Why does a bicycle wheel with a larger diameter provide greater stability?

172 views

I’m looking for something more than just simply the ‘gyroscopic effect’ as this is too vague. Why is it that whilst doing slow speed manoeuvres, it is infinitely easier to do with larger wheels than with smaller wheels?

In: 2

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

When something is moving, it wants to keep on moving. We call that “Momentum”. When an object moves in a straight line we call it “linear momentum” and when the object is spinning we call it “angular momentum”.

Imagine a tennis ball and a pick up truck rolling towards you slowly at the same speed. It’s obviously easier to stop the tennis ball vs. the pick up because the tennis ball has *less* momentum, because it’s smaller. That’s for linear momentum.

For angular momentum instead of “stopping” the ball, you’re “changing the way the tire spins”. Falling over is an example of changing the way the wheel spins.

So the analogy is, just like it’s harder to stop a pick up truck vs a tiny ball, it’s hard to make a big wheel fall over compared to a small wheel.

You are viewing 1 out of 3 answers, click here to view all answers.