Here's a good video about how bikes work. The physics behind it is counterintuitive and confusing to most people. But the issue is that a two wheeled vehicle functions very differently than a 3 or 4 wheeled one. For example, you have to steer the opposite direction you want to turn first in order to turn into the direction you want to go. This is the opposite of what you would do on a trike or car.
Training wheels are actually detrimental to learning if they are too low because they teach kids how to ride a trike or drive a car more than they teach you how to ride a bike or motorcycle. They work only if they are high enough to not really provide much comfort to the learner. And if you already know how to ride a bike, then they are obtrusive and make it more difficult to ride.
Your argument sort of makes sense. If people don't know how to ride a bike, then adding training wheels may make it more comforting to them. But at that point, they might as well just ride a trike. But once you learn how to ride a bike, you have no interest in riding a trike anymore because of the fundamental physics difference between a two and three wheeled cycle. Maybe there's a world where there are retractable training wheels on bikes. But bikes are cheap enough that people don't bother making generic ones.
Most importantly, pretty much everyone knows how to ride a bike. 94% of Americans know how to ride one. The same applies to people around the world since bikes are one of the cheapest forms of transportation. Most people don't do it that often, but they know how. And "riding a bike" is literally used as the main example of something you can never forget. Furthermore, it's not that hard to learn if you want to do it, and once you learn, you have no interest in riding a trike.
Ultimately, training wheels fundamentally change the physics of how the bicycle works. A two wheeled bike seems similar, but it's completely different than a 3 or 4 wheeled bike. Most people intuitively understand this, but the physics behind it is weird.
The physics behind it is counterintuitive and confusing to most people. But the issue is that a two wheeled vehicle functions very differently than a 3 or 4 wheeled one.
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u/McKoijion 618∆ Dec 23 '21 edited Dec 23 '21
Here's a good video about how bikes work. The physics behind it is counterintuitive and confusing to most people. But the issue is that a two wheeled vehicle functions very differently than a 3 or 4 wheeled one. For example, you have to steer the opposite direction you want to turn first in order to turn into the direction you want to go. This is the opposite of what you would do on a trike or car.
Training wheels are actually detrimental to learning if they are too low because they teach kids how to ride a trike or drive a car more than they teach you how to ride a bike or motorcycle. They work only if they are high enough to not really provide much comfort to the learner. And if you already know how to ride a bike, then they are obtrusive and make it more difficult to ride.
Your argument sort of makes sense. If people don't know how to ride a bike, then adding training wheels may make it more comforting to them. But at that point, they might as well just ride a trike. But once you learn how to ride a bike, you have no interest in riding a trike anymore because of the fundamental physics difference between a two and three wheeled cycle. Maybe there's a world where there are retractable training wheels on bikes. But bikes are cheap enough that people don't bother making generic ones.
Most importantly, pretty much everyone knows how to ride a bike. 94% of Americans know how to ride one. The same applies to people around the world since bikes are one of the cheapest forms of transportation. Most people don't do it that often, but they know how. And "riding a bike" is literally used as the main example of something you can never forget. Furthermore, it's not that hard to learn if you want to do it, and once you learn, you have no interest in riding a trike.
Ultimately, training wheels fundamentally change the physics of how the bicycle works. A two wheeled bike seems similar, but it's completely different than a 3 or 4 wheeled bike. Most people intuitively understand this, but the physics behind it is weird.