How bicycles balance themselves

[GuyBoden]

Interesting Science stuff in these links about how bikes balance themselves when moving.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2011/04/researchers-explain-why-bicycles-balance-themselves

http://www.cornell.edu/video/andy-ruina-explains-how-bicycles-balance-themselves

Interesting conclusion:
"The complex interactions have not been worked out. My suspicion is that we will never come to grips with them, but I don't know that for sure, Andy Ruina"

 

[RegG]

Interesting video but the bike would be more comfortable with a decent saddle!

 

[GuyBoden]

Nice quote.........
"Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride." Eddie Merckx

 

[numbnuts]

On three wheels

 

[raleighnut]

Happens on motorcycles as well, luckily this guy caught his up

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q5Aq5OLvoU&feature=player_detailpage

 

[xxDarkRiderxx]

I used to do this when I was a young boy. I used to cycle as fast as possible and then jump off. The bike would travel a good 20-30 yards before falling over. I had to stop when it crashed into the neighbours parked car and wedged itself into the front bumper. They were not happy.

 

[Milkfloat]

This is exactly how I snapped the forks on a Raleigh Striker - I would jump off and 25 yards away my mate would try and jump on as it passed.

 

[Crandoggler]

Used to ghost my bikes as a kid, no wonder dad went mad at me. Little did I know that one day I'd know all about the erection and rigidity of gyroscopes. Which in this case are in the shape of 2 wheels.

 

[raleighnut]

Used to ghost my bikes as a kid, no wonder dad went mad at me. Little did I know that one day I'd know all about the erection and rigidity of gyroscopes. Which in this case are in the shape of 2 wheels.

Nothing to do with the gyroscopic effect, it happens because of head angle and castor, same as pushing a bike by the saddle and steering it from there.

 

[Crandoggler]

Just read the article. How queer. Obviously, intuitively, I went for the 2 gyroscopes rather than the castor effect.

 

[Globalti]

When there's a rider on board it's the caster that keeps the bike going straight while the rider steers by deliberately disturbing the effect, steering the wrong way to initiate a turn. Without a rider I'm guessing that gyroscopic forces play a part in keeping it upright as well.

 

[RichardB]

Can't link to it here (work PC), but there is a vid on YouTube which shows a guy on a big motorbike who attempts a wheelie and falls off the back at about 50 mph. The bike carries on quite happily without him, and you get the impression that if it hadn't hit the telegraph pole about 300m away it would still be going. It went upright and pretty much in a straight line without a rider, and showed no signs of wanting to fall over. It curved gently to the right, but I think that was a result of the camber of the road.

Marvellous things, two-wheelers.

 

[MichaelW2]

while the rider steers by deliberately disturbing the effect, steering the wrong way to initiate a turn.

You steer by leaning and use steering to regain balance. Countersteering is pre-empting the off balance, so you can regain balance with less steering, more rapidly.

 

[Globalti]

Yebbut you lean by steering briefly the opposite way so as to bring the wheels outside your centre of gravity.