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.
@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.
@HayiWena@mastodon.online@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.