A bicycle will be a valuable asset during a survival or disaster situation when ordinary transportation may be difficult or impossible.
If we are ever to face collapse conditions, times will become tough and modes of transportation may become diversified.
Bicycle transportation requires no fuel (except calories and muscle power).
A bicycle is obviously faster than walking. They’re practical for general transportation, commuting, or other ordinary uses during ordinary times.
But they may become especially useful under “worst case scenario” conditions where vehicular transportation may no longer be an option. In this case we’re now talking about a Survival Bicycle.
- transporting supplies (lots of possibilities here)
- simply getting from one place to another more quickly
- emergency get back home (folder bike in the trunk?)
- security patrol (covering long distances quickly)
- bug out transportation (limited to what you can carry)
Awhile ago, a reader submitted this photo of his survival bicycle setup (he built the trailer). It has a 14 speed internal geared Rohloff hub, and he has pulled a 600 pound load at 10 mph on flat ground…
Which Bicycle Is Best as a Survival Bicycle?
To decide which bicycle is best for survival, there are criteria that you should think about which may influence your decision.
The following is a list of features, considerations and questions to consider. Some may or may not be relevant to your own needs or situation.
Survival Bicycle List of Considerations
(a random list of thoughts in this regard)
Silent gears – No clicking while coasting (stealth)?
Off-road versus On-road use.
Overall weight (light weight, medium, or heavy duty).
Materials (aluminum, steel, titanium, carbon fiber).
Mountain bike?
Hybrid bike?
Fit inside of your vehicle or trunk?
Folding frame?
Size of frame.
Ability to connect cargo trailer.
Expected cargo load.
Its design or practical ability to strap on some gear or to transport heavy things.
The ability to tow a small utility trailer designed for bicycles.
How many gear speeds?
Quality brand considerations (gears, brakes, etc..).
Complexity of components and availability of Replacement Parts.
Strength of frame (weight considerations too).
Brand reputation & reliability.
Is color important? (stealth?)
Proper frame size for your height and weight.
The type of tires (tubeless?)
The more specialized or unique, the less parts you will find post-collapse.
Most common brands and parts?
Accessories (racks, bags, baskets, panniers).
A weak point of bikes are the wheels. Strong wheels will be better.
Note that ‘road bikes’ rims & frames are not built for heavy duty.
Price? (versus quality)
I am not a bike expert, but I do believe it is an important consideration to have a bicycle due to its practicality and usefulness.
If it were me considering what type of bike to get as a survival bike, I would put weight on this statement: Mountain bikes are generally tough and will take you places where road style bikes won’t go.
I drool over the Montague Paratrooper:
Speaking of bikes;
If you’re planning a bugout on your bike ‘just in case’, consider this:
– You should know all the ways out of your area… in all directions.
– How hilly is your area?
– Can you pedal with your BOB on your back?
– Are you strong enough to pedal with a little cart behind you and your BOB on your back?
– What if its snowing??
– Will you pedal during the broad daylight?
– Or the darkest of night?
– Bikes are very quiet if you have a fixie… If you don’t…. and you coast – you can hear the clicks of the bearings in the cassette of the gears….
Something to think about if you’re wanting to be stealthy…
– When you have to hop off and push a bike up hill… it clicks too. Don’t forget that if you’re in stealth mode.
– If we have no power for reasons such as an EMP, there won’t be air planes flying, and vehicles roaring everywhere… It will be silent… and we all know how much noise travels where its silent.~ a reader comment from another post here on Modern Survival Blog
I am curious to know your opinion on the subject – please leave a comment.
Great topic Ken, thanks for raising.
My key focus up to this point with a bicycle is getting home.
I travel quite a bit, either locally to the “big city” or interstate, preferring driving to aircraft within about a 700 mile radius (i.e. one full day’s drive). Discretely in the trunk of my common, unexceptional, 4-door sedan is a 20″ Schwinn folder (in its own bag), and in separate bags are the panniers for the bicycle, as well as a small get home backpack.
Why discrete: I travel on business and want to keep a low profile. Occasionally the care is valet parked by others, something over which I have little choice. If asked (valets pop the trunk to offload boxes of printed materials or suitcases) its for my “workout”. No interest in raising eyebrows.
I have other bicycles, mostly Wal Mart grade for local travel, but this is the one that I carry along when heading out for work or on travel.
1) The bicycle itself. I have it dialed in now: it took a few tries to get everything adjusted and running as quiet as possible. My only problem with the folder is that the handlebars don’t extend very high and I have to lean over the handlebars to ride it, which gets tiring after a few miles. I plan to address this with hardware that allows you to more comfortably lean over (like the racing bicyclists) or to stand taller in the saddle with your arms comfortable higher then they are now.
2) The Panniers. These drape over the cargo rack in the back, and contain the support system for the bike (tire pump, spare tubes, repair tools, etc) as well as the heavier stuff that I don’t want to carry on my back, such as water and other heavy items. Over the top of the entire pannier goes a rain shroud to keep everything nice and dry.
Amongst the kit, I even have a goofy looking bicycle helmet and a bright colored outer vest to look ….well…. commuter-ish when needed.
It takes me only a few minutes to get the whole rig into battery and to wheel away from the car.
Potential future project? Bicycle set that gets you from home to somewhere else, with a bigger frame which would be better suited and more comfortable. The little folder is not a first choice for that.
A folder in the trunk is a must for those working at distance from home. Mostly for use in sudden profound events, such as an EMP, or an earthquake, which gives little warning. The bike would be used just to get home, or to a pre-positioned supply point, where it would them be used as needed. One could even carry the folder over rubble, or around obstacles, if needed. Travel right away, while the shock is still setting in. Get as far as you can those first hours. Carry water in your back pack, which incorporates a bladder. Then, just figure out the best way to carry your weapon, where you do not need to fumble about.
“– Will you pedal during the broad daylight?
– Or the darkest of night?”
I’d like to make a suggestion concerning that question by telling a story of what happened to us once.
We were at a state park campground in bear country and rode our bikes to a talk one evening at the nature center about bears. The speaker emphasized at the end to “whatever you do, do not go near the dumpsters at night as that is where the bears will be”.
When we left it was as dark as a night could get and we had no lights. It was too far to walk so I took the lead and we very slowly pedaled on the pavement back to the unlit campground. In the dark we missed the Y intersection and ventured off to the left instead of to the right. Not too far along my front tire bumped into a large obstacle which after a little investigation I realized that we were at the dumpster.
Fortunately, we were alone. We made it back to the campground and after that our bikes have been mounted with lights, front and rear as well as handheld ones.
You never know when you’re going to be in the dark so make sure you’ve got lights with fresh batteries.
Thats pretty funny OC,
Irony
I’m glad somebody else is finding bikes as a great choice for a survival situation.
You should try and read Catalyst Downward Cycle. The author is doing a great job in showing how important a bike can be when the world is out of power.
For myself a bicycle would be completely useless, we live on a mountain, i would have to train dayly to ride s bike up this mountain and that aint happening,
My idea of a bike is a KTM690
When I was working (retired now) I carried a bicycle that I built. It has quick detachable wheels and fit nicely behind the seat of my economy car with a black blanket draped over it and the black interior it is very difficult to see. I lived about 35 miles from my job and figured it would take 3 to 4 hours to get home, also getting me out of the city in less than 1 hour. Having built this bike it fit me perfectly. I purched used bicycles from hospice stores for under $20 and figure the total cost was about $80~100. With a small 3 day back pack, I Felt comfortable knowing I was set for most any situation.
Great idea, hospice stores, or other non profits like Goodwill. You save $, they receive $ and everyone wins. Thanks for the idea.
There was a blogger named Dedushka Vlad, who described a standard bicycle frame cut into two pieces. Drill ends and inserting a sleeve would put them back together. Very compact for vehicle trunk.
With as many bicycles at pawn shops as we’ve seen, the project is worth a try.
In my case, since I never learned to ride a bike, I would need one with at least 3 wheels
Or you could just get a pair of Cardiff skates that go over your shoes.
Daisy,
There are some nice 3 wheelers available out there. They would be pretty much for road or street use. The bonus is the large carry basket in back which would handle a GHB/BOB.
Schwinn Meridian Full Size Adult Tricycle 26 wheel size
Steve, that one looks good, but is expensive. I did spend $60 last summer for a very nice cart to haul whatever. I would have to walk and pull it behind me. However, it does work over some bumpy terrain — if not TOO bumpy — not just streets and sidewalks.
We have reached that age where we no longer feel that a bike would be to our benefit. DH’s balance is horrible often losing his balance and falling over just walking. He would likely kill himself trying to ride. Since we rarely venture far from home, the chances are good that we are likely to already be home if and when something should occur.
One of my great aunts used to have a large tricycle that she used to ride around her farm. It had a nice big basket in the back that could fit a lot of SHtuff. Balance might have been an issue for her as well, I am not 100% on that. I rode it a few times and it worked pretty well even remaining pretty stable on loose dirt. So if balance is an issue, one of those large tricycles might be an option. Just food for thought.
Yep
Two mountain bikes in the daily drivers. A fold down seat in the car ( makes it a pain to haul bags of grain but doable in the passenger seat) and the fold up seat in the ext-cab, both bikes protected from the elements. The foot pump travels from one vehicle to the next depending on which I’m driving.
Tommyboy
Lol Which hand does the pistola go in, the clutch or throttle hand?
OC
Excellent story! Ya might have scared the bears off by cussing?
I have both road and mountain bikes that i ride. In my opinion a mountain bike is best for durability and ease of use and general usability. I am not looking at portability as i work within walking distance of home. Also a bike is like a gun or anything else, it needs practice and good maintenance. Just my two cents.
There are hybrid bikes which are built with a bit of Mountain and road bike. These generally come with flat bars.
There are also specialist Touring bikes. These are fitted with racks for front and rear panniers and are geared for traveling and generally feature wider tyres.
There are a class of bikes called Gravel Grinders or Cyclo cross – Perfect.
When you get your bike it’s imperative you know how to :
Fix a puncture or at least replace the tube. Don’t get tubeless for survival purposes.
Be able to break and join the chain, clean and lubricate it. – needs doing every 300 miles.
I’m 6’2″ and ride large road bikes. I break them down by removing the wheels and lowering the seat. Easily fit in the trunk of my cars.
Can anyone recommend a specific electric or battery powered bike for travel? Do they make foldable bikes like that?
FatTire-eBikes.com, I like the Antero (full suspension) with the single wheel trailer. The Lynx is foldable.
DJ5280- Yes blix makes 2 folding electric bike named Vika + and Travel both are reasonably priced. My wife rides a blix bike and she loves it, sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with her (;
I bought a Giant ATX a couple of years ago. It is an on-road/off-road bike. It was used for riding back and forth to work at the farm. I have had no problems with the bike and has worked awesome especially the disk brakes when riding in the rain (quick stopping). The cost was over $300 but a heck of a lot cheaper than the Montague. The way I figured it was the bike paid for itself in a few months after purchase by savings from not using gas in the car. After those few months the break even point was met and every day I rode after that was extra money in my pocket. This proves that little savings add up over time.
Something ya-all do NOT want to see is NRP riding a Bicycle….
Not a pretty sight at all. Agreed I still have the old Huffy from years/decades ago, and is still in good shape. But seriously I’m the guy that will fall off a stationary bike in the exercise gum… LOLOL
Aside from the humor there, and the mental image to deal with, it is good to know your limitations but also to be encouraged to do better.
The predominant users of bikes are kids, but the adult options are vast and tempting. E-bikes, electrically assisted bikes, are increasingly more popular and advanced. There’s a lot of serious hardware out there.