Quote:
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Originally Posted by AZ Scott
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!  |
Wouldn't it be nice if physics were that simple? I think one variable that still has to be taken into consideration is the source of handlebar force: The rider. His/her strength remains constant throughout these changes, therefore the torque applied to the bars remains constant. So long as the gyroscopic force is strong enough to resist that force it will always be counteracted and applied to the headstock. Unless the rider is Superman, the bike will always lean more quickly when it has lighter gyros to resist the bike's desire to lean. Hope this makes sense.
EDIT:
I guess, to sum up what I'm saying, is that the gyroscopic force only has to be strong enough to resist the rider's inputs, which even the lightest unobtanium wheels provide way more than enough of.