Can Science Explain the Mysteries of Bicycle Stability?

[Oanh]

How did you find PF?

Google search

I am a 52 year old female whom: acknowledges failures, learn from mistakes, encourage questions, seek answers, strive for improvement, knows no bounds. Admittedly overindulging at times; which I am working to change.

By joining this website I hope to understand the laws of physics as it applies to cycling. My biggest indulgence.

 

[jedishrfu]

Welcome to PF!

Body mechanics is an interesting physics field. There was a cool thesis written by Sarah Hummel on the Flight Mechanics of a Frisbee. In the first part, she analyzed the frisbee itself and in the second part on the body mechanics of the throw.

https://morleyfielddgc.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/hummelthesis.pdf

The bicycle is also an interesting device. However the jury is out as to how it maintains its balance so well. Initially people felt it was gyroscopic motion of the wheels, but then it was shown to not be true.

Here’s a great starting article

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/bicycles.html

if you have questions on it, just open a new thread in the classical physics forum and other members will try to answer it.

 

[Oanh]

Welcome to PF!

Body mechanics is an interesting physics field. There was a cool thesis written by Sarah Hummel on the Flight Mechanics of a Frisbee. In the first part, she analyzed the frisbee itself and in the second part on the body mechanics of the throw.

https://morleyfielddgc.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/hummelthesis.pdf

The bicycle is also an interesting device. However the jury is out as to how it maintains its balance so well. Initially people felt it was gyroscopic motion of the wheels, but then it was shown to not be true.

Here’s a great starting article

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/bicycles.html

if you have questions on it, just open a new thread in the classical physics forum and other members will try to answer it.

Indeed, body mechanics is an interesting field. I am intrigued & perplexed how force, objects, wind, movement, speed, weight, etc- causes & effects, conditions / situations that can cause accidents & change an outcome on two wheels. Thank you for the reading material. I am off to a good start and very excited about what I can learn. Trial and error is how I learn best but in this situation the errors could be costly. Haha

 

[PeroK]

By joining this website I hope to understand the laws of physics as it applies to cycling. My biggest indulgence.

We've just recently been debating whether the laws of quantum mechanics apply directly to my bicycle, as it sits in the shed, unobserved!

 

[jedishrfu]

Here's a 2016 SciAm article on bike stability:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-bicycle-problem-that-nearly-broke-mathematics/

Also, there's this old analysis of bicycles. Prof DE Jones did experiments with changing the structure of the bike like repositioning the front wheel fork and found in some cases the bike is wildly unstable.

https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.2364246