One for the London lot...

[very-near]

You have no idea Linf.

Can you explain this one to me as you have just rubbished the science behind the pastime of cycling and motor cycling on 2 wheels as a whole.

Do you think anybody has the strength to hold up a 1/2 tonne Goldwing when they tip into a corner if gyroscopic forces play no part in 2 wheeled transport ?

 

[Rhythm Thief]

What keeps you upright at speed has nothing to do with 'muscle balance' and plenty to do with gyroscopic forces caused by spinning wheels - else we would be required to track stand all the time to stay on the bike!

I don't think this is true. There was a hilarious televised experiment a few years back involving a scientist who was insistent that he could balance by gyroscopic forces alone once he got the wheels revovlving at the right speed. Cue television cameras, a bike on rollers and an ungainly heap of entwined scientist and bicycle.

 

[Greenbank]

A bicycle on its own will balance reasonably well if going more than a few mph. This is why your average upright bicycle will travel along in pretty much a straight line quite happily if pushed/set off hard enough.

But stick a rider on the bike and you significantly alter the centre-of-gravity of the whole thing. That's why you have to learn to ride with no hands. The balance of the rider becomes very important. It's also the reason why you can even take quite tight turns riding non-handed.

 

[hackbike 666]

I can't ride with no hands,this stems from when I was cycling down a road in Leytonstone in the 1970's and for some reason I just let go of the handlebars.You can imagine what happened next.

 

[tdr1nka]

Balancing a bicycle is simply constant adjustment to avoid falling to one side or the other.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Balancing a bicycle is simply constant adjustment to avoid falling to one side or the other.

I remember a friend of mine showing me a bike he'd modified to turn left when the rider steered right and vice versa. Ha, I can ride that, I thought, and hopped on. Oh no I couldn't, not even in a straight line, as I was so used to unconsciously balancing by making tiny adjustments to the steering. Another friend of mine - not a regular cyclist - was able to ride it with no problems at all.

 

[very-near]

There used to be a bloke in Leicester Square with one. He'd charge £5 a go, and give £100 (or something like that) to anyone who could ride a very short distance on it. He'd ride it round a bit, so everyone thought it would be easy. It wasn't.

Gyroscopic effects have some impact on the bike's movement, but it's more about balancing, as with counter-steering.

I thought you didn't believe we used countersteering on a cycle to change direction.

 

[hackbike 666]

I use power steering.

 

[tdr1nka]

Hilldodger has one of those reverse steering bikes, I couldn't get the hang of it at all.

 

[gaz]

I thought you didn't believe we used countersteering on a cycle to change direction.

As i said in the other thread you can counter steer to get your bike to lean, but you DON'T have to. your body mass v's the bikes mass means that your weight has control over the lean and balance. thus you can lean left without turning right