Quote Originally Posted by laura* View Post
To make a turn on a bicycle requires leaning - it's simple physics - one needs to balance centrifugal force with gravitational force. Of course turning very slowly needs very little lean. The conventional advice is for the rider to stay centered on the bike and to lean the whole rider and bike unit. That works in a criterium with a perfect road surface...
The problem with the above advice is the stated condition "with a perfect road surface". I recall reading an article ages ago by Alexi Grewal (I think...) that discussed cornering when the surface is wet or otherwise imperfect. His advice was to lean the bike, but keep your weight centered over the path the bike is taking (i.e., the line connecting the points where the front and rear tires contact the surface). From a physics perspective, this reduces the lateral forces on the tires and helps to prevent the tires slipping off to the sides. I've tried to follow his advice on wet roads, and it does seem to help prevent side-slip.