Originally Posted by
myrridin
Actually no, but it seems that you like so many others on this forum can't reason very well.
Bicycles are a product of an industrialized society. Collapse of that society would entail the elimination of the infrastructure needed to maintain those bicycles. Yes some would be in use for some time. But an ever reducing number. Horses, however, are a naturally self-reproducing commodity that of course performs a multitude of functions that a bicycle is incapable of... After all how practical is a bicycle pulling a plow.
And some other items, the delusional fail to consider
- Failure of an industrial society will quickly mean a failure of the paved road network.
- Metal working as it occurs in mass production is not something that would survive such a collapse.
So yes, anyone who thinks that bicycles would be useful for any reasonable period after such a collapse is delusional...
Roads have been paved for thousands of years. With less truck traffic, our current roads should survive for quite a while.
I have to admit that our skies might be dark with coal dust, but it could certainly become a lively steampunk world. There's a lot you can do mechanically and hydraulically. There is no reason that given the parameters of no electricity, the world could not scale back to say the level of civilization in Civil War era United States.
Precision technology is not dependent on electricity. Remember, that the first electrical generators were built without the use of electricity. The first light bulb was not demonstrated until 1879, and that was what drove the creation of electrical grids.
So as far as metalworking goes and lack of mass production, tell that to Samuel Colt. Charles Babbage's designs for mechanical calculators worked when built after his death.
Optical telegraphs can send complex messages over long distances at speeds up to 1,300 Km per hour. No electricity needed.
Just because electricity doesn't work, doesn't mean that we get stupid or can't read books.