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Same principle as a gyroscope: a turning wheel will tend to stay perpendicular or parallel to the direction of the gravity vector because if it starts tilting away from such orientation there’s a force that pushes it back to that orientations.

Also works better with bigger wheels (if I remember it correctly the effect is related to spinning momentum).

I was pretty surprised when learning Physics and they show us how to derive the formula for that (which I totally forgot since that was over 3 decades ago).

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anti_antidote@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Actually, it’s the bike’s geometry rather than a gyroscopic effect. Try rolling a bike backwards rather than forward - it’ll topple quickly

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- Aceticon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Yeah, you’re mostly right: Why bycicles stay upright.
  
  There’s some gyroscopic effect, but per that article it’s not the main reason.
  
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  - Ferrous@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    Yep. And it is an easy one to test. Just inmobilize the bike’s steering and see how well you can get it to balance.
    
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- PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Freestyle BMX riders go in reverse all the time and they don’t fall over.
  
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  - Rivalarrival@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    A BMX bike without a rider will roll along happily. We called it “ghost riding” when I was a kid.
    
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Malfeasant@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Gyroscopic effect is not even significant. Lock your steering and you will fall over no matter how fast your wheels are spinning. (Which can happen with a badly pitted headset)

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