<p>So I'm looking for a bike and I want a beach cruiser. Is it a bad idea to buy a single speed bike? Should I opt for a six or eight or twelve speed one?</p>
<p>SB is flat. Flat, flat, flat. You just need an inexpensive bike that you can leave out in the rain and that isn't going to tempt someone to steal it.</p>
<p>i remember seeing a post by a UCSB student recommending a road bike vs. one of the heavy kind; you may want to do a search for that post as it would be helpful</p>
<p>Thanks Mike. Yeah, that's pretty much what I am looking for. I've just heard cruisers aren't the way to go so I'm a bit worried.</p>
<p>I went to UCSB, trust me, it doesn't matter what kind you have. The campus and IV are flat as a pancake. I road around on a rusty tin can part of the time and it was fine. I would suggest, however, you don't spend too much money on a bike because the chances of it being stolen are pretty decent. My freshman year, my bike was stolen, returned a week later with balloons tied to it, then stolen again in a mass lot raid from people who drove up in vans, dismantled the bikes, and got away with a fourth of the lot. Not everyone gets their bike stolen, of course, but if it does happen, it'll probably hurt less if it wasn't a fortune.</p>