“It is almost certain that gyro effects are important at the initial stage of steering manoeuvres. […] My point is that gyroscopic effects are not needed to keep you from falling over when you are riding in a straight line. I am not saying anything about what happens when you actively wish to steer away from straight ahead.”
It also does some calculations that show how small the gyroscopic force is compared to the weight of (bicycle plus rider)
So the gyroscopic effect isn’t necessary to balance a bike, but likely helps in making turns.
> This is the "counter steering" effect that we use in order to balance when riding a bike, and it's entirely due to gyroscopic motion.
If that’s true, gyroscopic motion is necessary to ride a bicycle.
See also http://www3.eng.cam.ac.uk/~hemh1/gyrobike.htm (with a few good links at the bottom for those who need more convincing), which says:
“It is almost certain that gyro effects are important at the initial stage of steering manoeuvres. […] My point is that gyroscopic effects are not needed to keep you from falling over when you are riding in a straight line. I am not saying anything about what happens when you actively wish to steer away from straight ahead.”
It also does some calculations that show how small the gyroscopic force is compared to the weight of (bicycle plus rider)
So the gyroscopic effect isn’t necessary to balance a bike, but likely helps in making turns.