AngelCruisers was started in 2009 in Dublin Ireland, out of necessity for comfortable, affordable and practical bicycle.

When I first started cycling in Ireland I hated my bike, for being uncomfortable and unpractical.

I was fed up with getting wet and dirty every time it started raining because the flimsy plastic mudguards did very little and eventually just fell off the bike altogether, or when the bike literally chewed up my trousers like a angry dog.

The bike I had did not have rear carrier or any means to carry my stuff it did not have a stand, lights or even a bell so it was dangerous to use.

I was familiar with American beach cruiser bicycles, with their comfortable seat, large handlebars and sitting position, so in my pursuit for the perfect bicycle I started there. While it was good starting point the American cruiser solve only half of the problem for me, the comfort and safety part, the second thing I wanted from my bike was practicality. I wanted bike that can carry my shopping, I wanted the bike to be easier to cycle than the beach cruiser with its small wheels and unnecessary thick tires.

It didn’t take long and my research let me to discover Dutch bicycles and at first glance the bike had everything…but you don’t usually find everything out at the first glance I will get to this later.

So I flew to Nederland, met with Popal Bicycle Company, secured distribution rights for Ireland  and started selling their bicycles. It is bit surreal when I realise that this was almost 12 years ago. In coming years both companies grew and changed and we have always stayed friends with the Popal family visiting them almost every year and discussing future of both our companies.

After some time, it became obvious that main market for Popal will always be Nederland and in the first place they have to cater to their own customers, their visions and preferences. Since Ireland is very different from Holland and Average Irish is really different from a Dutch their needs and likes also differ and our market is Ireland and we wanted to have perfect product for Ireland and for Irish customer. That led to search for new partner and in 2014 we did find relatively young and very flexible company, in my home country of Czechoslovakia, that could and would listen to our needs and help us purposefully design and build the perfect bicycles for Ireland, bicycles that would have the comfortable upright sitting position, the great big wheels found on classic Dutch Cruisers, that let you go further and faster, with less effort, proper mudguards, lights bell and stand and also be very low maintenance but they would also be many of the things the big and bulky classic Dutch cruisers are not. They would be light and nimble, with the correct frame sizes that would cater for all Irish riders not only those over 5’7” like it was with the classic dutch bikes, the bike would not rust even when left outside in the Irish weather, it would have waterproof lights and puncture resistant tires so you can get to your work on Monday even thou you pass through Temple Bar and we all know how it shimmers with broken glass after the weekend.

And I believe we have accomplished that  The Swing Deluxe and The Swing Prestige sold under the AngelCruisers brand are the culmination of many years of experience, customer feedback and cooperation with the Dutch company Popal. So go my friend and reap the benefits of what we achieved together, we build the perfect bike for Ireland.

 

Milan Hosek

Founder Of AngelCruisers