You pointed out a very important thing: " Someone who has never owned one "... That makes a big difference.
In that case, I agree that the Cruiser may be an interesting choice.
But you will have to face the very big case, while the former one, and especially the Freak 1st Generation was much smaller...
If the Freak owners had to answer to this question, I think the score would be the inverse!
Best,
Nicolas