Physics doesn't know why we stay up

Kieran_Burns
Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
edited August 2013 in Commuting chat
http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/07/mysteries-bicycle

Someone should mention clipless moments....
Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
2011 Trek Madone 4.5
2012 Felt F65X
Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter

Comments

  • mtb-idle
    mtb-idle Posts: 2,179
    are these the same scientists who proved that it's scientifically impossible for a bee to fly?
    FCN = 4
  • davis
    davis Posts: 2,506
    MTB-Idle wrote:
    are these the same scientists who proved that it's scientifically impossible for a bee to fly?


    The myth of "those daft scientists" winds me up more than it should.
    Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.
  • SteppenHerring
    SteppenHerring Posts: 720
    Old. It's just New Statesman journalists just haven't caught up.

    The simplest explanation is that if you start to fall (say) left, the bike steers left putting the wheels back under your centre of gravity. The reason a touch of wheels in a race (or unruly bunch) is so fatal is because the wheel steers away from the way the centre of gravity is moving. Sod-all to do with gyroscopes. Also it's because cyclists are just awesome.
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,829
    There's also the castor effect due to the trail of the front wheel. The point at which the wheel touches the ground is behind the axis of the forks, as the bike moves forward, the steering will tend to straighten.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • tootsie323
    tootsie323 Posts: 199
    Is that not a bit like explaining the mysterious phenomenon of walking by stating that all we are doing is constantly falling over forwards and simply reacting by putting alternate feet out to prevent the actual falls?
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    http://arstechnica.com/science/2011/04/ ... e-thought/
    http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/15/scie ... iders-opt/
    http://ruina.tam.cornell.edu/research/t ... lebicycle/
    --
    Chris

    Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 17,407
    Wasn't this a BBC2 programme about 5 years ago?

    Slow news month - trawl out some "science".

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