great for avoiding pedestrians

[Lock]

Recently, someone said in another thread:The 13 inch tires make it a bit more unstable (when you hit holes) but on the other hand they also make it very manouverable (great for avoiding pedestrians on the sidewalk).I took this to mean a comparison with experience on larger diameter wheels?

Would anyone please point me to any pages or past threads that mull the pros/cons of large versus small wheel with regards to manouverability? Is there physics here, or just the shorter overall vehicle length?

tks
lOck

ps Perhaps smaller wheels confer a psychic advantage too, when approaching pedestrians. Perceived as less threatening... visually smaller, which of course they are. Means peds stay more relaxed when you are around.

[Lock]

On a related note, another here said recently:Bicycle-style ebikes on these routes will be definitely more friendly than Vespa-style ebike.
So while I am interested in wheel size/manouverability, the larger question might be what aspects of bike design make it "friendly"... and what does "friendly" mean anyway?

tks
L

[PMD283]

Hi Lock,

I'm the guy that you quoted here and I can tell you I am a newbie to biking and don't pretend to know anything. I think I may only have a perception that the bike is more manouverable because it is more unstable than my daughter's full size bike (to me at least). I'm probably totally wrong.
As far as pedestrians go I think it is a less threatening bike. People seem to always smile at me a make remarks like "nice bike". But maybe it's because I probably look kind of "goofy" .... a white haired 60 year old riding such a small bike.
Anyway I'm having fun.

[JeanCoutu]

A better plan to avoid pedestrians would be to ride your bike legally (not on the sidewalks)

But it's not just for the peds safety:
"Relative danger index 24.8 times as high for sidewalk riding as for major street without bicycle facilities."

Re: The 18 page sticky thread in Advocacy & Safety on the topic of sidewalk bicycling:
http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=100823

[Lowell_]

A better plan to avoid pedestrians would be to ride your bike legally (not on the sidewalks)

But it's not just for the peds safety:
"Relative danger index 24.8 times as high for sidewalk riding as for major street without bicycle facilities."

Re: The 18 page sticky thread in Advocacy & Safety on the topic of sidewalk bicycling:
http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=100823

The OP rides a kick scooter. I'm not sure what the legal aspects of those are, sidewalk or roadway.

[Zeuser]

A better plan to avoid pedestrians would be to ride your bike legally (not on the sidewalks)


Tell that to all those pedestrians which I encounter on the CYCLE PATH. :rolleyes: