Ultimate model? On yer Bike!

Here is a teaser for you - How on earth is it possible that a moving bicycle can, all by itself, be so stable?

An international team of scientists believe they have found the answer in what they call the ultimate model of the bicycle.

“Bicycle manufacturers have never been able to say precisely how a bicycle works,” said Dr Arend Schwab of the Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering at the Delft University of Technology. “They have always had to refine their designs purely through experimentation. In our model, they can enter into the computer all of the various factors that influence the stability and handling of their bicycle. The model then calculates how the bicycle will react at specific speeds.”

The team, made up of researchers from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, Cornell University in the US and the University of Nottingham say the bicycle industry is highly interested in their findings.

The head of product development at the Dutch bicycle manufacturing company Batavus, Rob van Regenmortel said: “In designing our bicycles, for years we have worked with three parameters: The overall geometry, the distance between the axles and the angle at which the fork points downwards. These choices were once made by all bicycle makers and have been rarely deviated from because the bicycle appeared to work properly. However, with the new model, we soon hope to be able to design bicycles that are much better oriented toward specific target groups.”

The ultimate goal of the bicycle research is to study the interaction between bicycle and rider in order to determine the handling quality of the bicycle.

“In this way, we can – in theory – create a customised bicycle for every rider,” says van Regenmortel. “Individuals who have trouble maintaining their balance, for example, would then no longer be restricted to a tricycle.”