Why is it very hard to balance on a bike when it is stationary but easy when it is moving along?

Answer 1

It is because when you ride you make tiny adjustments. This becomes apparent when you ride slowly. The "gyroscopic effect" theory has been debunked-it only makes things less twitchy. If it was entirely true, it would be near impossible to lean back to normal after a turn. Superlight race wheels are easily ridden-even by novices, and trackstands are practically stopped. However, you will see the rider make tiny adjustments-bobbing back and forth, and balancing.

If you do not believe me, how is it I can ride with only one rollerblade? Certainly there is almost no "gyroscopic effect" there, just many corrections in my balance.

Answer 2

When u r stationary the gravity acts upon u from the same direction all the time. Obviuosly, u wud not be able to resist the force of gravity for too long while on a bike n tryin balancin it.......

But when u r movin, even in the staight line, the angle that the gravity acts upon changes every moment.

Thus only the speed of the bike wud be enough to minimize the pull towards earth & u balance the bike properly !

Answer 3

If you learn how to do a trackstand, it's not hard to balance while stationary. Just come to a stop, and turn your front wheel to one side. As your balance shifts one direction, use your pedals to move the bike back and forth (and a little to the side from your angled front wheel) and keep your center of gravity over the bike.

Answer 4

The answer is because of centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the wheels. Without giving you a physics class, here's the bottom line: The faster your wheels spin, the more stable the bike is. When the wheels spin, the centrifugal force generated causes the wheel to want to "stand up" or remain upright. When the wheels decelerate, the force generated also decreases causing the bike to become less stable. If you want a better example of this try the following experiment:

Remove the front wheel from your bike. If you have a bike with Quick Release axles this is easier. If you don't just try to hold onto the axle with one hand and spin the wheel (vertically just like it would be on your bike) while holding it. If you spin the wheel fast enough you should be able to balance it by the axle on your finger. It will try to turn around your finger though so turn your hand with it so it doesn't hit your wrist. Once the wheel slows down, it will destabilize and fall off of your finger. When the wheel is attached to your bike it won't try to turn sideways like on your finger, but the force that balances it on your finger is the same one that makes your bike easier to ried going fast than going slow.

I hope that helped!!!

Answer 5

When your bike is moving, you are sitting upon two gyroscopes (Wheels). One of the interesting things about gyroscopes is that they will always remain in the position (Horizontal/Vertical) that they started rotating in. This is used to help aircraft navigate (Stay the right way up) and was even used on V1 and V2 rockets as a form of simple self guidance. The Earth is also bound by gyroscopic laws, although there is a slight wobble due to the Moon (Wobble causes a rotation at the poles which takes 23,000 yrs (ish)- Procession).

Anyway, it is the giroscopic effect produced by your wheels turning that mean that you are more stable when moving.

Luck

Answer 6

The forward mommentum keeps the bike straight.

Answer 7

The gyroscopic force of the wheels makes it more stable, that is why it is easier to ride with no hands when u going fast

Answer 8

When it is moving, the bike is constantly helping you correct any imbalance. When it is stationary, it is all you, and if you overcorrect, it is hard to recover.

Answer 9

You just suck....its easy to stay balanced on both!

Answer 10

See the know how website. Search there.