it's easier to countersteer, but you don't have to if you ride at low speed, on a Dutch style bike, in an upright position, ie, it is perfectly possible to turn your handerbars right and hold it right, you will turn right. Try it also on a tricycle.
Where do I get spokes please?
- Thread starter Tracey Hinton
- Start date
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
Let's not complicate it with any special circumstances. We're talking about a normal bike at normal speed.
have you tried riding with your hands off the handlebars, steering with shifting your body weight? Next time you do that, watch carefully the movement of the handlebars.
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
Ride along with the palms of your hands on the top of the bars and your thumbs behind the grips. Push forward with one thumb and see what happens. Don't do it close to the kerb!
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
Anybody can explain it, but it's counter-intuitive, so understanding the explanation isn't easy. You need to understand how angular momentum works and how it's affected by torque. Even many engineers and scientists don't get it, so it's nothing to be ashamed about. When you try what i suggested, it'll make a lot more sense.
I don't know if people find it counter intuitive by this video makes it clear: you only need to countersteer to initiate the turn. After that, your body and the bike lean into the turn. Anyway, that's how most kids do slalom around traffic cones.
in physics, the bike will steer itself in the direction of your line of gravity. If your line of gravity goes over the centreline, the bike will go straight. If your line of gravity is to the right of the bike's centreline, the handlebars will turn right. Countersteering has two stages, in the first stage, you initiate the turn that causes your gravity line to move to the side you want to go.Then in the second phase, gravity and inertia turn the handlebars for you. The word countersteering describes accurately the sensation you feel in your wrists, because when inertia turns the handlebars, it tends to turn more sharply than you want to, so you have to control it, in effect, by continuing to countersteer a little. The front wheel will of course turn with the handlebars and the bike will follow the front wheel. On an e-bike with thin tyres, the required effort to steer the bike is very little, you don't feel much the countersteering force, on a fat bike, you will feel it more.
.
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
It's the other way round. If the front wheel is rolling forward, the direction of the angular momentum vector is to the left. When you apply torque to the handlebars as if to turn them to the left, the direction of the torque vector is upwards. The torque therefore has the effect of trying to pull the angular momentum vector upwards as if the axle was extended to the left and you lifted up the end. This makes the wheel precess (tilt) to the right.
Basically, that means that if you push the bars to turn them to the left, instead of them rotating, the bike leans to the right.
That's what you need to initiate the turn. Once you are tilted over, you balance that by turning in a circle, otherwise you'd end up flat on the floor. When you've turned enough, you push the bars the opposite way to bring the bike back up vertical again to go straight.
So, the handlebars do not control the steering when the wheel is spinning. Instead they control how much the bike leans.
That's why when you spin up a wheel and hold it by its axle, it seems to go all over the place out of control. It's because the direction the wheel goes is always at right angles to the direction you try and move it. When you understand that, you can control it perfectly.
That's the bit that people struggle with because nearly everything in life will go in the direction you push it, but if it's rotating, it goes at right angles to any torque you apply.
Basically, that means that if you push the bars to turn them to the left, instead of them rotating, the bike leans to the right.
That's what you need to initiate the turn. Once you are tilted over, you balance that by turning in a circle, otherwise you'd end up flat on the floor. When you've turned enough, you push the bars the opposite way to bring the bike back up vertical again to go straight.
So, the handlebars do not control the steering when the wheel is spinning. Instead they control how much the bike leans.
That's why when you spin up a wheel and hold it by its axle, it seems to go all over the place out of control. It's because the direction the wheel goes is always at right angles to the direction you try and move it. When you understand that, you can control it perfectly.
That's the bit that people struggle with because nearly everything in life will go in the direction you push it, but if it's rotating, it goes at right angles to any torque you apply.
Last edited by a moderator:
you make it more complicated than it is. You can of course steer the bike like a car if you so wanted. You can also use the countersteering technique to do the same with less effort,
Inertia is what make the bike tilt. When the bike tilts, the front wheel is pitched and turns because of its gyroscopic precession and the bike turns, following its front wheel.
Inertia is what make the bike tilt. When the bike tilts, the front wheel is pitched and turns because of its gyroscopic precession and the bike turns, following its front wheel.
Related Articles
-
MTF Enterprises announces acquisition of EMU Electric Bikes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Wisper 806T folding bike wins Which? ‘Best Buy’- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Sustrans calls for protected cycle lanes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Amazon launch their first UK e-cargo micromobility hub- Started by: Pedelecs
