My new-old Huffy Cranbrook daily rider Beach Cruiser

 

2012-ish Huffy Cranbrook 26" Men's Cruiser

Pretty nifty looking Beach Cruiser right? It was originally bought for my son, but he hasn't used it in years. Wanting a new daily rider for myself, I commandeered the bike and spent a few days getting it into shape.

I was originally going to give this bike away, as I am not a fan of post 80s Huffy bikes. I remember Huffy being a solid brand when I was a kid, but am not a fan these days. I will share a few of the things I dislike about the bike in this article, what it took to get it in shape, and upgrades I performed.

The Cranbrook.. pre 'Glow Up'

This bike had been hanging on my garage wall for quite sometime sans handlebars. The reason being, the gooseneck that held the handlebars was absolute garbage. I took it on a ride a few years back, and the handlebars moved back and forth easily in the course of a low impact relaxing ride. I tightened it up as much as I possibly could, yet the handle bars still moved. What's more, the gooseneck got twisted and bent out of shape from tightening it up. 

Needless to say, the gooseneck was the first thing I ordered up for the bike. I simply measured the width of both the fork tube opening and gooseneck stem and ordered one up on Amazon. Most goosenecks are sold with a millimeter measurement, so if you don't have a metric ruler, you can convert the measurement from inches to millimeters here using Google.

 

I like a good amount of handlebar height on my Beach Cruisers, so I made sure to get one with a little extra length to it. The black electroplating finish went nicely with the bikes new color scheme as well.

A quite easy and affordable upgrade was adding new grips. These 'Torpedo Grips' are comfortable and add a great retro look to the bike.

Pro Tip: When installing new grips, spray the handlebar or inside of the grip with hairspray. The grip will slide over the handlebar incredibly easy. After a short time, the hairspray will dry and the grips will hold super tight.

Thank the maker for cheap pinstriping

I've never been one for pinstripes on bikes, so I immediately set my sights on removing all graphics from it. This was not my first rodeo, so I was ready to break out the heat gun to assist me. However, the combination of cheap stickers and 95 degree Florida heat on this day, made them a dream to remove. I didn't even need any solvent or alcohol for cleanup.

The seat was the next item slated for replacement. Even though this bike had less than 50 miles on it, the stock seat was awful and terribly uncomfortable.

I got this seat for around $24.00.
Super comfortable and eye appealing!

I hate these tension seat clamps. I get why they are a great idea for the novice rider, people who share bikes, or someone that simply doesn't like to break out the tools every time they want to raise or lower their seat. In my experience however, many of these set ups are cheaply made, and lose tension over time, letting the seat post slide into the frame's down tube. 

Since the clamp itself is spot welded to the frame, I would have to grind and cut it off. I may replace it with an honest to goodness seat post clamp if the assembly starts failing.

This bike has never been ridden in the mud or rain, and has been garaged its whole life. However, the bearing cups are of such poor quality, they are already rusting.

The welds on this frame are absolutely horrid. Sloppy, with pits and holes. A perfect way for moisture to take hold, and for rust to start attacking the structural integrity from the inside out.

So all in all, while the bike is not one I would depend on for years to come, I'm sure it will suffice for a summer or two and looks pretty sharp to boot. The cranks, rims and frame are not of very good quality, so I will be subtly keeping an eye out for another project bike. If I happen to come across anything good.. I will make sure to share it here with you.