How Do Bicycle Gears Work Physics

It s true that a bike with more gears often has a wider range than one with fewer gears but not always and even if it does you don t necessarily need the widest gear range possible.

How do bicycle gears work physics. The axle turns only a short distance but the leverage of the wheel means the outer rim turns much further in the same time. Gear ratios that s the basic idea behind applying force to a bicycle or any object really but there s a bit more to it than that. Bicycle physics stability bicycles are inherently stable when riding. The pedals and gears turn the axle at the center.

Even riderless bicycles are stable if given enough forward velocity. Instead of touching directly and rotating in opposite directions each pair of gear wheels is connected by a flexible metal chain kept taught by a springy lever and gear shifting mechanism called a derailleur so they turn in the same. If a smaller gear is driven by a larger gear the larger gear will rotate quickly but will have a smaller moment. Essentially gear ratios in a bicycle will change how far the rear wheel will turn for every turn of the pedals.

That s how a wheel helps you go faster. A gear with a radius of 0 1 m. Bikes have two sets of different sized gears on the wheel you pedal and the back wheel. For example a high gear on a bike or car.

To start off lets go over how gear ratios work. Like a car wheel a bicycle wheel is a speed multiplier. You can t know the gear range of a bike by the number of gears it has. Because it outermost gear had has the largest radius this gear provides the largest torque to the drive wheel.

You just need enough of a range. Bicycles use gear ratios to change how the force put into the bike is used to make the bike go fast. How bicycle wheels work. There s no use in buying.

Now on my bicycle there is a gear attached the pedal that is 19 cm diameter to chain center. A large torque is required initially because the bicycle starts from rest. A bike with 30 or more gears is not an indication of a machine designed to break the land speed record any more than a bike with only a single gear assuming similar ratios. On this page i will explain some of the main aspects of the physics of bicycles which should give the reader a greater appreciation of how bicycles work from a physics perspective.