Originally Posted by
Inertianinja
PS - people often are amazed that the bike doesn't fall when you use rollers; it's hard to explain gyroscopic stability. but it's easy to demonstrate. take a wheel (off the bike), hold it by the skewer, and wobble it around. easy. then spin the wheel and try that while the wheel is spinning, notice how it resists you. magic!
ARGH. Science lesson time: gyroscopic stability does NOT explain how you balance a bike, whether on the road or on rollers. It's not nearly strong enough to matter. This should be obvious, given that you can balance at very low speeds. This has been demonstrated by the building and successful riding of bicycles designed to cancel out any gyroscopic effect. These bikes are just as rideable as a normal bike, and they even behave the same way when rolled down a hill without a rider. Gyroscopic stability has been discredited both theoretically and practically for some 40 years now. Sheesh.
A bike stays up on rollers the same way it stays up on the road: balance by countersteering.