Originally Posted by
DaveSSS
cycocummute...
Do you ride a motorcycle? Your comments make me think not.
I see nothing in your comments about how to make the bike turn. You must turn the bars to the left, by pushing on the right side (countersteering) to lean the bike to the right and initiate a right hand turn. A smart rider would never apply pressure to the left side of the bars. That would tend to make the bike not want to lean. If it doesn't lean enough it won't turn sharp enough.
With a bicycle, if you have the inside pedal down, the bigger problem will be hitting the pavement with pedal and raising the rear tire off the ground. That seems like a no-brainer.
You're really confused if you think that a rider can do more than just apply his weight to the outer pedal. There's nothing to "press" against.
Nope. I don't ride a motorcycle nor was I talking about riding one. However the same principles apply. It's a natural tendency to turn away from the corner so that you can initiate the turn. Anyone who rides a bike will do it because that's the way to balance the bike.
However, once the turn is initiated, you put pressure on the 'uphill' side of the bike just as you would on the uphill ski in a skiing turn. That 'uphill' side is the outside pedal which is the one that is down by the way. I never said, except to make a point, that you should press down on the inside pedal. If you did, the downward vector is too far from the tire patch to make the bike turn properly.
For example, this rider (a drawing because you'll seldom find a rider who would turn like this
is not turning correctly. His wheels would slide out from under him if the turn were fast and sharp.
Look at this picture of a high speed bicycle turn.
Notice that the outside leg is fully extended and the muscles appear to be tight. The right arm is obviously pushing on the
outside of the bar and the inner shoulder is dropped. The wheel
is curving to the inside of the curve (it has to
) but the real pressure on the outside of the bike not towards the inner foot.
Here's a motorcycle picture that shows the same.
The inner arm is relaxed and the outer arm is fully extended. The rider is
pushing the outer bar and isn't pulling on the inner one. His inner leg isn't putting pressure on the peg either. He's pushing on the outer peg too, however not as hard as you would on a bike because it would have less effect due to vehicle weight.
For an extreme example, look at this ski racer
All of the skier's weight is on the outer ski. She's pressing as hard as she can to maintain contact with the ground so that the outer ski pulls her around the corner.
It's true that a rider can't put more then his weight on the outside pedal in a turn, however, he can push down on it to put as much of his weight on it as possible. By doing so, you put the bike in a better position to be pulled around the corner...just like the skier.