Rider’s position and acceleration of bicycle

Abstract

Abstract We study how the acceleration of a bicycle varies as a function of the rider’s position. Since the rolling resistance of wheels depends on their deformation and therefore on the load on each wheel, the rider’s position affects the rolling resistance and the acceleration of the bicycle. The acceleration is a concave quadratic function of the rider’s position, and one can find the optimal position which maximizes the acceleration. Our study will be another topic for bicycle physics in addition to stability and aerodynamics and an example of the rolling motion of two connected objects to help students’ understanding of the rolling motion in a university physics course.