How do you remain upright on a bike? How does steering work? How about those nifty fixie-riders and their track stands at red lights?
Balancing on a bike
The best comparison I've read about balancing on a bicycle is the one that compares it to balancing a stick on your hand, vertically. The moment the stick seems to tilt over right, you move your hand to the right (and slightly over) in order to get the stick to tilt back again. This adjustment is done continuously and leads to the stick "balancing" on your hand. Cycling is the same. As you ride, you fall slightly to the right or left. As you fall to the right, you steer the bike to the right in order to get the wheels under you again. As you fall to the left, you steer left. And so cycling is a continuous adjustment from a tilted position to an upright position - you're actually turning left and right the whole time (albeit small turns). When you look at the track created by a bike you will see these left-and-right swerves created by the wheels.
Track stands
Fixed-gear bikes don't have a freewheel. This means that if you stop pedalling, the wheels stop moving, and if you pedal backwards, the bike moves backwards. When you see a fixie rider standing still at a red light, he always has his wheel turned sharply to one side or the other. What he (or she!) is doing is moving slightly forward or back, or side to side, compensating for the bike leaning in any direction or moving forward or back, in order to stand still. I believe this is a lot easier on a fixed-gear bike as you can control both forward and backward motion.
Steering your bike
When you turn your bike right, centrifugal forces will try to push you towards the left. So in order to turn right, you have to lean your bicycle to the right to counteract the centrifugal forces (see diagram).
If you want to lean your bicycle to the right, you have to actually turn the bars to the left. When you turn the bars to the left, your hips naturally shift towards the right, and the bike leans right. This is called countersteering.
Balancing on a bike
The best comparison I've read about balancing on a bicycle is the one that compares it to balancing a stick on your hand, vertically. The moment the stick seems to tilt over right, you move your hand to the right (and slightly over) in order to get the stick to tilt back again. This adjustment is done continuously and leads to the stick "balancing" on your hand. Cycling is the same. As you ride, you fall slightly to the right or left. As you fall to the right, you steer the bike to the right in order to get the wheels under you again. As you fall to the left, you steer left. And so cycling is a continuous adjustment from a tilted position to an upright position - you're actually turning left and right the whole time (albeit small turns). When you look at the track created by a bike you will see these left-and-right swerves created by the wheels.
Track stands
Fixed-gear bikes don't have a freewheel. This means that if you stop pedalling, the wheels stop moving, and if you pedal backwards, the bike moves backwards. When you see a fixie rider standing still at a red light, he always has his wheel turned sharply to one side or the other. What he (or she!) is doing is moving slightly forward or back, or side to side, compensating for the bike leaning in any direction or moving forward or back, in order to stand still. I believe this is a lot easier on a fixed-gear bike as you can control both forward and backward motion.
Steering your bike
When you turn your bike right, centrifugal forces will try to push you towards the left. So in order to turn right, you have to lean your bicycle to the right to counteract the centrifugal forces (see diagram).If you want to lean your bicycle to the right, you have to actually turn the bars to the left. When you turn the bars to the left, your hips naturally shift towards the right, and the bike leans right. This is called countersteering.
When you turn your bike, this all happens automatically without you having to think about it!
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