# Reinventing the bicycle **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reinventing-the-bicycle/737524 "2015-11-14T03:34:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reinventing-the-bicycle/737524/21 "2015-11-17T21:48:06Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#): > > I don’t know that Chinese people still rely on bicycles as a primary means of transportation. China has changed a lot in recent years! [https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDgQFjADahUKEwirkOn6tpjJAhWMKyYKHaMYC-M&url=https%3A%2F%2Facademiccommons.columbia.edu%2Fdownload%2Ffedora\_content%2Fdownload%2Fac%3A175458%2FCONTENT%2FZouLinghong\_GSAPPUP\_2014\_Thesis.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFl0LxjJ6a1dk2V0JyC\_kwgYSmiYg&sig2=-xyKgpMMv40Vpd3bLBCuvw](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDgQFjADahUKEwirkOn6tpjJAhWMKyYKHaMYC-M&url=https%3A%2F%2Facademiccommons.columbia.edu%2Fdownload%2Ffedora_content%2Fdownload%2Fac%3A175458%2FCONTENT%2FZouLinghong_GSAPPUP_2014_Thesis.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFl0LxjJ6a1dk2V0JyC_kwgYSmiYg&sig2=-xyKgpMMv40Vpd3bLBCuvw) You’re right, it’s dropped more in the past 20 years than I would have imagined. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reinventing-the-bicycle/737524/22 "2015-11-17T21:56:13Z")
If rickshaws, carts, wheel chairs and the like are still around, I’m guessing it wouldn’t take long for someone to take the wheels running parallel and put them serial. Chain drives have been around for a long time so I’d say in 5 years we’d be back on our velocipedes. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reinventing-the-bicycle/737524/23 "2015-11-18T01:10:30Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Sounds like a job for Bicycle Repair Man… Thank you for that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reinventing-the-bicycle/737524/24 "2015-11-18T01:47:23Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > If rickshaws, carts, wheel chairs and the like are still around, I’m guessing it wouldn’t take long for someone to take the wheels running parallel and put them serial. Chain drives have been around for a long time so I’d say in 5 years we’d be back on our velocipedes. I’m doubtful because parallel is obviously stable but serial is (to someone who doesn’t know) obviously not. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reinventing-the-bicycle/737524/25 "2015-11-18T17:50:43Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I’m doubtful because parallel is obviously stable but serial is (to someone who doesn’t know) obviously not. The world is chock full of engineers who do know that. In fact, anyone who has seen a spinning top also knows the effect, though I wouldn’t expect a lay person to make the connection to bicycles. An engineer, though… things like gyroscopes are used for stability in so many applications that it’s practically universal knowledge among engineers. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reinventing-the-bicycle/737524/26 "2015-11-18T21:03:07Z")
Yeah except that bikes don’t stay upright due to gyroscopic effects. This has been established experimentally since the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2015, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reinventing-the-bicycle/737524/27 "2015-11-19T07:09:53Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Sounds like a job for Bicycle Repair Man… Uh, if they’re not really careful, any bicycle repairmen working in their home garage might accidentally invent an airplane instead. (It happens.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reinventing-the-bicycle/737524.md?page=1)