3 ms·

I'm curious how you're so confident about this. I think if you ask most people (even most cyclists) what happens when you turn the handlebars to the right, they

by mk12 4y ago

I'm curious how you're so confident about this. I think if you ask most people (even most cyclists) what happens when you turn the handlebars to the right, they'd say you turn to the right. I cycle almost every day and I thought this for a long time. Have you actually tried it? When I tried it, I found that it forces me into a left turn.

whycombinetor 4y ago
Have you tried leaning to the left while biking in a straight line? It results in you turning left without your front wheel ever having gone to the right (i.e., turning without countersteer).
- kazinator 4y ago
  > Have you tried leaning to the left while biking in a straight line? That is impossible. If you lean your body left while biking in a straight line, the bike will lean right to keep your center of gravity above the track. For bike and body to be leaning left, the bike must already be in a turn. Or else, it must be in the middle of a fall. Two-track vehicles always begin a turn with a countersteering move which induces a fall in the opposite direction. Then the steering immediately switches in the falling direction, to convert the fall into a turn. (In the absence of wind anyway. A left turn could plausibly start without a countersteer if a gust of wind blows over the bike into a left lean; the subsequent left steer and turn will supply the compensating acceleration to prevent a fall.) A bicycle is always countersteering. A bicycle whose steering column is locked out, prevented from turning, cannot be ridden. It will fall over. A bicycle doesn't require a rider in order to maintain balance, either. Above a certain speed, a bicycle can correct itself. This is due to countersteering. Whenever the bicycle accidentally steers slightly to the right, it begins to fall to the left, and this provokes a left steer which prevents a fall. A rider who doesn't understand countersteering nevertheless intuitively "bootstraps" the turn out of these small wobbles, gradually increasing the tilt and and degree of turn, through a sequence of small counter-steering maneuvers.

by mk12 4y ago

whycombinetor 4y ago

Have you tried leaning to the left while biking in a straight line? It results in you turning left without your front wheel ever having gone to the right (i.e., turning without countersteer).

kazinator 4y ago
> Have you tried leaning to the left while biking in a straight line? That is impossible. If you lean your body left while biking in a straight line, the bike will lean right to keep your center of gravity above the track. For bike and body to be leaning left, the bike must already be in a turn. Or else, it must be in the middle of a fall. Two-track vehicles always begin a turn with a countersteering move which induces a fall in the opposite direction. Then the steering immediately switches in the falling direction, to convert the fall into a turn. (In the absence of wind anyway. A left turn could plausibly start without a countersteer if a gust of wind blows over the bike into a left lean; the subsequent left steer and turn will supply the compensating acceleration to prevent a fall.) A bicycle is always countersteering. A bicycle whose steering column is locked out, prevented from turning, cannot be ridden. It will fall over. A bicycle doesn't require a rider in order to maintain balance, either. Above a certain speed, a bicycle can correct itself. This is due to countersteering. Whenever the bicycle accidentally steers slightly to the right, it begins to fall to the left, and this provokes a left steer which prevents a fall. A rider who doesn't understand countersteering nevertheless intuitively "bootstraps" the turn out of these small wobbles, gradually increasing the tilt and and degree of turn, through a sequence of small counter-steering maneuvers.