It’s Labor Day and we’re heading to lunch and I see something that makes me slam on the brakes and do a u-turn.
Rolling down the road in the opposite direction is a guy on a Penny-Farthing. He’s going at a decent speed. I catch him but he pulls over, dismounts and remounts heading the other way. Another u-turn and I’m back on his tail.
I pass him pull over well ahead of him and shot this short video of him coming by.
About the Penny-farthing
French mechanic Eugène Meyer invented the wire tension spoke wheel in 1868, and paved the way and popularized the penny-farthing that later developed.
In the US the high wheeler’s heyday was around 1878 to the end of the 19th century.
According to Wikipedia:
An attribute of the penny-farthing is that the rider sits high and nearly over the front axle. When the wheel strikes rocks and ruts, or under hard braking, the rider can be pitched forward off the bicycle head-first. Headers were relatively common and a significant, sometimes fatal, hazard.
Source: Wikipedia “Penny-Farthing”
Due to the danger of “headers,” the safety bicycle was developed, where the rider was not in such a precarious position.
The well-known dangers of the penny-farthing were, for the time of its prominence, outweighed by its strengths. While it was a difficult, dangerous machine, it was simpler, lighter, and faster than the safer velocipedes of the time. Two new developments changed this situation, and led to the rise of the safety bicycle. The first was the chain drive, originally used on tricycles, allowing a gear ratio to be chosen independent of the wheel size. The second was the pneumatic bicycle tire, allowing smaller wheels to provide a smooth ride.
Source: Wikipedia “Penny-Farthing”
How to Ride a High Wheeler
Mounting and dismounting a penny-farthing (also known as a high wheeler) can be tricky. Basically you need to put one foot on the rear step, scoot the bike along until you get it up to a stable speed, then mount the saddle and keep pedaling.
Hiwheel.com gives you the lowdown…
Get Your Own Penny-farthing
If you want your own, you can buy an antique replica high wheeler starting at about $1000 and going up to $3000. Hiwheel.com has a range of meticulously constructed replicas. But please, try keep your face off the road.