Cheap W-mart bike, good assembly.

[bluegoatwoods]

No, it's not home-made, bamabikeguy.

They can be had at bike shops and at online stores like bikeworldusa. And they're not expensive, either.

They are a must have for anyone who is more than, say, 5' 8" who does not have an oversized frame. You can be perfectly comfortable on even a fairly small frame.

 

[Silvaire]

I had one of those "pedal forward" bikes, a high end Townie with a Nexus 7 hub. I did not motorize it though.

The pedal forward position felt quite comfortable and I liked the great visibility that it gave. The geometry reminded me very much of the original Schwinn Stingray that I had as a boy - only both the bike and I are larger now!

I won't have another one though. When pedaling, you cannot bear down with your legs for climbing or accelerating. This isn't much of an issue with a motorized bike though. However, because of your very upright position, your center of gravity is quite far back. When you go fast (and this is what would concern me if I motorized one) it doesn't "groove" in a straight line, but tends to wander easily. The steering feels overly light and unstable.

This is just my impression. For me though, I will stay with a classic cruiser type frame.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

A very good point, Silvaire. Pedal-forward looks like it's probably quite comfortable when you are sitting down, cruising on a level. But when you need to put some real "ummphh" into it that design might come up a bit short.

For the real world I've found nothing yet that is better than the typical mountain bike with mildly raised and swept handlebars.