Bicycles for Bugging Out

I do not planning on bugging out but I think it is important to have a bike for each member of the family. We have old heavy yard sale bikes that are falling apart so it is time to invest in new bikes. We can start riding, exercising and to have just in case. I spoke to my oldest son and he is the most active. He said he would prefer a mountain bike. We do have trails that we can ride in the area and we live on a dirt road. I appreciate all the posts on tires. Does make sense.

 

@Motomom34

What type of budget do you have for eqch bike?
Bikes like firearms, camping eq etc, you get what you pay for.

This Specialized Bike is well over 10 years old and has at least 700-1000 miles on it and it functions like new. I have replaced the rear gear cluster and chain when I upgraded wheels about 3 years ago. Not that it needed it, but when I ride off road in the PHX desert, I can be along way away from help f I brake down.

My last bike was a Specialized RockHopper Comp that I bought for $800 in the mid 80's and road it until early 2000's when I bought the Stumpy. It was over 15 years old and still solid. I sold it to a next door neighbor kid for $100

Buy quallity if you can.

 

The beauty of bikes is that, as long as the frame isn't trashed, they can usually be rebuilt. My very favorite bike is an early 80s Jap Bianchi cyclocross bike that I found in someone's trash. About the only things about it that are still original are the frame, handlebars and brakes. Take what you have to your local bike shop...they can tell you which bikes are worth rehabbing and which should just be replaced. When it comes to mountain bikes, I prefer the older bikes that didn't have the darn front (or rear) shock, which is heavy and, if it doesn't have a lock out, wastes a lot of your speed and energy.

 

I like front and rear suspenders , me being relatively heavy they make the task more enjoyable .
Loading a bike is rough on the chain and sprockets not to mention the suspension ,and particularly more dangerous wearing a back pack.
The wear and load will be pretty much the same one way or another, but its best to use a trailer keeping ones center of gravity much lower.
Depending on the length of the journey tools as spare parts should be at the top of the list along with water.
And
I would custom build the trailer , and use the same tires and wheels as are on the bike,with a complete spare.

 

This thread has really gotten me to do some thinking... Cycling as a topic coincides with both my preparedness plans as well as my desire to regain my physical strength and endurance now that some major medical issues are finally behind me.

A dozen or so years ago I was working a job as a contractor in Wisconsin and bought a Trek Navigator 300 as a fun and comfortable way to get some exercise and see the scenery. I also have a nice road bike I built from a frame set back in the 80's, but I see the Navigator as fitting much better into the SHTF scenario.

The Navigator series was designed as a hybrid between a mountain and city bike, and in addition to being comfortable is very rugged and dependable. I think about it as a comfortable Jeep. I did some web searches to see if there were any gotcha's with it as a platform (I want to standardize my bikes a bit to make maintenance/spare parts easier though bikes are pretty straightforward) and they don't seem to have issues with defects, frame integrity, etc., and were favorites of tour operators. They are also available pretty inexpensively on Craigslist locally, so I'm planning on picking up a few more to make sure everyone has one.

No real disadvantages, though mine has a proprietary Trek handlebar system that makes it hard to use standard lights - easy swap. I'm also not a huge fan of indexed shifting since I learned how to ride in the stone age with friction systems. It does look like there are compatible friction shifters, so I may do that as well. No, it's not a great platform for long road trips, but it's more about bugging in utility than bugging out.

I also plan on updating mine (still on the original tires) with the Schwalbe Marathon Plus Touring tires recommended by @chimo. As chimo says, they are expensive, but I can't imagine a more bullet proof tire.

 

The only issue I have with the Navigator is the front shock. Unless you can lock it out, all it does is bleed your forward momentum. Shocks are for bombing down trails of questionable smoothness...they offer no advantage for loaded touring, general utility cycling or bugging out.

 

That's a good point (the shock), one I hadn't considered. If I was getting a bike for touring/longer distances I'd look for something with a longer wheelbase or more front rake. I see this bike in the role of a Jeep CJ, so shorter distances, mixed/crappy terrain, some, but not a lot of cargo. Guess it fits more into the "bug in" category as opposed to "bug out".

 

One tip from the Swiss Army Bicycle Corp. (now disbanded), don't carry a long arm on a sling across your back when riding a bike, they had numerous broken back casualties from guys who fell while riding with a rifle on a sling across their back, and had banned the practice.

 

Ma Deuce on the handlebars, baybee!

 

I like the big Fat wheel bikes that Academy sell's.

 

My son lived in a area that the thorns were terrible and made riding almost impossible .
something to consider, bugging out.