Many baby boomers have fond memories of growing up in a more leisurely, relaxed, and much less technical environment. They can remember biking to school, locking their bikes in the front yard of the school house, then riding back home with friends after the school day was over. Weekends might include biking to the ball ground or park for a day of fun and simple pleasure that boomers look back upon with so much fondness. In many respects, the bicycles that provided a lot of their transportation are a big part of those memories. Many recall having what were later dubbed "beach bicycles". In many ways, the evolution of the bikes mirrors the lives of the baby boomers.
Most boomers can't help but look back on these earlier times with affection as their days in the working world begin to slow down. Many are looking forward to starting the next phase of their lives while they are still healthy and active. In many ways, the boomers and the bikes are coming full circle.
Bikes were a familiar sight on newspaper routes in towns around the country during this time. There were also versions of the bikes built around animated characters and popular puppets available.
As time went on, boomers began adult life with all of the pressures that come with career building and the strains of standing out among their peers in order to get ahead in whatever professions they had chosen.
The cycling world was also undergoing big changes. Companies developed racing bike and muscle bikes. The racing bikes combined speed with slimmer wheels and a lighter, sleeker design. The muscle bikes took after the popular low slung motorcycles that dotted the roads. In a resemblance to the boomers, the public expected bikes to deliver more speed and to change with the times.
The bikes never completely lost their appeal though. They were coined "beach bicycles" because people who lived on beaches in the nearby areas continued to enjoy the ease and dependability with which they were able to get around on the wide wheels and sturdy structures of the cruisers. Eventually, a collector's market developed for the classic bikes, and as people began to become interested in cycling in mountainous regions, the bikes started to come back into vogue.
These days boomers seem less concerned with speed and more interested in comfort and style. In this way, the return of the beach bicycles to popularity reflects the changing lifestyle of the retiring boomer generation.
