On Monday, July 9, 2018 at 12:46:49 PM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Oh great just what our industry needs, more overpriced crap
marked 'TACTICAL' only because they are matté black.

Not quite. The matte black color scheme symbolizes aggression, which
makes it suitable for assault bicycles and suicidal night riders. For
a prepper bicycle, stealth camouflage colors are more appropriate,
where one wants the rider and bicycle to appear invisible.

Just think of the possibilities of selling helmets with night vision
goggles attached, rear rack mountable smoke screen projectors, high
power dynamo generators for producing power while camping in the
middle of nowhere, megalumen headlights for blinding the attacking
zombies, conversion kits for burn anything steam power (sBike), and
rear wheel centrifugal rock launchers for defense.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mythbusters+confederate+steam+gun&tbm=isc h

Golden Goose: In order to sell something new in the bicycle market,
it is first necessary to create an "activity" to support it. The only
requirements are that it be done on or with a bicycle and that the
rider or operator has a tolerable chance of surviving. A catchy name
and associated acronym are also a good idea. There should also be
some kind of association with society's losers, as is common in the
fashion industry.

So, there's the problem. All you need to do is package the "prepper
bike", "survival bicycle", "forest bike", "zombie chaser", or
whatever, into something that can be marketed to those with more money
than good sense. I think the first step should be to give it a better
name. As I recall, before "mountain bike" became the de facto
standard, Bicycling magazine had a contest for a suitable name, which
attracted quite a bit of (free) attention. Starting a fad would also
be helpful. How about wrapping knobby tires with chicken wire or wire
mesh to create "armored" tires suitable for riding through the forest
off of the trails? I'm salivating at the possibilities here (or was
it the coffee)? Anyway, if you need a swift kick in the imagination,
you know whom to ask.


http://mountainbikemilitia.com/ has their own REAL MAN saddle from Sheldon Brown.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/real-man.html