Glad I wasn't riding this to get to York.

[MikeNArk]

I think that is a one speed. With that big of a wheel, that bike would take some effort to get moving and maintain balance. I'm glad they did not continue that design. Nice image of a strange mode of transportation.

[Sailor]

Very cool shot, EM. Connie and I - quite literally - put more miles on our bicycles per year than we do with our cars, so I'm an experienced cyclist. However, this thing would scare the hell outta me!!

Jer

[eaglem]

I think that is a one speed. With that big of a wheel, that bike would take some effort to get moving and maintain balance. I'm glad they did not continue that design. Nice image of a strange mode of transportation.

I agree, balance on this contraption would be very difficult plus you have a long way to fall

[angkymac]

Puzzles me how anybody would ever conceive of such a thing--and then it actually become a well-known item.
Angky.

[eaglem]

Puzzles me how anybody would ever conceive of such a thing--and then it actually become a well-known item.
Angky.

Bicycles have evolved greatly since those days

[Lord Lucan]

I think that is a one speed. With that big of a wheel, that bike would take some effort to get moving

In fact the "gearing" is quite low - well below optimum in fact. The point of the large wheel is to make the gear as high as possible, and, if they were serious, different riders would use different size wheels - one as large as their inside leg measurement would allow. The problem was solved with the chain drive which can incorporate a significant step-up ratio, typically 1:3 with a normal modern 27 inch wheel. The "gearing" of a bike is still expressed as the equivalent penny-farthing wheel size. The gearing (wheel size) of that in the photo looks around 50 inches. When I did time-trial racing I used a gear of 86 inches most of the time, which was considered a bit on the low side - some riders used around 100 inches, but I pedalled a bit faster than they did.

Puzzles me how anybody would ever conceive of such a thing

It evolved from the boneshaker which had equal front and rear wheels, with the pedals directly on the front. Boneshakers had a very low gear but then it was realised that you could go faster by increasing that front wheel size. The penny-farthing was the culmination of that trend, before the introduction of the rear wheel chain drive.

"Penny-farthing" was a term of ridicule at the time, and in general only dare-devil young men would have used the more extreme ones. They themselves would have called them "ordinary" bikes as opposed to the later chain driven bikes which were originally marketed as "safety cycles".

Disclaimer - I have never ridden a penny-farthing.

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Last edited by Lord Lucan; 07-18-2022 at 01:42 AM. Reason: Tpyos

[eaglem]

In fact the "gearing" is quite low - well below optimum in fact. The point of the large wheel is to make the gear as high as possible, and, if they were serious, different riders would use different size wheels - one as large as their inside leg measurement would allow. The problem was solved with the chain drive which can incorporate a significant step-up ratio, typically 1:3 with a normal modern 27 inch wheel. The "gearing" of a bike is still expressed as the equivalent penny-farthing wheel size. The gearing (wheel size) of that in the photo looks around 50 inches. When I did time-trial racing I used a gear of 86 inches most of the time, which was considered a bit on the low side - some riders used around 100 inches, but I pedalled a bit faster than they did.


It evolved from the boneshaker which had equal front and rear wheels, with the pedals directly on the front. Boneshakers had a very low gear but then it was realised that you could go faster by increasing that front wheel size. The penny-farthing was the culmination of that trend, before the introduction of the rear wheel chain drive.

"Penny-farthing" was a term of ridicule at the time, and in general only dare-devil young men would have used the more extreme ones. They themselves would have called them "ordinary" bikes as opposed to the later chain driven bikes which were originally marketed as "safety cycles".

Disclaimer - I have never ridden a penny-farthing.

Thanks for the info

[ToddK]

A very cool shot. I am with Jer, it would be very scary to attempt to take a ride on this thing.

[eaglem]

A very cool shot. I am with Jer, it would be very scary to attempt to take a ride on this thing.

and I concur with your comment