A New Method for Computing the Centre of Mass of a Bicycle and Rider

For developing riding skills on mountain bikes, it is important to know how the centre of mass of a bicycle and its rider changes with ground inclination or with rider position. We show here a new method for finding the location of this point by measuring the normal forces acting on the wheels in two positions with a digital weight indicator. This method can be easily applied in the classroom and can be used as a real-life example for computing the centre of mass of a complex body. (Contains 1 table and 5 figures.)