Science · 6 pages · 12 min
Why a bicycle stays up while it rolls
A moving bike turns a lean into a steer that brings the wheels back under it.
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From the opening
A bicycle stays up while it rolls because a lean steers the front wheel into the lean, and the moving wheels then carry their contact with the ground back under the mass. The correction is a steering correction, and it needs forward motion before steering can change the path. The opening covers trail turns a lean into a steer, why rolling is required, and what the gyroscope does and does not do.
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Inside
- Trail turns a lean into a steer
- Why rolling is required
- What the gyroscope does and does not do
- Countersteer starts the lean
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Steering geometry and trail on a bicycle
- Self-stability beyond the gyroscope account