10 Essential Tips to Consider Before Purchasing a Beach ...

3. If you're going to encounter hills, consider upgrading your gearing options.

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Beach cruisers, as their name implies, were first billed as bikes that you take over very flat, packed surfaces, namely the beach. Beaches and the neighborhoods immediately surrounding them can almost always be characterized as flat. Thus, traditionally, beach cruisers have been designed as single-speed bikes as it keeps the frame design and overall care and maintenance simple while still ensuring the bike fulfills its purpose.

Single-speed bikes are those bikes that only have one gearing option. This means there is a chainring in the front where you pedal, and that chainring connects via chain with one freewheel sprocket that turns the back wheel. Single-speed bikes are simple but effective and, generally, are all one needs in flat or mostly-flat terrains. You pedal and your bike goes.

If, however, you plan on taking your beach cruiser to hillier locations, or if you want to go faster than just one speed, then consider buying a beach cruiser with more gearing options. Even a cruiser with just three sprockets, or three gearing options, in the rear can offer a cyclist a nice array of options to tackle different road and path gradients and conditions.

4. Know that when it comes to beach cruisers, comfortable design is at the forefront.

Even if you do opt to get a beach cruiser with more than one gearing, it is important to emphasize that beach cruisers as a style of bike are designed more as comfort-riding bikes and not performance-styled bikes. So, before you go too much further down this list of things to know about buying a beach cruiser bike, we ought to emphasize that this probably isn't the bike for you if you're looking for a sportier biking experience.

Now, that's not to say you can't go fast on a beach cruiser. Certainly, electric beach cruisers specifically will be able to take cyclists at speeds rivaling a standard road cyclist powering down the bike path. However, beach cruisers feature a frame that is designed foremost to offer comfort. When on it, you'll find that you sit upright, with your arms at barely a bend and your knees pedaling just before you. This is a rising position that won't afford you a lot of power when trying to push up hills or race down a street. Similarly, it would be dangerous to take this style of bike on a downhill mountain path. Yet, it is a fantastic choice for those who want to enjoy an easy ride around the neighborhood.

5. Make sure you're comfortable with the braking options before buying a specific beach cruiser bike.

The style of brakes on traditional beach cruisers also harkens back to that initial design purpose of being a simple, easy neighborhood bike. Most beach cruisers were and continue to be built with coaster brakes, but you can also find models that feature beefier braking systems and ones that offer both.

First, let's get to the important things to know about coaster brakes. Coaster brakes are the style of brakes that stop the rear wheel when the rider applies backward pressure on the pedals. This type of brake is found on most kids' bikes as well as most cruiser bikes because they are simple, low maintenance, and very intuitive to use -- when you want to stop, you stop pedaling and press backward. They work just fine in flat terrain and very well at low speeds. So, if you are looking to purchase a standard beach cruiser for some campground, beach, or similar biking experiences, then keeping just the standard cruiser brakes is a great option!

However, if you are considering an electric beach cruiser bike, a multi-geared beach cruiser bike, or are otherwise planning on taking it in hillier terrains, then we recommend looking for a model with a better braking system. Because while cruiser brakes are effective at low speeds and in flat terrain, if you try to slam backward and brake when going at high speeds or down a hill, the momentum risks you skidding out in a dangerous fashion. So, for these cases, we recommend looking for a beach cruiser model that either pairs the coaster brake with a front v-brake or disc brake, or one that completely swaps the coaster brake for a full set of v-brakes or disc brakes.

Disc brakes are considered the safest style of brakes, with hydraulic disc brakes being the absolute best in bike braking technology. The trade-off here, though, is weight. Both of these brakes are beefy options that will overall weigh your bike down and may take away too much from the maneuverability benefits of beach cruisers for you. They are also more expensive and will require more routine maintenance.

Why is the water cycle important? Well, covering 70% of the planet, water is the basis of life on earth. It is an important factor of growth, health, and many day to day activities. Think of all the ways you use water every single day. In order for water to perform those important functions, it needs to be replenished, purified, and circulated again and again.

The Water Cycle Steps Explained:

The simplest way to describe the water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, is the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth. It involves the exchange of heat energy, which leads to changes in temperature and moisture levels in the atmosphere, oceans, and land. The water cycle is driven by solar energy and involves several stages including evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, and runoff. These stages are connected, and water can move from one stage to the next, eventually returning to oceans and other bodies of water where the cycle starts again.

The water cycle has many effects including the regulation of temperature and weather, circulating important minerals, and creating various geographical features.

The labeled water cycle diagram below illustrates some of those main functions in the water cycle.

Water Cycle

The 7 Stages of the Water Cycle:

Let&#;s dive a little deeper into the water cycle steps and how they work.

Step 1: Evaporation

The first of the water cycle steps begins with evaporation. It is a process where water at the surface turns into water vapors. Water absorbs heat energy from the sun and turns into vapors. Water bodies like oceans, seas, lakes and rivers are the main source of evaporation. Through evaporation, water moves from hydrosphere to atmosphere. As water evaporates it reduces the temperature of those water bodies.

Step 2: condensation

As water vaporizes into water vapor, it rises up in the atmosphere. At high altitudes the water vapor changes into very tiny particles of ice /water droplets because of low temperature. This process is called condensation. These particles come close together and form clouds and fogs in the sky.

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Step 3: Sublimation

Apart from evaporation, sublimation also contributes to water vapors in the air. Sublimation is a process where ice directly converts into water vapors without converting into liquid water. This phenomenon accelerates when the temperature is low or pressure is high. The main sources of water from sublimation are the ice sheets of the North Pole and the South Pole and the ice caps on the mountains. Sublimation is a rather slower process than evaporation.

Step 4: Precipitation

The clouds (condensed water vapors) then pour down as precipitation due to wind or temperature change. This occurs because the water droplets combine to make bigger droplets, so when the air cannot hold any more water, it precipitates. At high altitudes the temperature is low and hence the droplets lose their heat energy. These water droplets fall down as rain. If the temperature is very low (below 0 degrees), then the water droplets would fall as snow. In addition, water could also precipice in the form of drizzle, sleet and hail. Hence water enters lithosphere by landing upon the earth.

Step 5: Transpiration

As water precipitates, some of it is absorbed by the soil. This water enters into the process of transpiration. Transpiration is a process similar to evaporation where liquid water is turned into water vapor by the plants. The roots of the plants absorb the water and push it toward leaves where it is used for photosynthesis. The extra water is moved out of leaves through stomata (very tiny openings on leaves) as water vapor. Thus water enters the biosphere (plants and animals) and exits into a gaseous phase.

Step 6: Runoff

As the water pours down (in whatever form), it leads to runoff. Runoff is the process where water runs over the surface of earth. When the snow melts into water it also leads to runoff. As water runs over the ground it displaces the top soil with it and moves the minerals along with the stream. This runoff combines to form channels, rivers and ends up into lakes, seas and oceans. Here the water enters the hydrosphere.

Step 7: Infiltration

Any water that doesn't run directly to bodies of water or get quickly evaporated, will be absorbed by plants and soil, where it may be driven deeper to the earth. This is called infiltration. The water seeps down and increases the level of the ground water table. Underground water tables typically provide pure clean water that is safe to drink. The infiltration is measured as inches of water-soaked by the soil per hour.

What Is Our Role?

As benefactors of the water cycle, we sometimes interfere with or take advantage of the process in order to reach our own goals. Whether it be for better or for worse, we humans alter the water cycle through activities such as:

Deforestation: Trees help regulate the water cycle by transpiring water vapor into the atmosphere and slowing down runoff. Deforestation reduces these natural processes and increases runoff and evaporation.

Urbanization: Urbanization changes the land cover and increases the amount of impermeable surfaces like asphalt and concrete, reducing the amount of water that infiltrates into the ground and increasing runoff.

Agricultural practices: Irrigation, for example, moves water from one location to another and changes the amount and timing of water available for plants and animals.

Water withdrawals: Withdrawing water from rivers, lakes, and aquifers for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use, reduces the amount of water available for other parts of the water cycle, and affects the ecosystems in the environments from which we collect water.

Climate change: Human activities like burning fossil fuels and deforestation contribute to climate change, which can alter the water cycle by changing precipitation patterns, temperatures, and evaporation rates.

How Does Water Filtration Fit In?

Water filtration is an important part of the water cycle as it helps to clean and purify water that has been contaminated by pollutants and other impurities. As water moves through the water cycle, it can pick up pollutants from sources such as agricultural runoff, industrial waste, and sewage.

Filtration systems are used to remove these impurities and make the water safe for consumption and other uses. For example, many cities use filtration plants to purify water from rivers and lakes before distributing it to homes and businesses. The filtration process typically involves several steps, including coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration through activated carbon or other materials. By removing pollutants from water, filtration helps to protect public health and the environment.

In this sense, water filtration is an important part of the water cycle as it helps to maintain the quality of water and ensures that it remains available for all of its many uses. By preserving the quality of water as it moves through the cycle, filtration helps to maintain the delicate balance of the Earth's ecosystems and ensure the availability of fresh water for future generations.

See how the water cycle can affect your health

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