A neat question from @idlestate
Q5. Does anyone know of a use of "training-wheel" type outriggers fitted to adult bicycles as a guard against the worst from an ice-related wipeout?
@ascentale @idlestate @bikenite I haven't heard of it, but apparently there are adult-sized training wheels. https://zizebikes.com/product/adult-bike-training-wheels/
I'd be more likely to use a recumbent trike or quad if I lived someplace it was a risk. And studded tires.
@HayiWena@mastodon.online@meganL @ascentale @idlestate @bikenite Yeah hard do not recommend on these. We had a guy with balance issues ask to have them installed and they really weren't up to the task. He really needed a trike. They ended up donated to the bike coop and are probably still in storage five years later.
@HayiWena @meganL @ascentale @idlestate @bikenite
I wonder how hard it would be to install them so they *didn't* have a .5-1" rise off the ground "like traditional training wheels". That would make them more stable to begin with.
@deirdrebeth @meganL @ascentale @idlestate @bikenite The structural engineer in me (which is tiny--I gave that up after undergrad) will tell you that you need three constraints to be statically determinate, which is a very fancy way of saying a 3-legged stool will never wobble, but a 4-legged stool almost always will because you can make a plane with 3 of the legs that excludes the fourth. In this case, you've got three points between front wheel, back wheel, and one balance wheel.... (1/2)
@deirdrebeth @meganL @ascentale @idlestate @bikenite ... (2/2) so since the ground is never perfectly level and constantly changing, no matter how you configure the training wheels, if you have training wheels you've got four potential contacts = two potential planes that the balance point will hinge around. Hence, a tricycle (or quad with suspension) will always be more stable.
@HayiWena, Swinging Wheels look much better than this.
@andrew_shadura @HayiWena @meganL @idlestate @bikenite these are fascinating. I wonder how they make a bicycle handle while turning.
@andrew_shadura @meganL @ascentale @idlestate @bikenite Swinging Wheels look exactly like the ones we tried to install for someone. I guess mobility issues vary for people and this woman looks like she had a few wobbles and mostly dented her confidence and doesn't rely on them. Adults and teens with more serious balance issues would get rocked back and forth and terrified every time the balance point shifts.
@HayiWena, I think a big difference is that Swinging Wheels are actually mounted on springs, so they allow you to lean in turns if you need to, unlike rigid alternatives such as Zize’s.
@andrew_shadura @meganL @ascentale @idlestate @bikenite Well turning isn't the issue I'm describing. It's when your balance point shifts left or right and your bike switches from which auxiliary wheel it's using. The springs will dampen the jarring on landing but it's the feeling of falling you feel that's just as scary as you teeter over that balance point. The woman in the video is mostly riding without a wheel contacting the ground, it's there in case. Not good for people who always need it.