# Bicycles with gyroscopic effect "cancelled out" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles-with-gyroscopic-effect-cancelled-out/942505 "2021-05-19T20:41:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles-with-gyroscopic-effect-cancelled-out/942505/102 "2021-05-30T21:52:46Z")
I did watch the video, as is made pretty obvious by my comments about things that were in the video. I’m pretty sure that I watched it when it originally came out as well. I actually watch most of the videos on that channel. Looking at that picture of the rear steering bike, I’m not sure that that really qualifies as a truly rear steering bike. It’s more that the front wheel is just much more complicated, the geometry is the same as a regular bike, with the front wheel leading the way and turning with the forks at a much lower angle even than a regular bike. The front wheel would still be what turns in relation to your direction, not the back wheel. It wouldn’t be much different than simply attaching [this](https://www.walmart.com/ip/KaZAM-20-In-Link-Bike-Trailer-Watermelon/911792110?athcpid=911792110&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVUB&athieid=v0&athstid=CS004&athguid=95333cc4-007-179bf3e18052e7&athancid=null&athena=true) to your bike. Alternately, if you put studs on your front axles, and stood on your front tire, you aren’t suddenly on a rear steering bike just because _you_ are now in front of the handlebars. Still not sure it would be stable without a rider though, it was _not_ demonstrated to be in that video. They did show that a normal bike is extremely unstable backwards. Have you ever driven your car backwards at a high speed? It gets pretty unstable too, even though it’s not going to fall over, it’s still hard to control. They did have a bike with the front wheel locked (looked like with duct tape), and that was shown specifically to demonstrate that it was unstable. I didn’t see _anything_ about a bike that could only turn one way. So, the “contraptions that I am describing”, are a riderless rear steering bike(which the one in the video only barely qualifies as rear steering at all), a ridden bike with no steering with either wheel, and a bike with the handlebars locked in such a way that they can only be turned one way, with or without rider. Did this video actually have any of those setups? I realize it’s a short video, and I’ve watched it a few times now trying to see where it is that you claim that they are, but somehow have managed to miss them. Could you help me out and give a timestamp? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles-with-gyroscopic-effect-cancelled-out/942505/103 "2021-05-30T21:58:31Z")
You can see weird setups here. Maybe they do not meet your criteria but they certainly show unusual setups that are stable (video from post #93 but queued to the spot where he mentions the weird setups): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oZAc5t2lkvo/maxresdefault.jpg "How Do Bikes Stay Up?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZAc5t2lkvo) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles-with-gyroscopic-effect-cancelled-out/942505/104 "2021-05-31T01:36:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And I still maintain that the tiny steerings you’re referring to there are not part of the turn at all, since you also get such tiny steerings when driving “straight”. I don’t think you get tiny “steerings” when trying to hands-free navigate a straight line, unless you’ve got an unstable steering system (certain motorcycles can develop a “**[tankslapper](https://youtu.be/Zu-vReD3Jx0?t=3)**” where the bars oscillate further and further uncontrollably until they’re slamming lock-to-lock, typically resulting in a crash). The rider with hands off the bars maintains a “straight” path of travel with tiny hands-free countersteers that are induced by small amounts of body english. Besides which, if you’re hands-free attempting to initiate a turn, you’re not waiting for a random tiny deviation of the bars to hopefully get the bike to lean in the desired direction - you are _making_ the desired countersteer happen by leaning your body in the direction you want the bike to turn. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles-with-gyroscopic-effect-cancelled-out/942505/105 "2021-07-03T09:21:49Z")
Leaning the bike over has nothing to do with the wheels spinning. The bike could be on skis and it would still flip over if not leant at an appropriate angle. Ice skaters have to lean over to maintain balance when cornering as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles-with-gyroscopic-effect-cancelled-out/942505.md?page=5)