To all you cyclists: do you know how bikes stay so stable? How they can even remain upright without a rider?
A bike pushed forward at sufficient speed will continue moving steadily forward on its own.....but why? This video from Minute Physics explains the forces behind how bikes can steer even without a rider.
Basically, the handlebars need to be loose enough to help compensate for uneven ground and for the lean of the bike in either direction off center.
"For a bicycle to be stable, the steering mechanism has to be unstable; if the bike falls, the steering should fall even more quickly," says Arend Schwab, a Professor at Univ. of Delft in The Netherlands.
A little quantitative, but fun and informative on a machine many of us use daily for the most mundane of tasks. Enjoy!
A bike pushed forward at sufficient speed will continue moving steadily forward on its own.....but why? This video from Minute Physics explains the forces behind how bikes can steer even without a rider.
Basically, the handlebars need to be loose enough to help compensate for uneven ground and for the lean of the bike in either direction off center.
"For a bicycle to be stable, the steering mechanism has to be unstable; if the bike falls, the steering should fall even more quickly," says Arend Schwab, a Professor at Univ. of Delft in The Netherlands.
A little quantitative, but fun and informative on a machine many of us use daily for the most mundane of tasks. Enjoy!
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| of course! photo: BikeParkSlovenia |
Nice post. I was looking like this. Really it is very useful and informative post. Thanks for sharing. Thanks again! Rosalind B. Jenkins
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