Those bicycle builders big mistake!

In article ,
Garrison Hilliard wrote:

The most interesting scientific fact about the bicycle is that when
you get up a head of steam its center of gravity is actually in front
of the place where the front tire meets the road. The greater the
angle of the front fork, the farther forward the center of gravity
is. That's why you can ride a bike with no hands ---- because it
keeps falling forward toward its center of gravity.

Bwahahahahahahaha. He worked hard on that one.

"Gyroscopic stability" just doesn't have as much ring to it. Still, it's
good for bikes and boomerangs, what more could you want?

--
David J Richardson --
http://davidj.richardson.name/ -- Dr Who articles/interviews/reviews
http://www.boomerang.org.au/ -- Boomerang Association of Australia

In article ,
says...
The most interesting scientific fact about the bicycle is that when you get up a
head of steam its center of gravity is actually in front of the place where the
front tire meets the road.

If so, what keeps if from falling over frontward?

Rick

Zoot Katz wrote:

Wed, 17 Dec 2003 22:31:31 -0600,
, Jim Adney
wrote:

It is only in the 1st world countries where the bicycle is
seen as only a recreational product.


The Wright's stated purpose of flight was for "sport".
They almost got into cars but cycling had already whetted their taste
for freedom. It was mostly the train guys who turned to cars while the
bike guys went into aircraft and motorcycles.

On a good day with a nice tailwind, we all fly our bikes.
Bernie

Java Man (Espressopithecus) wrote in message able.net...
In article ,
says...
The most interesting scientific fact about the bicycle is that when you get up a
head of steam its center of gravity is actually in front of the place where the
front tire meets the road.

If so, what keeps if from falling over frontward?

Rick

Dear Rick,

Surely it must be obvious to the meanest
intelligence that a bicycle with a full
head of steam is proceeding in a constant
forward fall, much like the moon.

Only the ingenious circular shape of the
front wheel prevents a horrifying accident,
converting the forward fall into linear
motion.

Braking is a simple matter of moving the
center of gravity to a point slightly
behind a perpendicular line dropped from
the back of the rear tire.

This halts the forward fall that the wheels
convert into circular motion, so the bicycle
runs out of steam, but it also ruins the
delicate balance of the system, which is why
most riders put a foot down when they come
to a halt.

I hope that this answers your question.

Carl Fogel

On 18 Dec 2003 05:48:10 GMT,
wrote:

psycholist wrote:

: And yes, you're right. Bicycles were used in the military. There's a
: display about it at Fort Benning, GA. I believe the Chinese and the
: Vietnamese have also made significant military use of the bicycle.

I recall there recently was a link to some full-suspension easily
packable MTB designed to be used by US Rangers. The bikes that .fi
military uses are quite different from that...
id like to find that link- any more info you have would be great,
like quotes from the post etc. I personally would like a packable
full sus bike

In article ,
"Pete" wrote:

wrote in message
...
psycholist wrote:

: And yes, you're right. Bicycles were used in the military. There's a
: display about it at Fort Benning, GA. I believe the Chinese and the
: Vietnamese have also made significant military use of the bicycle.

I recall there recently was a link to some full-suspension easily
packable MTB designed to be used by US Rangers.

I believe that's by a company that *would like* the US military to use their
bikes. Evidently, no interest yet.

Pete

http://www.militarybikes.com/military.html

It appears you are correct, though the bike does seem to have been
developed with some DARPA cooperation.

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

(Carl Fogel) wrote in message . com...

Surely it must be obvious to the meanest
intelligence that a bicycle with a full
head of steam is proceeding in a constant
forward fall, much like the moon.

That's why riding uphill is so hard. It upsets the forward-falling
motion of the bike, which quickly runs out of steam.

--
Dave...

On 18 Dec 2003 22:11:34 -0800 (Carl Fogel)
wrote:

Braking is a simple matter of moving the
center of gravity to a point slightly
behind a perpendicular line dropped from
the back of the rear tire.

This halts the forward fall that the wheels
convert into circular motion, so the bicycle
runs out of steam, but it also ruins the
delicate balance of the system, which is why
most riders put a foot down when they come
to a halt.

And here I always thought that I was just putting my foot down to keep
from rolling backwards....

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

Ryan Cousineau wrote:

: http://www.militarybikes.com/military.html

: It appears you are correct, though the bike does seem to have been
: developed with some DARPA cooperation.

That's the thing...

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/

Jim Adney wrote:

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 02:47:44 +0000 Garrison Hilliard
wrote:

snip

This ignores the fact that the bicycle is a major source of pragmatic
transportation for people and goods for a majority of the people of
the world. It is only in the 1st world countries where the bicycle is
seen as only a recreational product.

snip

Most of the world, and most of Europe, consider a bicycle serious
transportation. Only the US, Canada, and a few European countries do
not treat bicycles as serious vehicles.