this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2024
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Gyroscope effect. You ever do the experiment where you spin a bike tire really fast and then try to tilt it? Shit's nuts.
The gyroscopic effect of slowly spinning, light bicycle wheels is negligible compared to the weight of the bike and it's rider. If it was what keeps you upright, riding a tiny scooter-thing with skateboard/inliner wheels would be impossible. I mean those without motor, pedals, where you push yourself forward with one foot on the ground), often for kids.
What actually keeps you upright isn't a physical effect, but just training your brain to instinctually keep you upright. While you're moving, turning the handlebar effectively moves the bike below you left and right. So if you start tilting to the right, you turn right (slightly) so the bike/scooter is moving below you to compensate. That's why learning to ride anything that is balancing on 2 wheels takes a relatively long time, but only once. Then your brain knows what to do, and it just works without thinking about it.
But then, why would they be more stable when moving, even without a rider? If the steering is tight enough, you can push a bike to someone a good distance away. You can do it with a scooter too, although it's a lot harder.
You can also look at a motorcycle. Their mass is far greater than a human's, a person could never manage that. Those little RC motorcycles are the same, they don't need some crazy balancing system to mimic humans, they just need to stay upright enough to get some speed going, then they balance themselves.
It's the same with a wheel - the speed makes it stay upright, they can balance on the tiniest edge so long as they're moving
It's not a gyroscopic effect either, though that's present. It's a balance between rotation speed and the friction with the ground - the object as a whole has momentum, the rotation has momentum, and the contact with the ground balances the two. It'll try to put it's center of mass in line with these forces acting on it
Add in a human, and they can shift the center of mass on the fly. The vehicle's speed is still pushing you upright - get on a bike with some good speed, and you can lean very far into a turn and ease off to return upright. Way more than you could if it wasn't moving
The design of the front forks also assists with stability - having some rake and trail means the front wheel has a tendency to self centre (particularly at speed).
That only causes part of the effect, most of it is the bike's steering countering the momentum of your fall.
You wouldn't be able to balance on a bike with just the wheel spinning, you're too heavy. That is why bikes on those indoor rollers allow the bike to move left and right a bit.
Just wait till OP learns that you need to counter-steer bikes to balance
That's always fun. Some people will swear it can't possibly work like that, but they have plenty of experience riding bikes. You wouldn't be able to turn properly at speed unless you're counter-steering, so they clearly have done this. The idea seems to be so incredibly intuitive that people don't even realize they're doing it, which is very interesting.
So biking is just falling with style?
So is walking
Turning a motorcycle or bike is falling with purpose! The faster you are falling (leaning over more), the faster you turn!
Just like orbiting something. Satellites are constantly just falling back to earth, but with enough grace to always miss earth. I bet satellites would be great cyclists!
There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. … Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.
Hmmm... Both things involve bicycles... Maybe they're just magic?
My next DnD character will be a bicyclist
I cast "Find greater Iron Steed"
Mine will just be a bike
Town bike?
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)