There has been a lot said about bikes since I posted, some of it personal opinion. I will only comment on the facts.

Mountain bikes are heavy and cumbersome. Ok if you are willing to spend some good money you can buy a sub 20lb cross country bike but on the whole they are heavy. The geometry of a mountain bike is set for better handling, control and stability and not efficiency over long distance. 26” wheels, short cranks and upright cycling position all sap the efficiency.

Why are wheels so important? Wheels are the major moving part of a bike. The heaver the wheels the more energy is used to turn them. Machine tied wheels sag and flex a bit. Hand built wheels can be tied a lot stiffer giving much better rolling resistance. And again, anyone that spends a small fortune on a bike is nuts to buy it off the shelf without specking it. That includes, at least having the wheels rebuilt.

A point about fixies and single speed bikes. I said they are for the hard core but saying that there is a growing interest in fixie/ss touring. Fixies still hold some of the TT records (you will have to look them up as I can not remember them of the top of my head) and they are actually very efficient at hill climbing as you have a 100% of traction all the time. SS is far better to use down hill.

This is all relative as using a bike for bug out we need to take a different approach. A similar approach to cycle touring but not being frightened to jump of the loaded bike and push it over rough ground and up steep hills. If we were to seriously consider using a bike for bug out we almost have to take the Far East’s view of the bicycle, as a jack of all trades, go anywhere pack horse.