View source for No Bikes in the Apocalypse

{{trope}}
{{quote|''In most of these films, there always seems to be a gap between having a vehicle and gas and being shit out of luck, as if no other possibility existed.''|''[[Cracked.com]]'', "[http://www.cracked.com/article_19325_6-technologies-conspicuously-absent-from-sci-fi-movies.html 6 Technologies Conspicuously Absent from Sci-Fi Movies]''}}

So somebody [[Nuke'Em|dropped the nuke]]. Maybe the zombies showed up and [[Zombie Apocalypse|ruined society]]. Or it was the [[Alien Invasion|aliens and their battle lasers]]. But somehow, you're stuck in a [[Crapsack World|crapsack]] [[After the End|post-apocalyptic world]], and you need to [[Walk the Earth|stay on the move]].

You hear that there's some [[Safe Zone Hope Spot|nice little place to hole up in]] somewhere in Maine, and you jump in your car to drive there. What's this? You're almost out of gasoline, and nobody owns a gas station any more? Well, you'd better hope that you used to own a horse ranch, because otherwise you're walking. After all, bicycles never seem to stick around for Ragnarok.

This odd anomaly in transportation availability seems to manifest in many stories where it logically shouldn't. Sure, of ''course'' Frodo can't [[Walk Into Mordor|mountainbike his way into Mordor]], and his pal Aragorn can't grab a BMX to reach Gondor with some fancy wheelies. But that doesn't stop [[Actor Allusion|Viggo Mortensen]] from somehow forgetting that bikes exist in ''[[The Road]]''. Whether you're watching ''[[28 Days Later]]'' or ''[[Mad Max]]'', the problem remains. Fantasy and Sci-fi works involving post-apocalyptic worlds all have [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|selective amnesia]] when it comes to the world-changing invention of the bicycle. Maybe it's because horses are just [[Rule of Cool|cooler than bikes]], or maybe it's because all the [[Idiot Plot|idiots in the plot]] don't know how to pedal, or maybe it's because those [[Grey Goo|world-destroying nanobots have a specific affinity for aluminum frames]].

At some point, the [[Fridge Logic]] sets in and viewers start wondering just what's wrong with post-apocalyptic humanity for them to completely ignore the world's most popular form of mechanical transportation.

Now, if the ancient technology is randomly picked at and put together improperly, you've got yourself a [[Scavenger World]], and it might at least make a bit of sense not to have ''too'' many bikes. That's at least a bit excusable. But if you're watching or reading a story where gas-powered vehicles exist and foot-powered ones mysteriously don't, then there are '''No Bikes in the Apocalypse'''.


Compare [[Schizo-Tech]] and [[Scavenger World]]. Contrast [[Ragnarok Proofing]], for those rare cases where bicycles ''are'' still around and in working order, 500 years after the fact.

{{examples}}
== As described ==
=== Film ===
* ''[[The Road]]''
* ''[[Mad Max]]''
* ''[[Terminator Salvation]]''
* ''[[The Book of Eli]]'' could potentially have this be a [[Justified Trope]], since the main character  {{spoiler|is blind, even if he also has a [[Disability Superpower]]}}. It doesn't explain why nobody else has them, though.
* ''[[Dawn of the Dead (film)|Dawn of the Dead]]''
* Lampshaded in ''[[Zombieland]]'', when the main character remarks on the useful attributes of a bike during a zombie apocalypse. Notably, the main cast ''still'' doesn't bother using any of them. Justified in that abandoned cars with at least partially full gas tanks are everywhere.
* ''[[28 Days Later]]''. Pretty ironic, since Jim's character was a bicycle courier before the accident that got him into a coma in the first place.
* The four main characters in ''[[Carriers]]'' are perfectly willing to shoot innocent people for their gas, even though the world is almost entirely intact. The idea of getting gas from other cars or finding bikes never comes up. The only justified instance is with the father and his sick daughter because he needs to get her to medical attention ASAP.

=== Live Action TV ===
* ''[[Falling Skies]]''
* ''[[The Walking Dead]]''

=== Video Games ===
* in ''[[Fallout 3]]'' and ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' are partial aversions. There aren't any bicycles, but there are tricycles which serve no practical purpose for the playable characters.
* Inverted in ''[[Half-Life 2]]''. There ''are'' bikes, but you never see anybody using them. You can find several of them and indications of the rebels using them (eg. "Highway 17", where one is found next to a corpse and a crossbow), but they are more all rusted beyond usage, and work as little more than decorations and Gravity Gun ammo.
** The inversion is subverted in the derivative ''[[Concerned]]'' [[Web Comic]]: Gordon Frohman's vehicle of choice is a rusty bike.
* Justifed in ''[[Devil Survivor]]'', it's mentioned the ruins of Tokyo aren't suited to anything but walking.

== Inverted ==
=== Films ===
* Bikes are common modes of transportation in the safe zones in ''[[Warm Bodies]]'', just in the novel.

=== Literature ===
* ''[[Emberverse]]'' series: Bikes became a popular mode of transportation due the EMP attack known as "The Change" render all motor vehicles useless.
* Max Brooks, the author of ''[[The Zombie Survival Guide]]'', recommends bikes over motor vehicles due to the ease of maintenance, nearly quite, fast, and versatile since they can cover many terrains, where motor vehicles couldn't.

=== Live Action TV ===
* In "Chained Heat" from ''[[Revolution (TV)|Revolution]]'', bikes became a top seller following the blackout.

=== Real Life ===
* Many survivalists would recommend bikes after the apocalypse since along with mentioned above, they normally require human power rather than fuel.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Vehicle Tropes]]
[[Category:No Bikes in the Apocalypse]]
[[Category:Apocalyptic Index]]