WHEELS UP // Brooklyn Cruiser Brings a European Edge to the Borough & Beyond

 

It's no secret that we love design, entrepreneurship and--of course--bikes. So we were quite excited to catch wind of Brooklyn Cruiser, a new line of city bikes based right here in our borough.

Founded by Ryan and Thea Patrick, Brooklyn Cruiser was borne out of the couple's hunt for a ride that would provide the best possible two-wheeled commute, taking into account durability, comfort, accessibility and style. When that search didn't yield exactly what they'd been looking for, they decided to strike out on their own, putting together a design that adhered strictly to those core tenets:

"At each step of the design process, if a feature didn’t either make the bike easier to maintain or enhance its style, it was off the table for consideration," Ryan tells us. 

That vision has produced a slick and sturdy set of wheels, including a hardened steel double top tube frame that'll stand up to the tough streets, a 2-speed kickshift hub to keep things simple, along with leather grips and cream-colored tires to make the bike as easy on the eyes as it is to ride.

Ryan and Thea's extensive travels helped give shape to Brooklyn Cruiser's designs, which are modeled after traditional Dutch and European bikes. "We’ve travelled around the world and biked in most of the cities we’ve visited," Ryan says. "From a biking perspective, the infrastructure in Europe far surpasses anything we’ve seen elsewhere in the world—and that’s part of the reason biking is such an intricate part of the European culture. You’ll see mothers riding with their children, commuters heading to work or the market—they basically ride anywhere you’d take a subway or taxi here in New York." They've also pedaled in places like Cape Town and Buenos Aires, taking in those cities' expanding cycling infrastructures.

Ryan tells us that there are additional colors, sizes and stylish additions on the way next spring, and we can't wait to see more. While we've definitely love hard and fast biking, we're just as thrilled about being able to just cruise along and enjoy the ride.

If you're of a similar mind, you can test out a Brooklyn Cruiser at 718 Cyclery in Park Slope or at Smorgasburg on the Williamsburg Waterfront every Saturday.

-- John Ruscher