Steering cycles: bikes vs. trikes

[danski]

I can ride a bike if you give me about 100 metres in which to wobble about from side to side and then only do so with gritted teeth and an alarmed look on my face, as I fail to compute how to deal with the fast impending hazard. It's not pretty.

I think video evidence is required, in the name of science.

 

[Orang Utan]

it's not really something you need to think about or even understand, you just do it

 

[Orang Utan]

 

[Mation]

I think video evidence is required, in the name of science.

Yep, sure, no prob! Coming right up. Just as soon as hell is somewhat less toasty.

 

[StoneRoad]

I learnt pushbike in the 1960s and m/bike in the late 1970s.

I must be doing something right in terms of balance / turning as I have yet to fall off a m/bike.
You do have to remember which language your feet are speaking as to the location of brake / gear change levers.
(I'm assuming that as a bairn I fell off a few times before I got the hang of riding bikes)

 

[A380]

View attachment 227855

Do or do not do. There is no tricycle...

 

[Spymaster]

it's not really something you need to think about or even understand, you just do it

Typical cyclist. This is the kind of attitude that gets people killed.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Typical cyclist. This is the kind of attitude that gets people killed.

Yeah, knowing how to steer a bike isn't something you need to understand. Knowing how countersteering works isn't important, because you'll never have to react quickly to avoid something, when all the 'body steering' in the world won't save you.
Yeah, let's not worry about how to turn. Let's just rely on the fact that we somehow manage it, sort of, maybe.

 

[Orang Utan]

You don’t need to know about it though. No one goes on about if you learn as a kid. You just learn how to do it by doing it.

 

[Saul Goodman]

You don’t need to know about it though. No one goes on about if you learn as a kid. You just learn how to do it by doing it.

So you learn as a kid, and have no idea how or why it works, but one time you're faced with a situation where you need to use it to save your life, but you don't even know what 'it' is. Don't you think people who use it should know what 'it' is, and how to use 'it'?
And what about people who didn't learn to ride a bike as a kid, do you not think they should be taught 'it', rather than just giving them a bike and saying "Off you go. Try not to die"?

 

[weepiper]

What is this all-important scenario in which consciously choosing to counter steer on a push bike will save your life? Because I've been riding a bike almost every day for about 25 years and I've managed to avoid getting squashed so far without ever knowing about it. Incidentally I tried it today and it didn't do what it's supposed to do. I pushed the left side of the bar, the bike turned right.

 

[Saul Goodman]

What is this all-important scenario in which consciously choosing to counter steer on a push bike will save your life? Because I've been riding a bike almost every day for about 25 years and I've managed to avoid getting squashed so far without ever knowing about it. Incidentally I tried it today and it didn't do what it's supposed to do. I pushed the left side of the bar, the bike turned right.

Yeah, OK, now let's hear from someone who can't break the laws of physics, please!
Maybe the cyclist who ran into the back of my parked car would have been able to avoid me if he had only known how to steer.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Yeah, knowing how to steer a bike isn't something you need to understand. Knowing how countersteering works isn't important, because you'll never have to react quickly to avoid something, when all the 'body steering' in the world won't save you.
Yeah, let's not worry about how to turn. Let's just rely on the fact that we somehow manage it, sort of, maybe.

This isn’t coming across as clever as you think it is.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

So you learn as a kid, and have no idea how or why it works, but one time you're faced with a situation where you need to use it to save your life, but you don't even know what 'it' is. Don't you think people who use it should know what 'it' is, and how to use 'it'?
And what about people who didn't learn to ride a bike as a kid, do you not think they should be taught 'it', rather than just giving them a bike and saying "Off you go. Try not to die"?

And neither is this.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Yeah, OK, now from someone who can't break the laws of physics, please!
Maybe the cyclist who ran into the back of my parked car would have been able to avoid me if he had only known how to steer.

Or this.

 

[Saul Goodman]

This isn’t coming across as clever as you think it is.

And neither is this.

Or this.

You're confusing me with someone who gives a fuck about your opinion.

 

[Spymaster]

You don’t need to know about it though. No one goes on about if you learn as a kid. You just learn how to do it by doing it.

Posts like this prove that you are a menace to society.

 

[DownwardDog]

What is this all-important scenario in which consciously choosing to counter steer on a push bike will save your life? Because I've been riding a bike almost every day for about 25 years and I've managed to avoid getting squashed so far without ever knowing about it. Incidentally I tried it today and it didn't do what it's supposed to do. I pushed the left side of the bar, the bike turned right.

You have to be going very fast (60km/h) for the effect to be apparent on a road bike in my experience. It might be more apparent on an MTB where you've got more trail and caster. It's a niche fetish and irrelevant to cycling almost all of the time.