“You will love the interesting video,”
Interesting video on how bikes work
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You will love the interesting video, "Most People Don't Know How Bikes Work" by Veritasium - this video
Most People Don't Know How Bikes Work
24.9M views · Nov 28, 2021 · 11:22 · 7 HN recommenders · 17 mentions · discussed 2021–2025
Veritasium explains why bicycles are stable, arguing that gyroscopic effects are not the answer. The video shows countersteering and an experiment where riders blocked from steering the opposite way cannot turn.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN links it in threads on bikes, countersteering and control systems as the clearest demonstration of how bikes actually steer and balance.
“It shows what happens if you prevent the rider from performing the countersteer before leaning into a turn [1].”HN comment, 2023
What Hacker News said 17
“I like this clip where they show bike steering to the left, without its front wheel ever going to the right side of its original path”
Bike turning left without ever countersteering right
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Indeed. I like this clip where they show bike steering to the left, without its front wheel ever going to the right side of its original path, by only leaning and no countersteering. this video
“where they fix the steering so the handlebars can only be turned left, and people then aren't able to turn left.”
Experiment where handlebars only turn left and riders cannot turn left
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Beautiful article. There's a similar neat video, "Most People Don't Know How Bikes Work", where they fix the steering so the handlebars can only be turned left, and people then aren't able to turn left. this video
“It shows what happens if you prevent the rider from performing the countersteer before leaning into a turn [1].”
Shows what happens when riders are prevented from countersteering
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Beautifully illustrated and brilliantly explained. Derek Muller (Veritasium) on YouTube has a related video diving into the mechanics of bicycle riding. It shows what happens if you prevent the rider from performing the countersteer before leaning into a turn [1]. [1]: this video
“Veritasium did a video where they stopped him from counter-steering and couldn't steer anymore.”
Riders blocked from countersteering cannot steer
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Veritasium did a video where they stopped him from counter-steering and couldn't steer anymore. this video He might be wrong, and just didn't know enough, but he is usually researching his videos very well and I would be surprised for him to be wrong about this.
“Here's a good video showing how a bike actually works, and the relation between steering and leaning”
Shows how steering relates to leaning in a bike
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Here's a good video showing how a bike actually works, and the relation between steering and leaning: this video
“Veritasium has a quite good video on the subject”
Explains how bicycles work, even for people who ride
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> You only think you understand how a bicycle works, until you learn to ride one. I realize this is just for motivation in a subtitle, but people generally don't grasp how bicycles work, even after having ridden one. Veritasium has a quite good video on the subject: this video
“you counter steer even without touching the bars.”
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As someone who can ride aggressively without handlebars, you counter steer even without touching the bars. this video
“I watched a YouTube video[0] demonstrating this recently.”
Demonstrates countersteering, which riders do without thinking
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I watched a YouTube video[0] demonstrating this recently. It was definitely surprising to me and is just something that is done without thought. [0] this video
“You balance by steering the bike under the centre of gravity.”
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Balancing is hardly anything to do with the gyroscopic effect of wheels. You balance by steering the bike under the centre of gravity. Veritasium : this video
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Most people would be surprised, but I’m happy to assert most of the things we do with an expectation of causal effect are superstitions. While people don’t generally understand bikes [0], in this case superstition would be more about people building them like in any of the [0] illustrations (or e.g. saying “I need suspension/carbon fibre frame” without knowing what those are for) rather than not being aware of how the laws of motion stop it falling over — except for bikes with trick steering, average people aren’t even going to bother asserting a causal mechanism for motion: this video [0] link
“Veritasium did a video on this”
Explains countersteering many cyclists are unaware of
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> The bike counter-steering example clicked instantly with me, but I guess not many people have an intuition about that. I rode for decades before learning this and I think most other cyclists are not aware as well. Veritasium did a video on this: this video
“It's not possible to not countersteer as the bike would lean to the wrong direction”
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You can't turn a bicycle or motorbike without counter-steering, so these people are just not turning their bikes? It's not possible to not countersteer as the bike would lean to the wrong direction and you'd turn the wrong way (since you'd have been initiating a countersteer, afterall). Are you seeing people just manhandle the bars the wrong way in emergencies? I could believe that. this video
“related content”
Experiment asking whether you can turn left if steering right is blocked
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related content: Would it even be possible to turn left if steering right would be blocked? "Most People Don't Know How Bikes Work" this video
“it self-steers in the same direction that it is leaning, which counteracts the fall”
Bikes self-balance by steering into the lean, no gyroscope needed
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The gyroscopic effect is not necessary, and it has been demonstrated both in reality and in simulation [0]. The central principle behind why a bicycle is self balancing while in motion is the fact that it self-steers in the same direction that it is leaning, which counteracts the fall [0][1]. [0] link [1] this video
“Derek Muller from Veritasium demonstrated what happens if you lock the steering of a bike”
Shows what happens when bike steering is locked
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More on the physics of how bikes work, Derek Muller from Veritasium demonstrated what happens if you lock the steering of a bike: this video
“A bike just naturally steers into its fall.”
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No that's not true. A bike just naturally steers into its fall. Veritasium made a video about it: this video