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Countersteering

   Countersteering is a method of causing the bike to lean into a turn, and is initiated by pressing on the handgrip in the direction of the turn. The result is to steer the wheels out from directly under the bike toward the outside of the turn, rotating the bike around its center of gravity, and leaning it into the turn.

This text is now translated to other languages below: French, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Italian.

Countersteering est une méthode de faire pencher le vélo dans un tour, et est lancé par la pression sur la poignée dans la direction du tour. Le résultat doit orienter les roues dehors de directement sous le vélo vers l'extérieur du tour, tournant le vélo autour de son centre de la gravité, et se penchant le dans le tour.

Countersteering is een methode om de fiets te veroorzaken om in een draai te leunen, en door op de handgreep in de richting van de draai te drukken in werking gesteld. Het resultaat moet uit de wielen van direct onder de fiets naar buiten de draai sturen die, die de fiets roteert rond zijn zwaartepunt, en het leunt in de draai.

Countersteering ist eine Methode des Veranlassens des Fahrrades, sich in eine Umdrehung zu lehnen und wird durch das Betätigen auf dem Handgriff in der Richtung der Umdrehung eingeleitet. Das Resultat soll die Räder heraus von direkt unter dem Fahrrad in Richtung zur Außenseite der Umdrehung steuern, dreht das Fahrrad um seinen Schwerpunkt, und lehnt es in die Umdrehung.

Countersteering es un método de hacer la bici inclinarse en una vuelta, y es iniciado presionando en el asidero en la dirección de la vuelta. El resultado es dirigir las ruedas hacia fuera de directamente debajo de la bici hacia el exterior de la vuelta, rotando la bici alrededor de su centro de gravedad, e inclinándola en la vuelta.

Countersteering è un metodo di indurre la bici a appoggiarsi a in una girata ed è iniziato premendo sull'impugnatura nel senso della girata. Il risultato deve dirigere le rotelle fuori da direttamente sotto la bici verso la parte esterna della girata, ruotante la bici intorno al relativo centro di gravità e pendente esso nella girata.

   There are additional factors involved, including a phenomenon called "gyroscopic precession" that plays a part in this, but the obvious fact that the point of contact with the ground is where the bike derives its traction (and therefore its best leverage point for creating a change in the alignment of the bike) makes the concept simpler to describe.

   In the very simplified animation below, you can see how shifting weight to lean the bike will in fact accomplish a turn, but it comes at the expense of much additional time to allow the natural force of gravity to induce the lean. Due to the stabilizing behavior of the rotating wheels, higher speeds greatly reduce the effectiveness of shifting weight. Even though the pressure applied for countersteering must also be slightly increased for higher speeds, countersteering easily produces the most rapid results. Note that the center of mass of the bike marked with a familiar black and white circle has to move in the weight shifting method, and that the upper portion of the bike (and the rider) must move farther than in the countersteer method. I have prepared an MPEG video (18Mb) of myself demonstrating the technique on the range, and you can go frame by frame and see the process directly for yourself.

Simplified Countersteering Animation

This page has grown in popularity worldwide, and is being referenced by many discussion boards around the globe. I urge you to use the URL for this page when referring to the animation, since the words may be as useful as the video, and perhaps even more so for some.

Greetings to visitors from the following countries:
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And to all fellow riders, be at one with your bike, and enjoy the ride!