Gyroscopic Wheel Replaces Training Wheels on Bicycles

Posted by John Farrier in Baby & Kids, Science & Tech on September 30, 2009 at 7:29 pm



(YouTube Link)

Bicycle maker Gyrobike has invented the “Gyrowheel” — a wheel with a motor-driven gyroscope inside that helps keep it upright. The manufacturer hopes to market it as a replacement for traditional training wheels on kids’ bicycles. Nathan Barry of GeekDad writes:

It aims to replace traditional training wheels or stabilizers and to eradicate the bad habits that they teach kids when learning to ride a bike – leaning away from a turn and constantly putting a foot down at the first sign of a wobble when they’re eventually taken off. The Gyrowheel uses the “gyroscopic precession” of the independently spinning disk inside it to stabilize the bike. The force created when the disk is turned – via a rechargeable battery – is powerful enough to hold a wheel upright at very low speeds (i.e. virtually stopped), and can actually make a bike look like it has a “Ghost Rider” as the videos below show (and there are plenty more on the Gyrobike site).

Product Page via GeekDad (where there’s an additional video)


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COMMENT

16 comments to "Gyroscopic Wheel Replaces Training Wheels on Bicycles"

  1. aver154
    September 30th, 2009 at 8:55 pm

    Fair enough, but what about unicycles?

  2. pyroger101
    September 30th, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    savage! a unicycle one of them would be cheatin wouldnt it...

  3. FishBottleT
    September 30th, 2009 at 9:21 pm

    Yea a unicycle one would be kinda taking all skill out of riding a unicycle. The different settings are a great idea.

  4. Chad
    September 30th, 2009 at 11:55 pm

    How are rear mounted training wheels, a "bad habit"? All of us learned that way, right?

  5. Foreigner1
    October 1st, 2009 at 1:12 am

    How do you mean "all of us learned that way" (training wheels)...? I had a training-dad who guided and pushed me over and oever again and I fell and fell untill I was tired of falling and finally got the hang of it. And that was how most kids in my age learnt it. ...Okay I admit- This is the Netherlands I speak of where children are born with a bike between their legs... ;-)

  6. Alex
    October 1st, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Obviously this is an alien plot to wimpify our kids for easier planet-wide take over in the future ...

  7. Skipweasel
    October 1st, 2009 at 2:10 am

    In some countries kids learn on bikes with no pedals - they scoot along and learn balancing - pedalling follows later.

  8. K!P
    October 1st, 2009 at 2:44 am

    but what if the wheel is out of power after 3 hours but the kid stil has some sugarrush left? Seems like a complicated solution to a simple problem.

    And about bad habits: traning wheels are not supposed to touch the ground when there in advanced mode :) (bend up)

  9. Karl
    October 1st, 2009 at 6:16 am

    1. Putting it on the front wheel will make it hard for the kid to steer. It would better in the back.
    2. The bike in the video falls over after about ten feet. Is this really string enough to hold up a kid?

  10. Big Bad Guy
    October 1st, 2009 at 6:59 am

    After a few of them freeze up run the kid out into traffic these will be history

  11. supertsaar
    October 1st, 2009 at 7:19 am

    Pretty cool, but also very very much a solution looking for a problem.

    Disclaimer : I was also born with a bike between my legs :)

  12. Morris
    October 1st, 2009 at 9:30 am

    I am not impressed. Gyroscopes have been around for millinia. I think the old-style training wheels are better training aids, because they only assit the child when the bike is leaning. Otherwise they are not contacting the ground. The child learns how to NOT need any assitance from the training wheels.

    This gyroscope wheel is always on, and makes the child learn to ride in a diffent way than they will encounter when they take it off. They will have to relearn their balance on a bike once the gyroscope is removed. I find it interesting that they don't show any kids trying to ride the bikes. They just roll the bikes and watch them fall over, proving they wouldn't prevent a child from doing so.

    P.S. It might work better in the back, but that is not practicle, because it would need to accomodate the chain and brake elements of the bike.

    I give them a thumbs up for perhaps starting a new craze in bike enthusiasm. Kids in the US don't ride bikes very much anymore. So, the gyroscope wheel does have some mertis.

  13. 2cents
    October 1st, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    @Skipweasel
    I got one of those pedal-less bikes from Germany. They really work great for teaching balance. My 2 year old zips around all over the place on it with both feet off the ground at once about half the time. I think it's called a Puki.

  14. peggyp
    October 1st, 2009 at 8:44 pm

    I saw the gyro-wheel at Interbike last week. Two immediate things stand out: First, while the wheel stands up on its own, it seems as soon as a child is put on the bike it will begin to tilt to one side. The gyro wheel will not keep a child from falling. Secondly, the presenters said it is designed for kids 4-8 years. Unfortunately, they’ve already missed the market. Balance bikes in Europe (and now in the US) allow children as young as 2 years to learn balance, coordination and agility…..the three hardest things about riding a bike. The pedaling is the easy part. So, the inventors of the gyro wheel seemed to have missed the world progressing around them (young children learning the skills at age 2) while they worked on their product. It is a cool concept. I just think it has a very limited audience given the success of balance trainers.

  15. astrodex
    October 2nd, 2009 at 11:23 am

    Training wheels only make it harder to learn how to ride a bike. If kids start on a "kick bike" they learn to balance naturally and can transition to a regular bike earlier and easier. You can make a kick bike by simply removing the pedals from a regular bike. When they are coasting with their feet up for a good percentage of the time they are ready for pedals.

  16. Bryan
    October 11th, 2009 at 8:47 pm

    I would love to have an adult size model for peddling home from the pub.


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