Bugging out on Bike

[riverdog]

My Cro-Moly framed MB came from a time they were still top-of-the-line (1990). The tubes ring if you flick it with your finger. Some of the lesser tubes thunk It's plenty light enough and it doesn't have the need for a suspension on the front end. Trek and others still make good Cro-Moly frames. Just get good rims, tires and derailleur. The bug out bicycle (long)
Surly Bikes

 

[rick_reno]

On a bike a handy place to carry a handgun is in a handlebar bag. Don't zip the top of the bag all the way closed and it's pretty handy.

 

[YammyMonkey]

You should definitely go with some sort of bike short. They are padded in the crotch and that can help make or break your evacuation. Saddle soreness is no joke, especially if your well being/transportation depend on you being able to go. And no, standing up for miles on end is not an option. This is also why you need to get out and ride the thing on a regular basis. Even mild off road trails/dirt roads will beat your butt harder than Bubba the lonely 300# cell pimp.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is bike shoes. Just like you shouldn't skimp on hiking boots, the same goes for your riding shoes. The cheap ones won't be secure, durable, or stiff enough for good riding. You don't need to drop $250 on a pair, but avoid the $50 (regular price) versions like the plague. That said, riding shoes are not hiking boots and vice-versa. You certainly can get away with a set of toe clips and hiking boots, but if you learn to use a good set of clipless pedals and riding shoes you'll be much happier. DO NOT go bare pedal. Get a set of clipless pedals and shoes to match or use the toe clips & straps with your hiking boots, plain pedals will have you falling on your head faster than you can imagine.

Tailor your tires & pressure to the terrain you're going to be riding. You can easily get away with less aggressive, higher pressure tires on dirt roads, but real knobbies on pavement/easy dirt trails/roads will be a waste of energy just like a set of slicks will kill you on real trails.

Use motocross gloves, protection, dexterity and thin in the palms, enough said.

Thick padded grips will cause you more problems than the thinner less padded versions, you won't have to grip as hard.

Get a CamelBak or something similar. Much easier to use than water bottles and the water is on you instead of the bike should the bike become a non-option.

Keep you body and your bike in tune. A rusted out drive train will ruin your plans just like a 55" beer gut.

Ride your route so you know what to expect, how to get where you're going and possibly stash items you don't want to carry all the way (food, water, ammo, etc).

 

[usp_fan]

RE: the hummer bike

The only thing neat about the Hummer bike is the folding mechanism. It has been around in one form or another for more than 15 years. Schwinn used to market it for montigue. The components vary depending on when it was made and the price you pay, but the real down side is the frame weight. It is a heavy bike and the frame geometry isn't up to par with even good basic mountain bikes these days.

--usp_fan

 

[Tom C.]

I confess I have thought about a scenario like this myself. I am a former bike racer, and current bike tourist. I have gone on 1000 + mile bike rides, on roads.
What I feel I need is a touring bike. I use a bike with fat 700c tires. You can easily use 26” mountain bike tires as well, but consider road or dual use tires. Knobbies are high drag and low traction on roads.
You also need to carry your gear. There are basically two methods, bike mounted bags, or a trailer or a combination of the two. The worst way to carry all the gear is in a back pack. I have rack mounted pannier bags for both the front and back, which hold most of my gear. I am self contained for as long as I want to go. I do need to pick up food. I haven’t practiced a survival scenario where I carry food for the duration, but it is possible. Problem is, food is bulky and heavy. Difficult to pack for an extended ride (2 weeks).
If you need to try this, I would recommend keeping any guns out of sight. Cops on the streets might not appreciate them. Guns are heavy and rifles and shotguns are bulky, so one good, versatile handgun is what I plan to take.
From the news reports, it certainly looked like you could make better time getting out of the Texas coastal regions on a bike. It would certainly limit what you could take with you.

 

[epijunkie67]

For the people wanting to use pistols I might suggest this would be a great place for one of the pistol cal carbines like the keltec sub 2000, or their su16. Both are really light. The sub2000 only weighs in at 4 lbs unloaded. I'd rather take some kind of long arm if I can possibly manage it, even if it has to be something lower powered than I would normally use.

 

[johnnymenudo]

Bike racer here. I would recommend you tailor your bike to your environment. If you have mountains, hills, rugged terrain, get a mountain bike. If it is slightly less aggressive, you can get a basic road bike and outfit it with knobby tires like a cyclocross bike. If you are stricktly urban, a beater road bike with heavy road tires and tubes is fine. I recommend against carbon fiber. Easy to break - hard to fix. Aluminum is OK, but a steel bike is easiest to repair. If you bend your frame, a strong friend and a tree might be all you need to get it running.

I would avoid the highest tech stuff for bug out bike. SImplicity is key.

JM

 

[FotoTomas]

A wife and six year old son prevent me from considering a Bike as a Bug-out Vehicle. I do however have some ideas about the concept and would consider it in a minute if alone.

I ride a bike on duty as a police officer. In the last year I have worn a regular uniform twice. Bike patrol the rest of the year. I agree with many that $500 will get a good entry level mountain bike. I went with a Specialized Rockhopper for both patrol and personal use. I have a rear rack for a trunk bag or panniers depending on my desires. I often commute to work on my personal bike and often wear a backpack for the extras. I also have a budget messenger bag for lighter loads.

When biking the local trails for fun I usually have a Baby Glock or a Kahr PM9 in the pocket. On duty a Big Beretta on the hip. The chest holster makes a lot of sense for a long ride to get out of Dodge. For a low key approach a chest bag similar to the Wilderness packer would make more sense. It would allow the full size Beretta or GLOCK to be easily accessable in plain sight but still concealed from the sheep.

My Camalback has a separate carrier OR it will fit in the hydration pocket of my backpack. The KelTec Sub2000 I have will fit in as well. This would give me a longer range option if I needed it but the pistol right at hand. The magazines interchange with the pistol.

I would second the motion to wear a good helmet, gloves and bike shorts. The shorts in particular are a necessity. I went through a 40 hour police mountain bike school without them. When I purchased a set I was amazed at how much better I could handle the rides day in and out.

I have no experience with trailers but imagine them to be a good thing for the extra weight. Even so the lack of a trailer allows the bike to be more responsive and better able to handle the travails of the trail if you have to go off road.

Changing gears... a motor cycle is another viable option but in many ways as limiting as the bike and worse when it comes to picking it up to move over obstructions.

 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Aluminum, carbon fiber, and suspensions are seriously overrated. The more I ride other bikes, the more impressed I am with my humble old cro-mo Gary Fisher.

I bought it in '98 or '99 for about $250. It's all steel with no suspension. It is the smoothest riding bike I've ever ridden, with or without suspension. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

I currently have it set up with smooth skinny tires and an aero bar. I have no problem hanging in with my friends and their carbon fiber road racers on long road trips.

It's good on trails too, if I use big nobbies instead of the road slicks.

The rack I mounted lets me use it for my weekly errands and commuting to and from work.

It would make a perfect bug out vehicle. I could prolly strap a loaded pack to the rack in a pinch, but paniers would be better. Except for that, it's all set for "emergency touring". I have no doubt that I could make 80 miles a day for at least 3 days on paved roads. Reduce that to 50 or 60 miles per day off road. That would surely be enough to outrun a hurricane.

Of course, I live in Indiana, and hurricanes are pretty rare up here. But there are other disasters I might want to outrun. It's nice to know I don't have to rely solely upon my gas-guzzling truck to do it.

 

[riverdog]

My humble old cro-moly Scott is the same. Very smooth and easy to ride, no suspension, 21 speed, 2" slicks. That said, the parts: wheels, gears, shifter, brakes et al, are top end.

 

[ravencon]

Gigbuist, I see you list your location as Grand Rapids, MI. Having lived in GR many years ago I certainly hope that it isn't winter when the SHTF if you want to bug out by bike.

Of course, just training to bug out by bike is great aerobic conditioning.

 

[roo_ster]

Cycling + Shoulder Holster

Somebody mentioned a shoulder holster as a viable concealment option while riding.

My question is, how would you keep it from flopping about under your cover?

Some that I have seen have a clip you attach to a belt to hold the holster & off-side down...that would necessitate shorts/pants with a belt.

 

[JamisJockey]

A shoulder holster for recreational riding isn't a good idea, but if you're bugging out or using the bike for post-SHTF transportation, you're likely to be dressed in street clothing anyways, so why not a shoulder holster? Seems like a good option to me.

 

[usp_fan]

I originally mentioned the shoulder holster thing. My reasoning is that a hip holster is OK, but depending on what you're wearing, it can rub as you pedal. A shoulder rig, may flop a bit, but I believe it's more comforatable than wearing a hole in your hip/leg/etc...

I do ride with an IWB from time to time, and if you position it carefully, it can be a viable option. However, I wouldn't want to have to go serious distance with it.

These of course are just my oppinions.

--usp_fan

 

[thorn726]

Aluminum, carbon fiber, and suspensions are seriously overrated.

poster located in Indiana. seriously, you have no idea.

anyone here ever tried downhill?

i wont even look at single track trails. the fire roads are bad enough. you are NOT making it without at least front suspension. i don't quit know how to explain it, but on suspension on real off road hills, you might as well walk, it'll be faster.

and on the uphill, EVERY OUNCE COUNTS.

 

[JamisJockey]

I've been blasted uphill and downhill by guys on 10 year old rigid bikes. Its the motor not the bike. Suspensions and lightweight materials are great advances (kind of like polymers in guns), but there are still guys (and chicks) out there doin' it old school.
Hills? Yea I don't know anything about hills. I only did 26 miles and 3000' vertical on sunday. The descent was almost an hour.

 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

poster located in Indiana. seriously, you have no idea.

Curently located in Indiana. I used to spend my summers in Boone, N.C. That's where I cut my teeth moutainbiking. I've done plenty of off road uphill and downhill. Most of the downhill was at embarassingly stupid speeds.

I once bet a talented local $50 that he couldn't ride my all steel bike over a picnic table. I lost. Skill matters more than equipment.

Aluminum is STIFF and uncomfortable. Properly designed steel soaks up vibrations and small bumps like a dream. Good technique will carry you over the big bumps regardless of what you're riding (it cost me $50 to learn that lesson). The few pounds of weight you save are pretty insignificant next to the weight of the rider.

Suspensions are heavy, and they usually mess up the balance of the bike. They're finicky and expensive. They don't make up for a stiff and uncomfortable aluminum frame. They're kinda nice on really steep and rough downhill stretches, especially if you're going stupid speeds. Otherwise they tend to be dead weight.

Carbon fiber is too delicate for general use. My road riding partner once road over a railroad crossing without lifting enough weight off of his front wheel. He earned some wicked scars when his carbon fiber fork snapped. Carbon fiber makes sense if you're Lance Armstrong, but probably not for the rest of us.



Ride whatever you want. Free country and all that. But at least try out a carefully designed cro-mo bike. You might be plesantly surprised.

 

[GigaBuist]

Seems I started a good topic.. lots of good information coming forth that I have no authority to comment on. I think I finally did something right around here.

Gigbuist, I see you list your location as Grand Rapids, MI. Having lived in GR many years ago I certainly hope that it isn't winter when the SHTF if you want to bug out by bike.

I wouldn't be looking forward to it, but if there's a path that I can find, and I can keep moving I'm not too worried.

 

[JamisJockey]

Gunner did a good job of illustrating my points.
For fun, and recreation, you can't beat a high end full suspension bike made of Alum or light steel, Ti or even CF.
However, if I was picking a bike for bugging out, running errands, and beating constantling rising fuel costs, I'd go with a rigid or front suspension only on steel, or aluminum. I'd go with the lowest gearing available, rear pannier racks, fenders, platform pedals, and a trailer. BOB makes a great inline trailer. Burley makes a folding cargo dual-wheeled trailer. Even a used kiddie trailer with the non essential parts ripped off. Underseat wedge bag with emergency essentials (tubes, patches, tire levers, duct tape), a frame pump.

Sorry, I had to change a diaper

I'd go with a narrow semi-slick tire, unless I fully expected to be using alot of dirt/gravel roads. There are some brands that are have more of an all-terrain tire then some others.

As for riding in winter, I know guys who commute to work in excess of 10 miles one way no matter the weather. I've got one buddy whom I've witnessed riding to work in 6" of fresh unplowed snow.

 

[NMshooter]

I would much rather ride on the fresh snow than the well tamped and very slick snow everyone else had already gone over...

Shame someone else decided they needed my old cro-moly bike more than me; it was nothing special, but it got the job done.

I will say that in the mountains I would probably be walking a bike more than riding it, but the mountains here are rather steep.

Be careful with front racks and panniers, the more weight you put here the more difficult it can be to steer and lift the front wheel to cross obstacles. Those frame pads that fit in by the seat post so you can shoulder the bike are useful. Keep grease, oil, and cleaning supplies in with your tool kit, enough so you can repack bearings if necessary. Chain guards can be a nice thing to have.

Anyone have suggestions for component packages that work well for them?

 

[JamisJockey]

Shimano!
Mountain/hybrid: Deore or better
Road: 105 or better

 

[JamisJockey]

Any reasonably healthy person should be able to cover 60 miles in a day on a bicycle. You're not going to set any world records, but 8-10mph is reasonable with a loaded bike and inexperienced rider.

 

[JamisJockey]

Depends on what you consider 'off road', and the conditions thereof. If its tough, steep, technical or singletrack, then the going is sure to be tough. Following a fireroad with no serious climbs could still easily net 5+mph average.
This is why everyone with a SHTF or survivalist mentality should follow a reasonable fitness routine. Everytime I see a fat surviavilst, I figure on eating him first.

 

[JamisJockey]

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