The Apocalypse Bike
Yesterday I included a link to www.peacesupplies.org but I got the url wrong so I wanted to give those folks a real link today. Dwight and crew churn out bike stickers, organic t-shirts, and hand-printed publications from his shop in the arts district in Tucson. He also welcomes suggestions for bike stickers. Check out his current selection.
As I was surfing his site to steal the image above I thought about a conversation Lauren and I sometimes have about what we call the “Apocalypse Bicycle.” Basically the question is, what bike will you ride out of Tucson if/when the apocalypse comes? Lauren is all about her Xtra-cycle lately. She thinks that’s the ride out of here.
When I look over all the flimsy, second-hand, thirty-year-old trash heaps in my stable, I have to admit the Xtra-cycle looks pretty good. But those skinny little 700c wheels and those circa 1980 derailleurs on mine have me worried. Sometimes I think my Worksman Industrial Bike would serve me better. It weighs 40 lbs, has only one speed and a coaster brake, but you could hit it with a train and the train might come out the worst for the experience. But then as long as I am pedaling that ridiculous Worksman tank out of here, why not take the Mercurio Cargo Bike? I could pack that thing with enough spare parts, camping equipment, and beer to get me clear to South America.
And from there my thinking always goes the same way: ah, to hell with it, I’m wrapping some spare tires around my shoulders and riding the Eddy Merckx fixie.
If you were to build yourself an Apocalypse Bicycle, what would it look like?
–Erik Ryberg
August 7th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Ok, I’ll go first.
I’ve been looking for a good deal on the right tandem mountain bike to modify into sort of a “super Xtra-cycle” solo by removing the stoker cranks, seat, and handlebar; and bolting a 1 ft. wide x 4 ft. long Xtra-cycle type deck and side racks to the rear TT from just behind the front seat and hanging out over the rear wheel. I’ll make some extra long heavy-duty saddlebags to go with it. Since tandems are designed to handle the extra load to start with, the end result will be a much more robust version of the Xtra with greater carrying capacity, better bottom bracket clearance, hardier wheels and tires, and still not too heavy and clunky.
August 7th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Erik, I know it’s hard, and things look bad, but you’ve got to lighten up on the “doom and gloom” stuff. On the other hand–good question. If it was tomorrow I would go with my trusty Puegeot mountain bike(don’t laugh please)–way strong Tange steel frame–can take almost any rim–even a 700c I think. Friction shifting and easy to fix with almost anything – anywhere. A year from now and I would lean towards a Surly Big Dummy or the like. Phil Woods hubs and BB, simple Sugino triple crank and a sprung brooks saddle–plenty-o-room for camping gear, food, the AK-47 and extra ammo. Oh,and Erik,give me a heads up on the apocalypse if you could. I would appreciate that. peace–Dean
August 8th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Hey Scott– My friend P. is way ahead of you. He’s already got his tandem frame all modified with the huge deck and I believe he’s even got some bags for it put together. He reports a few wrong turns but general success. I’ll see if I can get him to send me a picture and a report.
DG–what are you going to do when those Phil Wood hubs finally go bust? You sure you aren’t better off with standard bearings? I’m just asking . . . .
EBR
August 8th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Maybe you’re right there erik, XT hubs like on my Puegeot roll real sweet. I could carry a couple of hundred count bags of bearings and a wrist rocket in case the AK jams or I run out of ammo–whichever comes first–good point!! I’ll think about this some more. Also I’ll let you know as well when I see the first signs of impending doom. Maybe we could make a pact and team up. I’ll be watching—peace–Dean
August 9th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Hardtail singlespeed twenty niner and a Bob trailer.
August 9th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
OK.
I took a real life postapocalyptic bike trip in 1984 with two friends, from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, down the length of Ghana, and over to Lome, Togo. It was epic: 5 weeks, 800 miles. The economy of Ghana was completely imploded. There was no gas, no imported anything available for sale. The shops sold matches and soap. People produced everything else they needed locally. No gas meant almost no engines, so it was dreamy bike touring: no cars or trucks on the main trunk road.
We outfitted with used bicycles from the market in Ouagadougou, and had local tailors make panniers, local blacksmiths make pannier frames and bottle (well, 1 liter oil bottles, reused) cages. Two weeks into the trip the derailleur blew out on my friend Scott’s bike. He made a new one from two strips of old innertube that pulled the little gearlets in opposing directions. At the end of the trip my other friend and I flew home, but Scott rode all the way back up, another 800 miles to Ouagadougou, on his innertube-derailleur bike.
When the apocalypse comes your gear won’t save you. Your ingenuity and sense of interdependence will.
August 10th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I’m just pleased to hear that you’re having conversations about which bike you would take. I’ve thought about such things privately but always felt like a bit of an isolated weirdo. It’s such a relief to have discovered your blog. Thank you.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Here I am talking about what I want to build, when my current primary bike, while it doesn’t quite have the same carrying capacity, would be a pretty good choice. While shopping for a robust but not too clunky urban commuter / weekend fire road and jeep trail type cross-bike last spring, I found a Fuji Police Patrol (not from here, but info at http://www.thefirestore.com/store/product.cfm/pid_5305_fuji_police_ems_patrol_bike_gloss_black/) on sale for nearly half price. This left over enough of my budget to “fix” the gearing (marketing dept.-driven stock gearing is a long standing pet peeve), mount a set of Specialized Armadillos, front rack (rear comes stock), and a full set of luggage. This thing is designed for constant, hard urban use while being reasonably quick and quiet, and will carry a load and take a beating without being too heavy and clunky like most utility bikes. If I were to go away from civilization on it, I might replace the indexing shifters for friction-levers – or at least carry a set with in case of failure of the mostly plastic indexers, but other than that I’d say this would handle the job nicely.
August 14th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I’d say any single speed bike that takes 26″ tires would be the way to go, since those will be the more common tubes and tires you’ll find along the road. Less moving parts on the single speed, even less on a fixed gear.
April 18th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
I think I want a steal lugged tandem frame with 26″ wheels, fat & smooth tires, belt drives, integral frame racks with panniers filled with walnut oil, coconut, maltodextrin, water treatment, spare belts, and pads for the mechanical disc brakes. Don’t know if I should go for the davinci independent drive system, what if me or my wife get sick? May help. Do I go titanium or steal? I thought steal, especially lugged steal, would be easiest to fix even though titanium is less likely to get fatigue failure and crack. Not sure about shifting, I love gears, but I’m not sure even a Rolhauf 14 speed internally geared hub would be better than a typical 9×3. It would keep out a ton of dirt and rain though and you know you won’t have time to clean it when the zombies are chasing you : ) Trailer or panniers? Maybe both when you first leave the house, careful not to put too much weight in the panniers as this is weight also on the wheels. Oh, the wheels, i think I’d have some 48 spoke wheels with a typical tandem hub. I like the bearing idea with the sling shot
January 18th, 2012 at 10:04 am
Janet has it right I think. I’m in the process of building such a bike though…
Frame: Surly ogre (I can run any wheel size as long as its disk)
The frame also allows fixed/free/geared along with lots of braze-ons
All cromo too
Headset: fsa “the pig” ; cups are steel and non sealed bearings (with care it’s bomb proof)
Front hub: disk i-light d7 cuz batteries are for the birds…
Rear hub: any disk stout BMX hub will do
Crankset: I’m going truvativ aka…sealed bearings… But whatever…this set is purdy stout
Stem and seat post: anything heavy and stout
Rims: maxxis rolled steel
March 28th, 2012 at 10:01 am
Well-written, the world needs more velomobiles! Once you tried one, a regular bike seems so boring.