bicycle wheels

From: Paul Doherty (pauld@exploratorium.edu)
Date: Thu Mar 15 2001 - 11:45:35 PST


Hello Sjef

You are correct.

The heavier rimmed wheel will have more angular momentum than the lighter
rimmed wheel.
That means that it will require more torque to make it turn.

To make a wheel turn to the left, the rider applies torque by leaning to
the left. With the entire weight of the rider there is plenty of torque to
turn even the heavier wheel.

Have fun riding!

One of the bicyclists in the Teacher Institute Lori Lambertson once got a
speeding ticket for going 50 mph in a residential area on her racing bike.
She's proud of that ticket!

Paul Doherty

Paul "But it is more complicated than that!" Doherty,
Senior Staff Scientist, The Exploratorium.
pauld@exploratorium.edu, www.exo.net/~pauld



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Mon Apr 24 2006 - 11:34:48 PDT