[AtE] Bicycling in the Post-Apocalypse

[MWnRNC]

I recently got into a discussion about why bicycles aren't more common in post-apocalyptic fiction and I'm curious if the folks around here have any thoughts.

Logistics
My initial thoughts were that bikes would be less useful than draft animals because their parts wouldn't be reproducible at TL 4, whereas a post-apocalyptic subsistence farm would be more self-sufficient. I was also under the impression that after a decade or two, rubber would have all rotted unless carefully stored. However, I am not really knowledgeable about jury-rigged bicycle repair or husbandry.

Utility
Bikes seem like they would be useful for getting around city ruins and perhaps as a makeshift cart you could load your supplies and equipment onto. I tend to think that you can't carry enough while riding one to make it worthwhile as transportation over long distances. Over rough terrain, even a mountain bike doesn't seem to offer too many advantages over something slower and more sure, while a regular bike might just break. You can travel faster than on foot, sure, but would there be a premium on speed after the apocalypse?

Aesthetics
If I'm honest, probably the real reason I see so few bikes in post-apocalyptic fiction is this. Bikes aren't really stable enough for mounted combat, so you can't have cavalry charges or auto-duels. Has anyone seen any depictions of a "cool, rugged" post-apocalyptic bicycle?

[Sword-dancer]

Search for a swiss army bike, not to Long ago the swiss had bicycle troops

[Black Leviathan]

It's out there, but it's not good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkCSlIBmRmo

Old innertube tires don't last very long but newer tires would make it a generation or so before they degrade to the point where they can't hold air. But realistically almost nothing in the world is going to last more than a generation or two before it's non-functional so that kind of realism doesn't make much sense in a post apocalyptic tale.

[AlexanderHowl]

I think that one of the great stories of an ATE setting would be trying to reinvent the lost bicycle technology of the past.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by MWnRNC

My initial thoughts were that bikes would be less useful than draft animals because their parts wouldn't be reproducible at TL 4, whereas a post-apocalyptic subsistence farm would be more self-sufficient.

Probably. A civilization that can build significant numbers of bicycles can build steam engines, and anybody who can do that has more impressive vehicle options. There's also the issue of roads - without good roads the advantage of a bicycle over walking are questionable. Even a cheap "unimproved" mountain bike trail cost $10 to 20,000 per mile to cut, and several thousand dollars a year, or equivalent volunteer effort, goes into maintaining it. If you can put together the surpluses and organization to build and maintain a network of halfway decent roads you are well on your way to recovery from the apocalypse.

Bikes seem like they would be useful for getting around city ruins and perhaps as a makeshift cart you could load your supplies and equipment onto.

Bicycles make poor carts. Sure you can use the parts to build a better one, but then you don't have a bicycle anymore. Very limited carrying capacity definitely cuts into the utility of bicycles. They work OK if you are looking to move smallish numbers of people modest distances, so they'd be great for the protagonists in an immediate aftermath scenario. But civilizations want to move crates, or artillery pieces.

[Sword-dancer]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_C...vilian_porters

https://www.bikeshophub.com/blog/201...he-vietnam-war

https://www.bikeshophub.com/blog/201...-that-and-more

[Michele]

First thing, inflated rubber tires, for bicycles, are good for comfort. During WWII, it was not at all uncommon to see bicycles with wooden wheels. These are hard on that part of the body that supports most of the biker's weight. On the plus side, they are much tougher, and a present-day highway that has seen only average damage due to lack of maintenance would be less of a problem with these sturdier (and heavier) wheels.

Mass production of bicycles requires decent metalworking industries. But in a post-apocalypse scenario you could probably have bicycles for a century, based on parts scavenged by other bikes. Blacksmith's workshops would adapt parts. You'd have a nice market for spare parts.

As to aesthetics and speed, a case can be made for 4-wheeled carts that are normally pedal-propelled - and thus even slower than a bike. However, in emergencies (read combat and evasion), they carry a pair of solid-fuel rockets. This is TL3-4 tech. The boost is measured at most in tens of seconds, otherwise they'd be too heavy for everyday travel. But they'd make for a few exciting high-speed moments.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Michele

First thing, inflated rubber tires, for bicycles, are good for comfort. During WWII, it was not at all uncommon to see bicycles with wooden wheels. These are hard on that part of the body that supports most of the biker's weight. On the plus side, they are much tougher, and a present-day highway that has seen only average damage due to lack of maintenance would be less of a problem with these sturdier (and heavier) wheels.
...

The first bikes, velocipedes, with stiff frames and wooden wheels were called boneshakers for a reason.

[SteamBub]

https://youtu.be/lYZHvP4tKzU
I think this video is appropriate for the topic on hand.

Jokes aside, bicycles are a lot less maintenance intensive compared to motorcycles. And there are gas motor kits for bicycles if you really need something more with power. Having it run on ethanol and being more simple than a normal engine would be a plus.

And a side note, can't cork be a replacement for rubber tires? Wouldn't lining the outside of a wooden wheel with cork help?

Also most post-apocalyptic fiction usually go by the rule of cool, and bicycles are not cool.

[scc]

Are people still using cars for some inexplicable reason? If the answer if yes then push bikes don't pose a problem.