Most People Don't Know How Bikes Work

[Deus]

 

[saneagle]

He's got it completely wrong. It's the gyroscopic forces that control everything, which is why you can't balance when stopped or going very slow. He got close at 8:50, but he doesn't seem to understand how the leaning and steering are linked by the gyroscopic forces. When the bike rolls down the hill on its own, if it leans to one side, the steering goes the same way, so that the bike would go round in a circle, but the centrifugal gorce then acts to lean it the other way, so it goes straight. When you ride the bike, the counter steering envokes the gyroscopic force to lean the bike over, and you do the reverse to get it back upright. When the bike's leaning, you go round in a circle to balance your off-centre weight with the centrifugal force. You adjust the amount of lean by small adjustments of the bars left to go down and right to go up in a right turn.

Anyone, who's raced or ridden a motorcycle fast will know about counter steering. People thnk that you steer a motorbike by leaning, but if you let go of the bars and try to steer like that, you see that you can make small adjustments to your direction, but you can't turn a corner. Also, you get the picture very fast when you have your first go on a trike and it goes in the opposite direction to what you want.

 

[guerney]

I had to lean and countersteer quite a lot more than usual around this bend, because I was in a hurry to get somehere and didn't want to wear out my rim brake pads (it's getting expensive). The camera's stabilisation has cancelled countersteer weaving out, but nonetheless it appears perceptable to me, because I was there. I'm amazed the Marathon Plus tyres held onto tarmac in the rain going much faster than I normally would. After the 28s mark:

 

[flash]

He's got it completely wrong. It's the gyroscopic forces that control everything, which is why you can't balance when stopped or going very slow. He got close at 8:50, but he doesn't seem to understand how the leaning and steering are linked by the gyroscopic forces. When the bike rolls down the hill on its own, if it leans to one side, the steering goes the same way, so that the bike would go round in a circle, but the centrifugal gorce then acts to lean it the other way, so it goes straight. When you ride the bike, the counter steering envokes the gyroscopic force to lean the bike over, and you do the reverse to get it back upright. When the bike's leaning, you go round in a circle to balance your off-centre weight with the centrifugal force. You adjust the amount of lean by small adjustments of the bars left to go down and right to go up in a right turn.

Anyone, who's raced or ridden a motorcycle fast will know about counter steering. People thnk that you steer a motorbike by leaning, but if you let go of the bars and try to steer like that, you see that you can make small adjustments to your direction, but you can't turn a corner. Also, you get the picture very fast when you have your first go on a trike and it goes in the opposite direction to what you want.

Pretty well agree, apart from when I used to race on the track I could do a mean track stand. So I could balance whilst stopped. However this does need a fixed wheel and slight forward/backward movement.

 

[guerney]

Pretty well agree, apart from when I used to race on the track I could do a mean track stand. So I could balance whilst stopped. However this does need a fixed wheel and slight forward/backward movement.

So that's how it's done! Cheers, quite seriously I'll have a go, stopped at traffic lights and zebra crossings.

 

[Deus]

you do not need a fixed wheel to do a track stand

 

[Stanebike]

As a seven year old I saw a Blue Peter program where they explained the theory of how to ride a bike. They started with a bucket being swung around and the contents remaining in the bucket due to the centrifugal forces. Then the expert explained that a bicycle stayed up by using the same centrifugal forces. So if you started to fall to the right you needed to turn right so the centrifugal force would push the bike back up. And if you started to fall to the left you needed to turn left so the centrifugal force would push the bike back up. Armed with this information I borrowed a bike and tried to put the theory into practice. At first I couldn’t keep the bike up for one crank push (180* rotation). Kept practicing and an hour later I could ride in a strait line. So an expert on Blue Peter taught me how to tide a bike despite the expert not actually being able ride one himself.

 

[Saracen]

Remember these

Watch Be a Good Cyclist - BFI Player

Invaluable advice for the careful cyclist in a quintessentially British safety film.

player.bfi.org.uk

Watch Pedal Cyclists - BFI Player

A witty, eccentric guide to safety on two wheels under the watchful eye of a pedalling angel.

player.bfi.org.uk

Watch Good Cycles Deserve Good Riders - BFI Player

The car-free, Kodachrome streets of 1950s London offer an idyllic environment for acting out the 'wrongs' of cycling safety.

player.bfi.org.uk

Watch A Boy Goes Cycling - BFI Player

Pedal power saves a dad's day in this colourful cycling safety film set in a sunny 60s South East London.

player.bfi.org.uk

Watch Cyclist Turning Right - BFI Player

Two young BMX-ers nearly come a cropper in this short and shocking cycling safety film.

player.bfi.org.uk