Originally Posted by
Dan The Man
The MIT bike does the same thing as a normal bike does to steer, just instead of using the weight of the bicycle and rider to turn the front wheel during a lean, it uses an extended weight hanging ahead of the front wheel. Same result, different mechanism. It doesn't preclude the normal function of a normal bike.
That's proabaly a very good way to show what really does hold up a bike. A slight lean results in a turn into the lean which puts the bike back underneath the center of gravity. With a weight hanging out in front it would be obvious what was happening, but I'm sure it could be done with geometry or the nomal weight of front end components like handle bars that extend forward of the pivot point. As far a rider control goes, riding a bike with no rake and trail and no forward handle bar extension would probably be a lot like riding a razor scooter, possible but with no inherent stablity.