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Gyroscopic wheel as a replacement for training wheels
- pizza 17y agoThat's actually a really good idea, but it seems a little heavy for a 4-year-old.
- catch23 17y agoMost kiddie bikes are pretty heavy already since they're usually made of cheap steel -- heavier than some adult bikes, I doubt the kid would lug it around anyway.
- chaosmachine 17y agoNice to see this made it out of the prototype stage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9rSZ4-l3lo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9rSZ4-l3lo Same guy, 2 years ago.
- ars 17y agoUse a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_bicycle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_bicycle to teach children to ride.
- mitko 17y agoTo me this seems much harder to learn and to ride. In fact pedaling helps keep the balance as spinning wheels have gyro effect.
- a-priori 17y agoI'm pretty sure that the act of pedalling (i.e, rotating the pedals and sprockets) has no significant gyroscopic effect...
- tomjen2 17y agoThat seems hard to believe. It is very nearly impossible to hold the bicycle for more than a few seconds when it is standing still, but I can ride it for half an hour (traffic permitting) with no problem.
- mapleoin 17y agobut you can also ride it for as long as you like if you're going down hill, without pedalling.
- a-priori 17y agoThat stability comes from the angular momentum in the wheels, not in the drive train.
- Luc 17y agoThe gyroscopic action of the wheels actually has very little effect on stability. It is the fact that the front wheel counter-steers when you get out of equilibrium that is the major reason for staying upright. EDIT: Here's the link: http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~hemh/gyrobike.htm http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~hemh/gyrobike.htm
- a-priori 17y agoI stand corrected. Thanks.
- pbhjpbhj 17y agoHe says that the gyroscopic effect is small compared to the weight of the bike and rider. The enhanced gyroscopic stability appears to be a near constant-rotating balanced mass; it's still rotating with the wheel but at an angular velocity such that the gyro effect is constant (ie reducing slightly as the wheel's own weight adds to the gyro effect?). Thus you get the gyro stability that you get when riding quickly with no hands but constantly, even when riding slowly. It's neat for sure and bound to do well as it's hiding the stabiliser away and pretending the kid is more advanced, hence parents will love it as their kids will look "better" than the neighbours kid!
- pbhjpbhj 17y agoInterestingly in the patent's cited prior art is this "Girocycle" (appears to be closest, other pa is handles and the like) - http://www.google.com/patents?id=xgw6AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false http://www.google.com/patents?id=xgw6AAAAEBAJ&printsec=a... It's a flywheel gyro system, so it uses the speed of the vehicle and on breaking releases the flywheel to maintain gyro stability - that's the ground breaker ... in 1986, presumably that patent having expired in May 2006 explains the timing? (the startup being from April 2006?)