"Gyrobike" - Alternative to Training Wheels?

I saw this mentioned on the Engadget blog site. Seems like it might actually
work as a way to help novices learn to ride without picking up bad habits.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gyrobike/

Personally, I've never had any trouble teaching kids or adults to ride using
the lowered-saddle and scoot-before-you-pedal approach, but I understand
that doesn't work for every learner.

RichC (not affiliated with Gyrobike)

Rich Clark wrote:
I saw this mentioned on the Engadget blog site. Seems like it might actually
work as a way to help novices learn to ride without picking up bad habits.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gyrobike/

Personally, I've never had any trouble teaching kids or adults to ride using
the lowered-saddle and scoot-before-you-pedal approach, but I understand
that doesn't work for every learner.

RichC (not affiliated with Gyrobike)

Sounds like a product in search of a problem. I would be worried that,
assuming this thing works, it would teach bad bike handling.
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 00:21:53 -0400, "Rich Clark"
wrote:

I saw this mentioned on the Engadget blog site. Seems like it might actually
work as a way to help novices learn to ride without picking up bad habits.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gyrobike/

Personally, I've never had any trouble teaching kids or adults to ride using
the lowered-saddle and scoot-before-you-pedal approach, but I understand
that doesn't work for every learner.

First comment: Every kid I've seen who started off using training
wheels (and I can recall only one who didn't) was off of them within
two weeks precisely because they became a limiting factor as soon as
the kid was comfortable with the whole pedal-and-steer process. Some
were off in a couple of days.

Second comment: Training wheels require no adult intervention to make
active. They're there and functional full-time; no "winding up"
required. The current gyro setup seems to have only an external power
source; it won't work without adult intervention, and won't work for
very long even with it. This might actually be a feature; the single
big advantage of training wheels is that once they're no longer
needed, they come off and have no further effect. If the gyro wheel
only provides assist for a short period, its potential negative
effects might not be an issue. However, the problem then shifts to
the fact that the device doesn't look very removable without replacing
the front wheel, and it's probably not a great idea to leave it there
permanently. So does the bike get sold with a temporary front wheel?
That doesn't sound feasible.

Third comment: The principle usefulness of training wheels is their
ability to isolate the tasks of riding during the familiarization
period. The argument that they promote bad habits is, in my
experience, not persuasive; the "bad habits" acquired, if any, are
swiftly unlearned when the training wheels come off, and by then the
rider is fully comfortable with the rest of the process.

Fourth comment: The website was, predictably, long on laudatory
exclamations from the test subjects which seemd to have been collected
immediately, but short on statements about whether the test students
made the transition to a regular bike painlessly as a result of the
use of the gyro wheel. *Those* would be the data I would find more
valuable.

The purpose of training wheels is, as I see it, to permit a stepwise
approach to learning to ride; mastering the physical motions of riding
is separated from mastering the balance issue. One of the perceived
hazards of training wheels with small children is actually
educational; if the learner tries to turn the bike too sharply using
the handlebars, the bike falls over. This is amazingly effective in
building the *good* habit of keeping your hand motions with the bars
to a minimum. If the bike is essentially steering itself instead, I'm
not sure that this habit will be acquired as readily; I have no direct
experience to back this up, but I think it needs to be looked at. As
noted, the current gyro design is externally powered and thus not a
full-time feature. That's probably good. Having it running all the
time would, in my estimation, be less desireable; with the
gyrostabilized front wheel available and running for long periods, I'm
concerned that the result could be that the learner would be delayed
in developing active directional control skills...and since unlike the
training wheels, the gyro's function does not appear to the outside
observer to be interfering with the bike's usage, there's less
feedback about when to take it off or disable it. An internally
powered gyro wheel might get left in place for long periods, and that
might lead to dependence on it.

All of that said, I think it's worth marketing, but I am not sure it
will meet with wide acceptance due to the probable cost. If there was
a way that the wheel could be made available for rental for a period
of a month or two instead, I suspect it might get better results...but
either way, I wouldn't want to be underwriting their insurance.
--
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