What is Digg?35 Comments
- 70ny, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19I think falling makes you learn faster. I believe the GyroBike would extend the learning time. It is still a cool idea.
- DarkJedi375, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Who says you have to LEARN how to ride? If anything, this would stop people from even having to learn how to ride! Isn't laziness what the world is all about lately?
- olliholliday, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8it doesnt mean the kid doesn't have to balance. it means that if he's gonna tip over the gyroscope's momentum gives him longer to correct it - which is pretty much the perfect learning aid.
this gyro bike provides a little extra stability that's all, i think it's a great idea. - MrC539, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Well, training wheels don't really teach you how to ride a bike, they just make you more comfortable on them because, for most kids, it's scary riding a bike for the first time. I think having this would also make kids more comfortable on bikes before learning to ride it without help, maybe even more so than training wheels because it gets them used to riding on two wheels instead of four, even if it doesn't teach balance.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I'm sure people will compensate for the extra safety by riding more dangerously. human nature.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Sounds like it's a lot better than training wheels... I don't see what all the fall-down fanboys and geezers are complaining about.
- shaniber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I think that this is a great idea. I've got a kid who's just about to learn how to ride, and this makes MUCH more sense than training wheels. I can quite easily see how they would learn the proper balance using this.
I also respectfully disagree with the people that suggest that part of learning to ride is learning to fall. I would instead say that it is instead learning how NOT to fall that is the important part. - azuldude, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Training wheels work fine for teaching kids how to ride. After the kid has been riding for a few weeks, just re-mount the training wheels so that they are about an inch or so off the ground. Once the kid can ride without the training wheels touching the ground, he is ready to ride without them. That's how I learned (with no helmet and bare feet).
- nebrfan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3OORR.....you could just use training wheels, $2.99.
- EdShroomhead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Training wheels do work fine. I learned with them. (Although I wore shoes. My local cobbler wasn't overworked.) ;) But I think this is a nice idea that will let kids enjoy riding a bike a lot faster than with training wheels. Kids don't want to fall. I know I didn't. And telling them to "suck it up" and get back on (hey the world's a tough place!) doesn't make the whole experience that enjoyable.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2How does this work if you are trying to lean into a curve?
- spectre_25gt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Fond memories? Yes, scraped knees and elbows and utter frustration at the object that is supposed to be so much fun. I really miss those days.
- Jaroki, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You jump off and wave goodbye as your spiffy new bike gyroscopically wheels it's way to certain doom.
- JesperL, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What's wrong with the traditional methods? First you have get a bicycle (likely a hand-me-down) with training wheels, then one day your parents take them off and help you ride properly... and shazam, we're done!
@unknownsoldier: Children respond better to pain / embarassement. - EdShroomhead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2... or get the whole GyroBike for $39. I think it's a cool idea, and don't understand some of the supposedly technologically-sophisticated people here who don't seem to like this advancement.
- squareceo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Could this device possibly be used on motorcycles, to prevent them from falling over?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Dugg for the unintentional pun... spin-off, flywheel... get it, get it?
- mcbesq, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Nice to see science is hard at work to destroy people's fond memories of childhood.
- spinoza, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I would presume that as the rider becomes more skilled/stronger, the amount of the gyroscopic correction can be reduced by spinning the gyro more slowly, or using a lighter flywheel....
- spectre_25gt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And what happens when you turn smart guy?
- pacificdave, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@70ny: so does the same thing go for a motorcycle? it's learning to ride on two wheels... only difference is more controls and a motor to deal with. i would have gone through many motorcycles if this was the case. so no, falling off a bike doesn't teach you to ride quicker. to me, not having training wheels is harder to learn because there's not that sense of a safety net. you can still fall using the gyro but your chances are reduced significantly.
- J4c0b, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1... he was talking about riding BIKES. cycles its different. your more likely to get hurt with a cycle...
- yahoofrom, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Gyrobike?
The best way to learn to ride bikes is to try to ride a bike on a long road with a slight downward-slope.
Cuz it's downward, the bike will automatically run forward slowly and you can focus on controlling how not to fall when the bike is running. The problem of learning bikes on a road without slope is that you need to try to get the bike both run and also not fall, i mean, you are required to accomplish two at the same time. - driftersgold, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I know I won't buy any of their stock. This thing is useless. After you fall once you learn how not to.
- Auxon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Not a good idea. What if you HAVE to fall down as you're speeding uncontrollably towards the edge of a cliff?
- person, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This will allow kids to build up the muscles necessary for stronger riding.
@ DarkJedi375 "Who says you have to LEARN how to ride? If anything, this would stop people from even having to learn how to ride! Isn't laziness what the world is all about lately?"
>> In addition, this won't keep people from learning how to ride, being that you can't bike very fast and lean in on corners if your bike corrects your lean. Good idea... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2ha, pretty cool concept, but another sign of our laziness. Eventually, we're gonna have gyros to help us balance ourselves in standing up (O.o)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If this product were produced, the company responsible would be sued within a week, after a kid was about to fall, and the gyroscope steered him 1) into traffic, 2) off a cliff, 3) into a person.. etc. Would you want a device able to steer your car whenever it saw fit, but the only information it had was it's balance, and it was completely blind to where you were and what you were doing?
- unknownsoldier, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2It isn't actually mentioned much in their material, but for this thing to work you have to have to plug in the gyroscope to a drill i think. Look at the photo: there is a long extension cord coming out the front of the house. So while this is a great idea for training, it isn't going to "replace" riding a bike.
And the gyroscope WILL help kids to learn faster than "falling" as other people have said. Because it turns the wheel the way the kid should go, the kid realises "hey.. the wheel is meant to go that way when i nearly fall over that way!" and the unnatural action of turning into a fall is learnt a lot quicker than training wheels. - AaronTyler, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4Neat idea, but pointless.... You have to fall off a bike to learn how to ride the thing. How can a gyroscope be a good thing if you are the one who should be doing the balancing?
- azuldude, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I had shoes! I just did not wear them in the summer. Most kids in my neighborhood growing up did not wear shoes in the summer. In fact, kids that did were the objects of ridicule. My friends and I rode everywhere barefoot (mostly to the arcade and the 7-11 to buy candy). For some reason, people did not make the fuss that they do now.
- mrsaturn42, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Wow this is stupid.
Once you start moving on a bicycle the rotational forces from the wheels spinning acts as flywheel/gyroscope, and that's why you don't fall.. unless your kid is stupid and stops pedaling in the middle of his bike ride, he wont fall over. - Stevethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1@AaronTyler: I don't think you are right. In fact it very difficult to prove sth is useless and it cannot be constrained in one idea. You remind me of Graham Bell (or someone famous I can't remember) who said something along the lines "Telephone, who would ever have use of that, as soon as man-to-man communication exists".
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