I imagine that most civilian bicycles one would find in Central/Eastern Europe c. 2000 wouldn't be suitable for prolonged military use. I reckon that civie bikes wouldn't be able to hold up for very long under the weight of a modern infantryman, with his/her weapons, ammo, LBE, pack contents, and body armor. In the absence of purpose-built military bicycles (were any produced during the late Cold War?), some sort of field expedient structural reinforcement would be necessary.
Another consideration for any mode of transportation/movement (but for bicycles, especially) is the condition of roads in active and/or recent warzones. I imagine that one would have to be very careful whilst riding a bicycle over Polish roads, for example. Many would be cratered, torn up by tracked vehicles, and crumbling from years of neglect. Also, I imagine that a bicycle- even a mountain bike- carrying a fully kitted out soldier couldn't get far off-road, especially on soft ground. And pedaling uphill on or off road in full kit would be exhausting, to say the least.
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Last edited by Raellus; 05-18-2022 at 11:43 AM.
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