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Old 04-06-2006, 06:01 PM
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AZ Scott AZ Scott is offline
Geez. Some people...
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 6,652
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Well, golly. I'm going to go right out and buy a set of cast-iron wheels for my bike right now! Not only will it be super stable, it'll steer like lightning with all that gyroscopic help!

Maybe I'll fill my tires with cement, too.

Jeez, you guys don't make any sense at all. If gyroscopic effect is good, why on earth does less make it better?

Lemme guess: Because it just so happens, by sheer coincidence, that while reducing wheel weight, the reduction in steering efficiency caused by the reduction in gyroscopic force is cancelled out because the reduction in unsprung weight makes it handle that much better. In exact proportion.

So...

Reduce the mass of the wheel by 10%, and you get 10% less gyro effect, which makes the steering 10% harder to do.

BUT...

You also get 10% less unsprung weight, so it makes your steering 10% easier!

So it all evens out in the end, right???

Okay, I believe you!
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