Benno Ballooner

Benno Ballooner Men's and Women's 8. Courtesy: Clever Cycles

The Benno Ballooner is available with an 8-speed derailer or internal hub and comes with fenders and disc brakes. Clever Cycles in Portland, Oregon has it for $1,000. You can also find Benno bikes at Conte's in Washington, D.C. and Virginia.

Benno Baenziger co-founded Electra in 1993 (along with Jeano Erforth), which produced cruisers at a time when very few cruisers were available on the market.  In 2014, Electra was bought by Trek.  It's now apparent that Baenziger was not finished designing useful bikes for the rest of us.

The Ballooner, of course, gets its name due to its wide tires (26 x 2.35). Baenziger writes: "Personally, I am not a big fan of skinny tires. I believe that bigger tires provide for a better and more controlled ride."

You can read more about Benno bikes on the Clever Cycles Blog.

Benno offers the Ballooner in both derailer and internal hub versions. Here are the specs for the IGH version:

Frame	6061 Aluminum Alloy Frame
Fork	CRMO Fork with Investment Cast Lug Crown
Rims/wheels	Double Wall Aluminum Rims
Tires	26”x 2.35” Balloon Tires (60 TPI)
Crankset	Retro Aluminum Crankset
Rear derailleur	Shimano Alfine Internal 8-Speed
Brakes	Shimano Hydraulic Disc Brakes
Pedals	Retro Aluminum