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The humble bicycle is still hiding a physics mystery [1]

['Jason Weisberger']

Date: 2026-07-13  

Everyone knows how to ride a bike. Nobody completely knows why the bike is helping.

The old explanation was that bicycles stay upright because of spinning wheels acting like gyroscopes. That is part of the story, but not the whole story. Researchers have built bikes that reduce or cancel gyroscopic effects, yet they still self-stabilize, which is where the tidy childhood explanation needs training wheels the bicycle doesn't.

The bicycle is humiliating physicists because it looks solved. Two wheels, a frame, a chain, some pedals, a seat designed by someone who hates your rear end. You push it, it rolls, it stays up, and everyone nods like this is normal. Then physics taps the chalkboard and admits the machine is doing a little balancing trick we still have not completely domesticated.

Apparently "like riding a bicycle" means not knowing what you're doing but still getting away with it.

Previously:

• Keystone Kops get a physics lesson from falling bear

• Physicists calculate exactly how long it takes to completely drain a bottle of olive oil

• Seven Brief Lessons in Physics: a thing of beauty is a joy forever

[END]
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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2026/07/13/the-humble-bicycle-is-still-hiding-a-physics-mystery.html

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