When I think back to the early days of BMX cruisers, one of the first people that comes to mind is Scot “The OM” Breithaupt.
But others played a role too.
Craig Kundig, for one.
Craig helped lead the way towards making 24″ bikes “the standard” for BMX cruisers, replacing the 26″ versions that were more prevalent at the time.
Craig Kundig: part of 24" BMX history
Check out this excerpt from the ABA, when he was a 2004 ABA Hall of Fame nominee:
In a way, all cruiser racers have Craig Kundig to thank for the creation of the class they race. For it was Kundig, as owner of RRS (Riverside Redlands Schwinn), who put one of his fastest amateur team members on a 24 inch bike that quickly put the 26 inch beach-cruisers to bed and created the industry standard of 24 inch wheels on a cruiser. (Of course, it helped when that rider — Joe Claveau, went on to become ABA National No.1 Cruiser rider.) That year was 1981. Around that same time, Craig Kundig was also running the infamous Corona BMX track–still talked about today as THEE gnarliest track in all of BMX.
Craig also had some pretty innovative ideas (for the time) when it came to frame design which he incorporated into his own RRS frames. Just check out this ad:
Today, Craig is still going strong in the bike industry, running the Cyclery USA bike shop.
(Above pic from the Press-Enterprise)
cruiser revolution 
Does anyone remember the pictorial from an old BMXA that had some guy riding a pool on a cruiser? There is a picture of him just about to wreck and the caption says something like “I always loved a good eat” or something.
that bottom bracket design is interesting . . . .
Reminds me of Grumpy Mike’s Cannondale DJ.
Whoa– I totally remember that RRS ad. Flashback!
i sawthat bb design recently on a mountain bike!
That adjustable bottom bracket on the RRS was originally designed by a machinist in Riverside California named Richard Reens. He never got the credit for his innovative design.
[…] in an era when the cruiser class was made up of 26-inchers, the owner of RRS bikes (Craig Kundig) put one of his fast amateur riders (John Claveau) on a 24″ bike. That rider proceeded to […]
[…] Craig Kundig’s decision to put one of his racers on a 24″ instead of the more commonplace 26″ bikes (of the time) truly set a new path for race cruisers. […]
[…] fact, up until Craig Kundig (of RRS bikes) put one of his racers on a 24″, race cruisers were generally 26″ […]
The adjustable bottom bracket of the RRS frame was originally designed by Richard “Dick” Reens out of Riverside, California. It helped the frame be one of if not the lightest bmx frames of i’ts time. Mr. Reens design was ahead of i’ts time.