On (02 Jan 99) Bob Lawrence wrote to Roy Mcneill...


 RM> Of course it can. You haven't read what I've said at all. Take
 RM> a rigid rim, give it an axle with elastic spokes. Push the axle
 RM> down 5%, turn the wheel. The axle must rotate at the same speed
 RM> as if it was still at the centre, because one rev of the wheel
 RM> still carries the axle one circumference forward. If the axle
 RM> rotated faster, the spokes would wind up around it.

 BL>  Yes... that is what would happen. The spokes would wind up, and the
 BL> resulting force would lift the wheel to its original axle height (less
 BL> the bit needed to create the force in the spokes).

Huh??? How do you change a pure twisting force into a lifting force?

And what if the axle is undriven? The twisting force would never
occur; if it did, the axle would just spin a bit and the force
would vanish.

But this is beside the point: the axle is lower than the centre.
If it isn't low enough to make you happy, I'll just add more
weight.

Now: how can this axle not rotate at the same rate as the rigid
rim?

Cheers

--- "When a man is asked to make a speech, the first thing he has
to decide is what to say." - Gerald Ford


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