Bike handling
Some bikes go round corners better than others. The reasons for this are complicated. It's to do with frame angles, fork rake and trail, and frame stiffness. Fortunately there is a simple test to find out if a bike handles well.
The simple handling test.
Find a safe area of smooth tarmac and try to ride the bike in a small circle at slow speed. If the bike has good handling it will be possible to ride in a circle of 3 metres diameter or less, keeping the handlebars in a constant position. Some well designed rigid steel mountainbikes can be ridden like this with the front wheel at right angles to the frame.
If the bike does this easily it has good handling and will perform well at speed.
Some bikes are terrible at this. They often have flexible frames and need constant steering correction. One cheap folding bike was so horrible to ride that after testing it 100 metres up the road, I got off and pushed it back to the workshop.
The other test for a bike is to try to ride it no hands. If a tourer, sports bike, roadster or hybrid doesn't do this there is something wrong. It might be simple, like the front wheel not in properly, or complicated like a bent fork. Some quick handling mountainbikes won't ride no hands and there is nothing wrong, that's how they are. Most small wheelers can't be ridden no hands either.
It's hard to start with a blank sheet of paper and design a good handling bike from scratch. What is far easier is to find a bike that handles well and copy it. Frame geometry isn't something that can be kept secret.
The simple handling test.
Find a safe area of smooth tarmac and try to ride the bike in a small circle at slow speed. If the bike has good handling it will be possible to ride in a circle of 3 metres diameter or less, keeping the handlebars in a constant position. Some well designed rigid steel mountainbikes can be ridden like this with the front wheel at right angles to the frame.
If the bike does this easily it has good handling and will perform well at speed.
Some bikes are terrible at this. They often have flexible frames and need constant steering correction. One cheap folding bike was so horrible to ride that after testing it 100 metres up the road, I got off and pushed it back to the workshop.
The other test for a bike is to try to ride it no hands. If a tourer, sports bike, roadster or hybrid doesn't do this there is something wrong. It might be simple, like the front wheel not in properly, or complicated like a bent fork. Some quick handling mountainbikes won't ride no hands and there is nothing wrong, that's how they are. Most small wheelers can't be ridden no hands either.
It's hard to start with a blank sheet of paper and design a good handling bike from scratch. What is far easier is to find a bike that handles well and copy it. Frame geometry isn't something that can be kept secret.
