Best post-apocalyptic bug-out bike?

[Mr. Coffee]

So. Civilization has collapsed. The hospitals are charnel houses. All of the toilet paper and hand sanitizer is gone, except for a few hoarders.

You need to get out of dodge and to a place of relative safety. So which bike do you think would be the best for the job?

Short answer would be the bike you have. Kitting out and building a new bike while the world is burning to the ground is unlikely to be very easy.

Longer answer, if you had perfect foresight, would be to modify a bike like the Surly Long-haul Trucker. I'd probably go with a front hub motor for simplicity and ideally want a battery system which would let me repurpose batteries as needed. Ideally I'd like to be able to use cordless power tool batteries. My reasoning for this bike is unlike a lot of e-bikes it uses some very common parts (like tires, tubes, and brake pads) which you are likely to be able to scrounge from the ruins of Wal-marts after the masses have looted all of the toilet paper. For a similar reason I'd like a system that would let me use cordless power tool batteries, because even in the absence of grid power those batteries usually ship with a partial charge and all you'd need to do is scrounge them.

So what is your favorite post-apocalypse bike?

 

[PDXzap]

Interesting question.

Short answer: The one that works!

 

[harryS]

Probably a regular bike. Gonna need more than 30 mile range.

 

[Handlebars]

Solar plus wood burning generator under an aerodynamic plexiglass carapice that powers battery plus heating/refrigeration and can ride the rails.

 

[Smong]

I would never consider an ebike a good choice for bugging out. Much better off grabbing a 250cc motorcycle or human powered bike if you want stealth. It would be likely that you could find a couple liters of gas easier than an electric charge if you require a powered bike. A horse or mule would also be a great choice with the advantage that it could keep you warm and fill your belly if required.

 

[indianajo]

All of the toilet paper is gone, except for a few hoarders.
You need to get out of dodge and to a place of relative safety. So which bike do you think would be the best for the job?
So what is your favorite post-apocalypse bike?

Plenty of leaves out at my summer camp. Have 23 acres summer camp 30 miles from the city. Have a pond and 18 oz Palmolive anti-bacterial soap.
My yubabikes bodaboda will carry 80 lb of supplies out there. Won't throw me on my chin the way a Long Haul Trucker would with the standard trail front fork. Surly Big Dummy is closer to a durable cargo bike. I've been thrown on my chin by the fork whipping sideways on Huffy Savannah (cruiser) Diamondback MTB, Pacific Quantum MTB, AMF Hercules (3 speed "english racer") . Not yet by my bodaboda in 5000 miles.
Need more seeds than kale. Need fence to keep deer out of a garden. Need to learn how to shoot squirrel & ground hog with a bow & arrow. My great-great grandparents (the Native Am ones) probably lived on squirrel & ground hog.
Need 3 more solar panels to charge the 48 v battery, only have one at this time. Can't haul those out there on the bike, they are 48" long.

 

[FlatSix911]

This might work... Mad Max returns with gas or electric power.

 

[steve marino]

I don't think you'll get too far using a power drill battery .....and it would seem this is not a post apocalyptic time, we're living in the midst of a rapidly deteriorating and changing situation. There's a ton of inexpensive, perfectly fine eBikes out there, but yesterday I saw a guy w/ a bike that he had put a large hub motor on the front, and he was tooling right along. He was also wearing what looked like a football helmet, a bright green vest, boots, gloves, and a full on respirator, one of those things w/ two canisters that makes you look like a bug. That was a new one.

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

With apologies to my Haibike Full FatSix, I'm thinking for a really bad situation, power to recharge the batteries will be at a premium, if at all, for that matter.

So, this is a fairly easy question to answer: my Specialized Fatboy. The office bags seen in these pics could be moved to the front rack and in their place, a greater volume rear pannier bag duo would do just fine to carry some clothes, toiletries, meds and other stuff. On top of the racks go the tent, sleeping bag, air mattress and pillow, all in dry bags.

The dyno hub and lighting system would come in handy for traveling at night, if it came down to that. Plus, it has the ability to keep a cell phone charged up.

But ya know, it's best if it never has to come down to this!

 

[Alex M]

I don't think you'll get too far using a power drill battery .....and it would seem this is not a post apocalyptic time, we're living in the midst of a rapidly deteriorating and changing situation.

Agreed on both points. Regular bike is more reliable - you go 30 miles, rest and continue. Gas powered small vehicle would be another choice.

And, this is not a post-apocalyptic time. Popular estimate of epidemiologists is that it could come in a few waves, could last total several months to one year and total 50% of population could get sick (doesn't mean all at the same time - those infected in January and February have already recovered by now, 2-3% died).

The impact on economy and infrastructure is not clear, there haven't been anything global like this before.