3 ms·
Bicycles are entirely stable without a rider as long as they’re moving. The human is only really necessary to provide motive power. There are a ton of videos sh
by Armisael16 7y ago
Bicycles are entirely stable without a rider as long as they’re moving. The human is only really necessary to provide motive power. There are a ton of videos showing this.
It is totally unlike the intentional instability of a modern jet fighter.
- maaaats 7y agoThat relies on the front fork being at an angle, though, doesn't it? If they made it straight down (which is the obvious choice) or pointing backwards, it would be much, much harder to ride.
- habnds 7y agoBicycles actually are less stable with a more angled fork. If the fork was perpendicular to the ground it would be very difficult to turn. the geometry of the ride type of a bicycle or motorcycle is really interesting [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_and_motorcycle_geometry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_and_motorcycle_geometr...
- mantap 7y agoMaybe in spherical cow land, but in the real world bicycles don't get very far without a human to maintain balance. It would fall over the first time it had to ride over a piece of debris on the road.
- Armisael16 7y agoObjectively not true. Here’s a video of a unmanned bike rolling over a curb without any trouble: https://youtu.be/oZAc5t2lkvo?t=145s https://youtu.be/oZAc5t2lkvo?t=145s Stuff on the road will only knock the bike over if it stops the motion of the bike first. The need for motive power was already acknowledged.