Invasion of the Snow Cruisers
Much like stoned dirtbag lift-ticket-moochers, the cruiser bike is synonymous with ski-town living. Simple bikes with fat tires, coaster brakes, fenders, and baskets--and often ski-racks!. These bikes are the staple low-impact transport from home to grocery to trail head to bar (where they also take an iconic place above the inventory).

Crested Butte is blessed with a nordic ski center that practically starts down town, and a well-designed bus system that will take you from your doorstep to the lifts. The streets were full of ski-toting people biking and walking to the bus stop to get to the slopes.

The evolution one-speed cruiser to modern mountain bike is present in all its forms in this mecca of fat-tired transport. Stock 1960s Chicago Schwinns rub wheels with modified cruiser proto-MTBs; top-of-the-line mountain bikes from one or two decades ago serve the same purpose as the garage-sale cruiser--carrying you where you need to go with fat-tire stability and a touch of style, regardless of weather, temperature, snow level, or sobriety.

Text & photos by Tarik Saleh, February, 2008.