Tag Archives: momentum

C.H.U.N.K. 666: An Introduction to Bicycle Geometry and Handling.

After a great start, with lines such as:

the ability to steer is necessary to keep a bicycle moving under any circumstances,

the author slips in some malarkey like this:

when the bicycle is moving fast, the rider has more momentum, and inertia will exert a greater pull on the bicycle.

Momentum is a vector quantity, and as such, the momentum in one direction, such as straight ahead, is completely independent of the momentum in an orthogonal direction, such as to the side. Therefore increasing momentum in the direction of travel can have no effect on momentum to the side.

Instead, by moving forward faster, a smaller steering angle is necessary to accelerate the contact patches in the direction of lean.

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