Re: counter-steering, with numbers

[palmer@sfu.ca (Leigh Palmer)]

> Being more the experimental than theoretical type, I suggest building
> a front wheel assembly with an adjustable counter-rotating  component to
> reduce, cancel, or reverse the gyroscopic effects and try riding.
> This might reduce some of the arguments.
> I'm afraid I am not prepared to construct the experiment at this time.
> Sorry.

That's OK. It has been done already. The results were published in
Physics Today back in the seventies. Anyone have the reference handy?

Oh, yes; the result was that the gyroscopic effect is unimportant to
the perceived stability of the bicycle. Of course the bicycle is
unstable to start with, but it remains quite *rideable* with a
counterbalancing gyro on the front fork.

Leigh