so how do bicycles work ...
Re: so how do bicycles work ...
Digressing a bit and looking at how we learn to ride a bike...
The Backwards bike
https://youtu.be/MFzDaBzBlL0
The Backwards bike
https://youtu.be/MFzDaBzBlL0
Re: so how do bicycles work ...
Thanks Colin.531colin wrote: ↑1 Dec 2021, 3:47pmThats trail. Your Mercian is a short trail design....twitchy/lively, etc.
I was trying to stop us getting mired in some of the usual ambiguities....fork rake, fork offset.......the old myth that a big fork offset produces a stable bike, when the opposite is true.....
Mick F. Cornwall
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- Location: Norfolk
Re: so how do bicycles work ...
OOer.... I'm now concerned (after seeing the video) that I know what's happening and as a consequence, I won't be able to ride my bike anymore
Re: so how do bicycles work ...
Yeah, but you had your eyes open to watch the vid........fastpedaller wrote: ↑2 Dec 2021, 10:05am OOer.... I'm now concerned (after seeing the video) that I know what's happening and as a consequence, I won't be able to ride my bike anymore
So riding your bike will be OK with your eyes shut.
Bike fitting D.I.Y. .....http://wheel-easy.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/bike-set-up-2017a.pdf
Tracks in the Dales etc...http://www.flickr.com/photos/52358536@N06/collections/
Tracks in the Dales etc...http://www.flickr.com/photos/52358536@N06/collections/
Re: so how do bicycles work ...
If you had a perfectly level, smooth road, perfectly still air, and you sat perfectly still and perfectly balanced on the bike, perhaps you would go in a straight line.rogerzilla wrote: ↑1 Dec 2021, 5:41pm The bike needs the rider to steer it around a corner no-hands by leaning, but it doesn't need the rider to travel in a straight line.
...................
I have never had the opportunity to test it.....around here, the roads have camber as well as other random slopes and patchy surface; the wind is variously deflected by hedges, trees and stuff like that; there is also the necessity to pedal sometimes, to keep to the appropriate side of the road and keep alert for other road users, and (in my case) the desire to keep an eye on the scenery and a lookout for wildlife.
All this results in continuously making slight adjustments in order to go "straight" down the road.
Bike fitting D.I.Y. .....http://wheel-easy.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/bike-set-up-2017a.pdf
Tracks in the Dales etc...http://www.flickr.com/photos/52358536@N06/collections/
Tracks in the Dales etc...http://www.flickr.com/photos/52358536@N06/collections/
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Re: so how do bicycles work ...
But the point is that the bike will make those slight adjustments itself. When I say "straight line", of course camber and wind will affect it; it hasn't got a keel and a compass.
Re: so how do bicycles work ...
Interesting stuff. However I hope I forget all about it when I next ride my bike, and just do what comes naturally!
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- Posts: 2918
- Joined: 9 Jun 2008, 8:06pm
Re: so how do bicycles work ...
Well, yes, we all do it without thinking. Apparently motorcyclists don't, though (more weight) and have to learn to countersteer. I think learners try to steer a motorbike a bit like a car.
Re: so how do bicycles work ...
Not so. What happens is that in extreme riding (thing MotoGP) the riders train themselves to force a countersteer so that they can turn more abruptly on the line they choose as optimal. On this very forum you will find threads about forcing countersteer on pedal cycles too.rogerzilla wrote: ↑3 Dec 2021, 3:08pmApparently motorcyclists don't, though (more weight) and have to learn to countersteer.
Re: so how do bicycles work ...
Learning on a low-powered motorbike at low speed is very similar to learning on an HPV. (And I don't think that I've heard counter-steering mentioned in CBT sessions.) Beyond those conditions other techniques become important.tatanab wrote: ↑3 Dec 2021, 3:26pmNot so. What happens is that in extreme riding (thing MotoGP) the riders train themselves to force a countersteer so that they can turn more abruptly on the line they choose as optimal. On this very forum you will find threads about forcing countersteer on pedal cycles too.rogerzilla wrote: ↑3 Dec 2021, 3:08pmApparently motorcyclists don't, though (more weight) and have to learn to countersteer.
I think that I'm agreeing...
Jonathan
Re: so how do bicycles work ...
From Physics Today April 1970. Nothing new really.
https://home.phys.ntnu.no/brukdef/under ... icycle.pdf
https://home.phys.ntnu.no/brukdef/under ... icycle.pdf