I might be self delusional but I think a video series I did on prepper bicycles had a big influence on the prepper world. I certainly wasn't the first to bring the subject up. I remember an article in the old Survival Guide Magazine back in the early 80s that was an old touch stone on the subject but the subject was always a sub note if not openly mocked. I took down the old series off YT but will soon re do it in a more user friendly video. Since then Prepper bikes are out of the closet. I stumbled on this new site today and thought 'WOW!". Prepper bikes have gone mainstream. Check it out.
(Edit- the page is now gone....sorry)
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/22306960627039089/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/22306960627032064/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/22306960627767652/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/22306960627335069/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/22306960626736093/
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
I will give my cousins business a little exposure here, because they make bike pedals that are far stronger than most, good for preppers who want a part that is not going to snap and see you suffer any puncture type wound so superior safety and will not need replacing in the future so superior in reliability . These guys are known mostly in the mountain biking circles but they are well known to produce world class products completely manufactured here in Canada :
http://www.straitlinecomponents.com/index.php
The bicycle is mans greatest achievement IMO. In energy input to distance covered, the bike is more efficient than any other form of transportation, far out performing horses or hybrid cars. I may own two trucks, two motorcycles, an efficient car and a diesel tractor....but I would never be caught without a bike. I own 5 working bikes and several parts bikes as well as 2 stripped down flatdeck trailers and a few push carts. We leave one in the city as an escape vehicle. No gas, no problem. Clogged roads don't stop me. I laugh at EMPs. I can pack a few hundred pounds equipment on it and push it if I have to. It can be carried on the car or canoe, floated across a river or pulled up a tree. No one hears me coming. No one notices me when Im there. In a pinch, its a shield against an assailant or can be picked up and thrown through a wind shield (been there, done that). It can be rolled into the bedroom so no one can hotwire it. From Vancouvers Lower East Side to impoverished Mexico. From embargoed Cuba to post crash Jamaica, My experience in these places gave me first hand experience of how the bike keeps going when resources (Fuel or money or upkept road ways) become unavailable.
A bike can keep going in place that a quad would have to be left behind. From bike trails to singe track bridges, hiking paths and over fences or fallen trees. Even if you are over weight, over aged or under nourished...it sure beats walking with a huge pack. Think, the movie, The Road. They could have made their destination in a week, avoiding starvation and outrunning all those pesky cannibals.
Whats the best bike to have? The one you have on you when you need it. Same as any survival gear. If you have a choice about the mater, These are my recommendations.
Standard 26 inch Mountain bike Tires. They carry weight, take abuse and are easy to replace or salvage.
ABSOLUTELY NO SHOCKS. They absorb peddling energy, interfere with racks...but most important, their seals blow over time, making the bike useless. In Jamaica, there were all these, not very old bikes...with brand new replaced solid front forks. No mystery why.
The most solid cargo racks you can afford. Think, overloading or passenger. Xtra Cycles are an amazing upgrade but their are several other styles of cargo bikes to chose from.
DO NOT leave your bike outside. You wouldn't leave your rifle in the back yard, would you. A bike requires as much maintenances as your battle rifle if you want it to not end up in landfill.
You get what you pay for. A Walmart bike is better than nothing...but its a disposable. The first time you ride a quality bike...you will never go back to dogging the 2 AM girl. Do remember though, That I rode a grossly overloaded, first generation steel mountain bike out of KMart across the Rocky Mountains with no pre conditioning. It was pushed up a lot of mountains... but it can be done.
Get the right sized frame. My knees took a lot of damage until I got the right size frame to maximise torque and ergonomics.
A quality bike and a couple of cheap spares should be a priority purchase, HIGH on the list of your priorities.
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
We have bikes for everyone in our family too and a few kiddy bike spares I hoped to use as parts for making a trailer though I am not a whiz at that sort of thing unlike my cousins . I also have horses and they have their uses in the right setting but my choice for reliable transport where I am would also be bike. The more we work biking in as our transportation , the better our health and future welfare cutting gas emissions. It is also a matter of not empowering gas companies with our disposable income so you can buy more organic from your local farmer and empower something healthy for yourself when and where you can . I look at is as a lifestyle enhancing alternative transportation rather than just a BOV.
Awesome...
I love the bike that rides the railway line. If you think about it. The hordes would be trolling the roads so it would be a great way to get around unnoticed. The roads could be blockaded or littered with useless vehicles.
“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.” -- Henry Ford
valuable and persuasive information c5.
Say hi to that cute prepper dude in your garden!
Here is a great vid...that will also keep the Tacticool Tykes happy. PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE COMPARISON CHART. As a bonus, their is a great shot of a Viet Cong "peoples truck" or push bike, that is credited as the tool that won the war against the largest industrial war machine the world had ever seen. enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7HwmpUgIMM&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PL72C3659E23DDFDE4
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
A member passed this video to me. Its the story of the Xtracycle. Since I own one and have followed this story for years, hearing the story in rumours, pieces and almost legend, Its nice to get the story from the builder. As I have said before, Hippies had all the right answers for all the wrong reasons. enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWMd6yyYs8E
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
A member passed this video to me. Its the story of the Xtracycle. Since I own one and have followed this story for years, hearing the story in rumours, pieces and almost legend, Its nice to get the story from the builder. As I have said before, Hippies had all the right answers for all the wrong reasons. enjoy.
Good video...thanks for posting 😀
Another hybrid option , a solar powered velomobile offers the option of peddling :
http://makezine.com/2013/10/16/elf-solar-powered-bicycle-vehicle-rolls-forward/
For some completely out of the box thinking, check out this bicycle powered elevator , I have no idea how practical that could be applied but it is a different approach and you never know where that might lead to some new useful ideas :
http://makezine.com/video/bicycle-powered-treehouse-elevator/
The ELF hybrid solar/ bike velomobile is starting production on the west coast now in California, for $5k you too could have one http://www.organictransit.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3INj_7WVDQ8
The ELF hybrid solar/ bike velomobile is starting production on the west coast now in California, for $5k you too could have one http://www.organictransit.com/
Not sure it'd be worth it. Sure, it doesn't need gas, and could possibly carry many more supplies, but in my opinion the ability to glide through traffic is one of the most important features of a bike, and it's actually one of the biggest problems with cars. Good find, though.