sixthreezero Women's Around the Block vs Reach Your Destination Bike | Comparing Bike Models

Hey, guys. Dustin here, CEO of Sixthreezero. Today, I'm joined with Peter, our head of customer experience and quality control. Today, we're going to be comparing the Around the Block women's model to the Reach Your Destination women's model. Here we go. Okay. As I said, I'm joined with Peter, our head of quality control and customer experience. Peter has over 20 years of experience in the bike industry from a mechanic to a store manager to a sales rep to here with us now. Peter knows everything about bikes. He's going to help point out what are the differences between these two models? What do you get from one versus the other? We get these questions a lot.

So we've got the Around the Block women's, got the Reach Your Destination. Now, this looks like a men's because of the color. Although, any gender can ride any color. We fully advocate for that. But the Reach Your Destination frame is the same between men's and women's. So we just have the matte black color here today, but it's the same as all the other colors. So I'll kick it off and dive in a little bit to what makes these bikes different. Now, I think, these two models and looking at them, it's pretty obvious there are some pretty big differences in the frames and the appearances and things like that. We've done some other comparison videos where it's a little bit harder to pick up on the nuances of what makes one model different from another.

But the Around the Block is a traditional cruiser with, very simple, traditional cruiser frame, handlebars, the whole nine yards, the wide tires. The Reach Your Destination is what we would call a hybrid commuter, really meant for longer, faster rides. It's got a thinner tire. So the big difference between these two bikes, I would say, one of the main differences is riding position. On the cruiser, you're going to be upright, hands like this, really relaxed in your body, very ergonomic, upright, relaxed ride. The Reach Your Destination still can get an upright, relaxed ride depending on how you adjust it. But with the flat bar handlebars, it's designed to keep the rider in a slightly bent forward riding position and that's just to enable more aggressive riding. So you can turn quicker, get more power on the downstroke, just be in a more powerful position, so to speak.

Whereas the traditional cruiser is going to put you in an upright, more relaxed sort of... Your arms are going to be relaxed. It's kind of just seems like driving a bus where you're not going to be able to turn on a dime in that position versus on a tighter steering wheel. So that's a major difference between these two bikes. So I'll toss it over to you, Pete, and yeah, go ahead. What do you see, major differences here?

Yeah, sure. There are a lot of technical differences between these two bikes because they are, as Dustin mentioned, pretty different. Even to a novice, you can see the difference in these bikes, whereas, on other bikes, they might be more similar. But really, the Around the Block is the quintessential classic cruiser. This is the style that's been aroused or similar styles have been around for almost a century like this. Also with what they call the balloon tires, nice wide tires. These are good for down at the beach path, where you might encounter a little bit of sand. You can't ride on soft sand, but you can encounter some loose terrain. It's just a super relaxed ride.

We've got the nice wide seat, the wide swoop handlebars that come back and allow you to sit just nice and upright. I think both of these bikes are a lot of fun, but the cruiser is just especially built for fun and comfort. It's not a performance bike. This isn't a bike for winning races. It's just for getting around and enjoying the day, enjoying the sun, enjoying the wind, and having a really good time. This, the Reach Your Destination is a true hybrid. It's a commuter hybrid. It's almost a blend between a road bike and a mountain bike in that it has road bike tires and wheels, wheel size. So that makes for a really fast bike. This is much more performance-oriented than the Around the Block would be.

It has narrower tires that are also higher pressure. That's a lot less rolling resistance. You're going to feel probably a little more stable on a bike like a beach cruiser Around the Block. It's just a little lower to the ground. You've got more stability with the wider tire, but you're going to have more performance with the Reach Your Destination. They both have the pedals in the conventional position. So that's a similarity that they have. But I think that the wheelbase on the Reach Your Destination is a little bit tighter. That makes for a nice agile bike. That's another reason why it's good for commuting. But it also has a nice, strong, almost mountain bike-style frame. On the Reach Your Destination, on this particular model, it's aluminum. That makes the bike easy to maneuver when you're kind of in different situations.

Yeah. That's one major difference. So one thing to point out is we're not going to talk too much about specs and trim levels. The Around the Block comes in two different trim levels. This one plus a less spec'd to model right below it. The Reach Your Destination has two spec models, as well as it is today. We're going to discuss those in some other videos around the trim levels and what's the differences and things like that. So we're trying to talk generally speaking about these two models and what's different about them and how are they set up, not so much about the specifics of each component and the quality differences.

Again, we're going to get into that in some other videos. But when you look at the bikes, just high-level, Pete kind of touched on it, the ATB, we call it the ATB here, the Around the Block has the much thicker tire. As Pete said, you could take that on hardpack trails. The benefit of that is it's going to absorb the vibrations when you ride. The negative side of that is it's not going to roll quite as easy on the pavement as the Reach Your Destination. But again, you want a soft ride and an easy on your body ride on a casual bike like the ATB. On the Reach Your Destination, while you do want comfort to an extent, you're getting the Reach Your Destination because you think you're going to ride far or get some exercise, or maybe you want to get some speed here and there.

The one thing to point out is we use a similar saddle between the two models in terms of width. We did that strategically because we wanted the Reach Your Destination to still have an element of comfort. We didn't want to use a traditional commuter sort of narrow style saddle because it's not true to who we are and our design, what we design for and we design for comfort. So that's one major similarity between the two bikes. They both have back racks, different back racks, though. The Reach Your Destination is a little bit less metal, a little bit more refined, not quite as long. We still wanted to give a rack there, just if you are commuting, you can hook some stuff onto there. But to minimize the weight.

So it's more utility-driven versus the ATB rack. Although still definitely usable for utility. We tried to design it for also a look and an aesthetic more than anything else. I think the major difference Pete touched on too is the handlebars. This kind of swooping handlebar, I'll turn sideways here, you're going to be sitting like this with your arms like that. I can show you right there. It's a little bit different. So your arms will be relaxed. With this bike, your arms are going to be like this out in front of you. So you're going to notice on the Around the Block no tension really to grab the bars because they swoop into your body and you kind of just have to almost sink your shoulders and your body into the bars. They come into you.

For the Reach Your Destination, you're going to have to reach a little bit out in front of you. So you're going to have some arm tension in that position. Now, there are ways to adjust to minimize that on the Reach Your Destination. But again, if you're looking for more casual, relaxed, the ATB is a much better choice than the Reach Your Destination.

Quick-release on the front and the rear wheel for the Reach Your Destination. No quick release at all in the Around the Blocks. So if you're someone that likes to throw your bike on the bike rack or throw it in the trunk of your car, the Reach Your Destination may be a better option. The other thing to think about too is the aluminum frame we forgot to mention, or you mentioned.

I did briefly, yeah.

But the Around the Block only comes in a steel frame. So transportation of the Reach Your Destination might be a little bit easier. I mean, we're only talking about a few pounds, probably a five to seven pounds difference. If that's a big deal, every pound can matter, lifting it onto a rack, throwing it in the car, bringing it upstairs, things of that nature. But the quick release is nice. If you do have a car rack that requires the wheel to come off, or you want to take the wheel off and throw it in the trunk of your car, the quick release makes that easy.

The other thing I think for the Reach Your Destination selling point is if you are riding long distances on the road and you get a flat, having the quick release is going to be a huge advantage. For the Around the Block, typically if you're riding easy, simple, casual rides, you're not going to put your bike in as much harm's way so that the quick release isn't quite as necessary for a casual bike versus something that's going to be out in the open road, running over rocks or nails and things that are scattered. If you're in a bike lane in the city, all sorts of debris can end up in the bike lane.

I think that pretty much sums it up, Pete. I mean, the only other thing I was thinking is the Around the Block, you can add fat fenders aftermarket. The Reach Your Destination comes with the fenders standard. It's a thinner fender versus these are a thicker fender. A little bit different on the actual design front. You've got a little stripe of color here. But colorways are similar that are available across the two models. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean to summarize, I would just say big picture, this is probably a little bit more comfortable and it's great, but it's going to be slower. This bike's going to be a lot faster, but also has that big, comfortable seat. This one will be a bit more upright, but they are very different. This bike will go farther and faster.

Yeah. I would say college campus, neighborhood, around the block, pun intended, family rides, down to the local convenience store. Reach Your Destination, exercise, long-distance rides, commuting, anywhere you want to go fast. All right. So I think that sums it up. If you have any questions we didn't touch on today, please comment below. We're happy to answer. Or you can always reach out on email, theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us, 310-982-2877. Don't forget, take the body fit quiz on our website. You can put in your lifestyle choices, your body dimensions, and our proprietary algorithm will recommend a bike specific to your lifestyle and your body. Also, we have a 365-day return policy. So at any point in 365 days, if you don't love your bike, you can send it back, with zero questions asked, no money out of your pocket. So thanks for sticking with us. Don't forget, it's your journey, your experience, enjoy the ride.