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Very often I have seen, that a bicyclist can balance himself better, while in motion, than he can while at rest(with his legs on the paddles of the bicycle).

Now, I know that objects, say, a disc with uniform mass-distribution, when thrown in space horizontally, rotating about an axis passing through its center, will tend to cover a larger distance than a disc thrown in space, but not undergoing such rotation. This is due to the disc's tendency to conserve its angular momentum.

Does this same reasoning apply to the bicycle scenario?

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This is not a dumb question: millions if not billions of people have been taught, incorrectly, that a bicycle's stability originates in the gyroscopic angular momentum of the spinning wheels. This is false, and among other things, would make it near-impossible to turn a bike if it were true.

In fact, a bike's stability derives from the momentum vector of the entire bike+rider as it's moving. The moment a bike starts to tilt to one side, the rider (once he's learned to ride :-) ) automatically steers into the tilt. The result is, because his momentum is largely straight ahead, to tilt back upright (Another Victory for Centripetal Force -- of which there is none here, so he doesn't turn!).

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  • $\begingroup$ Steering does allow for quick corrections, however I've found it is still much easier to ride on rollers (a bicycle indoor training platform) when peddling than standing still. That said most people have to start learning by holding a wall or something solid for balance until they can free start. $\endgroup$
    – user6972
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 19:18
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    $\begingroup$ @user6972 No hard feelings but surely you were pedaling, not peddling $\endgroup$
    – rob ♦
    Commented Jun 15, 2014 at 5:57

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