

Gyroscopic wheel as a replacement for training wheels - e1ven
http://www.bikecommuters.com/2009/09/26/interbike-2009-gyro-wheel-by-gyro-bike/

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ars
Use a <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_bicycle> to teach children to
ride.

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mitko
To me this seems much harder to learn and to ride. In fact pedaling helps keep
the balance as spinning wheels have gyro effect.

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a-priori
I'm pretty sure that the act of pedalling (i.e, rotating the pedals and
sprockets) has no significant gyroscopic effect...

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tomjen2
That seems hard to believe. It is very nearly impossible to hold the bicycle
for more than a few seconds when it is standing still, but I can ride it for
half an hour (traffic permitting) with no problem.

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a-priori
That stability comes from the angular momentum in the _wheels_ , not in the
drive train.

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Luc
The gyroscopic action of the wheels actually has very little effect on
stability. It is the fact that the front wheel counter-steers when you get out
of equilibrium that is the major reason for staying upright.

EDIT: Here's the link: <http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~hemh/gyrobike.htm>

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pbhjpbhj
He says that the gyroscopic effect is small compared to the weight of the bike
and rider.

The enhanced gyroscopic stability appears to be a near constant-rotating
balanced mass; it's still rotating with the wheel but at an angular velocity
such that the gyro effect is constant (ie reducing slightly as the wheel's own
weight adds to the gyro effect?). Thus you get the gyro stability that you get
when riding quickly with no hands but constantly, even when riding slowly.

It's neat for sure and bound to do well as it's hiding the stabiliser away and
pretending the kid is more advanced, hence parents will love it as their kids
will look "better" than the neighbours kid!

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chaosmachine
Nice to see this made it out of the prototype stage:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9rSZ4-l3lo>

Same guy, 2 years ago.

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pbhjpbhj
Interestingly in the patent's cited prior art is this "Girocycle" (appears to
be closest, other pa is handles and the like) -
[http://www.google.com/patents?id=xgw6AAAAEBAJ&printsec=a...](http://www.google.com/patents?id=xgw6AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false)

It's a flywheel gyro system, so it uses the speed of the vehicle and on
breaking releases the flywheel to maintain gyro stability - that's the ground
breaker ... in 1986, presumably that patent having expired in May 2006
explains the timing? (the startup being from April 2006?)

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pizza
That's actually a really good idea, but it seems a little heavy for a 4-year-
old.

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catch23
Most kiddie bikes are pretty heavy already since they're usually made of cheap
steel -- heavier than some adult bikes, I doubt the kid would lug it around
anyway.

