went from disillusioned at my job, unfocused to riding this 29-inch black beach cruiser into my own sunset. To set up this site about the way a big black beach cruiser can set you on a path to self-discovery.

Ride off into the sunset…

I want my son to see this and see that you can take control of outcomes, just by falling in love with something positive. And the vibe. To find your own beach cruiser bike experience. To find your own Cruise. Find your own beach. To find happiness, inside your own life.

Do you have a Genesis Onex black beach cruiser from Kent bicycles that you got at Walmart? Drop us a picture in the comments.

In Cruise We Trust

Brian
Head Student, CBMS