Some Effects of Crosswind on the Lateral Dynamics of a Bicycle

Schwab, A. L.; Dialynas, George; Happee, Riender

doi:10.3390/proceedings2060218

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 12 publications

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“…As mentioned previously, riders stabilize a bicycle by means of two main control inputs: steering and upper-body lean (Kooijman & Schwab, 2013). In addition, external perturbations such as crosswind can have a substantial effect on the dynamics of the bicycle (Schwab, Dialynas, & Happee, 2016). Thus, the determinants of the relationship between roll rate and steering rate are complex.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riding performance on a conventional bicycle and a pedelec in low speed exercises: Objective and subjective evaluation of middle-aged and older persons

Kovacsova

Winter

Schwab

et al. 2016

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviou

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This study investigated cycling performance of middle-aged (30-45 years old; n = 30) versus older (65+ years; n = 31) participants during low-speed tasks for which stabilization skills are known to be important. Additionally, participants' self-ratings of their cycling skills and performance were assessed. Participants rode once on a conventional bicycle and once on a pedelec, in counterbalanced order. Three standardized tasks were performed: (1) low-speed cycling, (2) acceleration from a standstill, and (3) shoulder check. During Tasks 1 and 3, the mean absolute steering angle (a measure of the cyclist's steering activity) and the mean absolute roll rate (a measure of the amount of angular movement of the frame) were significantly greater for older participants than for middle-aged participants. These large lateral motions among older cyclists may indicate a difficulty to control the inherently unstable system. Comparing the conventional bicycle and the pedelec, participants reached a 16 km/h threshold speed in Task 2 sooner on the pedelec, an effect that was most pronounced among the older participants. Correlations between skills assessed with the Cycling Skill Inventory and actual measures of cycling performance were mostly not statistically significant. This indicates that self-reported motor-tactical and safety skills are not strongly predictive of measures of actual cycling performance. Our findings add to the existing knowledge on self-assessment of cycling skills, and suggest that age-related changes in psychomotor and sensory functions pose hazards for cycling safety.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riding performance on a conventional bicycle and a pedelec in low speed exercises: Objective and subjective evaluation of middle-aged and older persons

Kovacsova

Winter

Schwab

et al. 2016

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviou

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Bicycle dynamics and its circular solution on a revolution surface

2019

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Preliminary study on crosswind aerodynamics for a group of road race cyclists

et al. 2021

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Under crosswind conditions, road cyclists experience an extra drag force and a destabilising lateral force. In these conditions a group of cyclists manages to reorganise its spatial formation to minimise these forces forming an echelon, i.e a diagonal single pace line of riders staggered across the road, a configuration which is markedly different from those adopted in wind-free conditions. To study the effect of the crosswind on drag and lateral forces on the riders we performed wind-tunnel experiments using a scale model cyclist and measuring the forces by means of a load cell. Several configurations with one, two, and four cyclists have been investigated varying yaw angles. Results show that, in a basic 4 rider configuration at a 50 $$^{\circ }$$ ∘ yaw angle, a sheltered rider within the echelon experiences less than 30% of the drag of the guttered rider behind the echelon, struggling against the crosswind. Furthermore, we show that an echelon is worth being adopted under crosswind conditions only beyond a 30 $$^{\circ }$$ ∘ yaw angle. At this critical 30 $$^{\circ }$$ ∘ yaw angle the drag on the guttered rider doubles when the gap to the front group increases from 10 cm to 1 m (in real scale). These results can be of interest in defining road cycling race strategies and they allow some significant configurations to be identified and further investigated in more complex experiments.

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Some Effects of Crosswind on the Lateral Dynamics of a Bicycle

Cited by 5 publications

References 12 publications

Riding performance on a conventional bicycle and a pedelec in low speed exercises: Objective and subjective evaluation of middle-aged and older persons

Riding performance on a conventional bicycle and a pedelec in low speed exercises: Objective and subjective evaluation of middle-aged and older persons

Bicycle dynamics and its circular solution on a revolution surface

Preliminary study on crosswind aerodynamics for a group of road race cyclists

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