A moving bicycle without a rider is asymptotically stable. The best way to explain it is to just watch the movie below. Shoving a moving bicycle will cause it to oscillate back and forth, but it’ll eventually find its way back to its stable upright orientation. No deep insight, just something that’s kinda cool.
There’s all kinds of bicycle related physics here.
#1 by Ryan Westafer on October 7th, 2009
Hey Jacques,
From my experience, not all bikes are alike! Give your bike a good shove and make sure it’s one of the asymptotically stable ones before you try your next “no-hander!”
I think it has something to do with the angle of the front fork… but regardless, my most recent bike won’t even stand up at the bike rack – it’s always the one that falls over when the handlebars get turned even the slightest bit. So it’s not just about the gyroscopic effect, it’s also about the effect of precession on the turning mechanism.
I’ll be in Boston tomorrow through Saturday evening. Are you still up there?