Coupled with fat balloon tyres that promise a plush ride and you have a bike that’s made for cruising on the beach, she added. In fact, cruisers are also known as beach cruisers in the US.
Regardless of vintage, cruisers in general, are heavier than the other bikes such as road bikes. “Even the newer ones made of aluminium can weigh about 10kg to 15kg,” she said.
Not that Tan minded. “Hitching a bike onto my car rack is my version of going to the gym,” she said of the times she’d to drive one of her bikes (she picks them on a rotational basis) to East Coast Park for a leisurely weekend ride to Marina Bay.
VISITING BIKE DISNEYLAND
So passionate is Tan that she drove four hours each way from Tennessee to Cleveland – and even crossed a time zone – to attend her first-ever swap-meet known as the Get-A-Grip Bike Show.
“I’ve always read online about people going to swap-meets, buying bikes, shopping parts and all that. So, when I was in the US for a work trip two years ago, I decided, okay, I am going to attend one.”
It was well worth the solo drive. “It was like visiting Bike Disneyland, the happiest place on earth for bike enthusiasts like myself,” she recalled. “From colourful banana seats to antique bike lamps, bells, tires, grips and pedals, there was a piece of something for every treasure-hunter seeking a prized find.”
One of her favourite memories about the swap-meet was seeing a bike that was dedicated to a collector’s mother who had just passed on. “It was an expression of his love for his mother. It also won the top price in the competition for customised bikes.”
Tan couldn’t cart any bike home but “it was truly one of the most memorable moments of my US trip”.
