Penny-farthings

David Damerell <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Lately I have had the urge to get a penny-farthing. I'm
wondering if any
r.b.t. types already own such bikes, or know of competent
manufacturers - Google suggests some people still
make them, but are they any good?

i saw a modern one the other day, it was quite interesting.

the front wheel was only about 48" high.

had a front caliper brake.

nice fat pneumatic tires.

freewheeling pedals.

possibly even a planetary transmission though i cannot be
sure of that.

unfortunately i didn;t find out who made it.

wle.

David Damerell said:

Lately I have had the urge to get a penny-farthing. I'm
wondering if any r.b.t. types already own such bikes, or
know of competent manufacturers - Google suggests some
people still make them, but are they any good?

No.

Consider that most bicycling on the level is done in a gear
above 85 inches (the way gears were measured in respect to
these bicycles) which means a wheel diameter of 85 inches. A
52-13 for instance is a 108 inch gear for comparison. Your
inseam minus about 2 inches times two is the largest wheel
radius you can ride. That's about a 62 inch high wheeled
bicycle. You'll need to do a lot of spinning.

On top of that, you can't stop worth a damn because rider CG
is close to vertically above the ground contact point of the
wheel, so forward dismounts are a skill to master. Even if
you never stop fast, a broken spoke will take care of that
for you. This is why John Starley invented cross laced
spoking, so he could "tie and solder" spoke crossings to
prevent endo's when one broke. Of course bike shops didn't
like that the chain driven bicycle made their spoke tying
useless, so they convinced more than two generations of
riders that tying and soldering spoke crossings made
stronger wheels, just as steel frames get soft and tires
needed to be bought in winter to be aged for the summer.

They are nice to view in museums but don't ride them. They
have solid tires and the rider sits directly in line with
road shock on no cushioning. The riders crotch must be as
close to the wheel as possible to get a reasonably large
gear. You can imagine who won races in those days. They were
pretty tall.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden]

David Damerell said:

Lately I have had the urge to get a penny-farthing. I'm
wondering if any
r.b.t. types already own such bikes, or know of competent
manufacturers - Google suggests some people still
make them, but are they any good?

Dear David,

If you haven't already tried a penny-farthing, you might try
to find one for rent and take it for a spin first.

A Seattle friend saw a penny-farthing for hourly rental on a
California visit and tried it on a long level path for a
mile or two. He said that it was interesting, but he felt no
urge to buy one or rent it again.

I sometimes see a pink-frame penny-farthing wobbling briskly
around my neighborhood, pedalled a determined-looking young
woman, but she sticks exclusively to a quiet, level, gently
curving street that runs over a mile without crossing any
dip in the road or stop sign

As Jobst points out in his post (and you probably know)
braking, handling, and gearing are the most obvious
drawbacks. Like a Model T, the penny-farthing is limited,
but can be fun for a few minutes.

If you do get a penny-farthing, the tale of an attempt to
commute to work would put the fixed-gear stories on
rec.bicycles.tech in the shade.

This site is for antique enthusiasts, but the links page
suggests some modern penny-farthing sites that might tell
you more about how good the modern versions are:

thewheelmen.orglinks.aspOpen ↗

Good luck,

Carl Fogel

David Damerell said:

Lately I have had the urge to get a penny-farthing. I'm
wondering if any
r.b.t. types already own such bikes, or know of competent
manufacturers - Google suggests some people still
make them, but are they any good?

Easy: victory bicycles diane blake

[email hidden]

yellowjersey.orgORDNARI.JPGOpen ↗

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1
April, 1971

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by David Damerell
Lately I have had the urge to get a penny-farthing. I'm
wondering if any
r.b.t. types already own such bikes, or know of competent
manufacturers - Google suggests some people still
make them, but are they any good?
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> Kill
the tomato!

Here’s a website of a guy that has tried and failed twice recently to circle the world on a Penny Farthing. He has some for sale a and he is in UK where you are. One of his earlier versions used a 3 speed Sturmey-Archer hub. His site used to mention that the British HPV folks were letting the Penny Farthings race at about ten of their events each year. He also has the only jet powered Penny Farthing that he was attempting to set the Penny Farthing speed record with, but he seems to have removed those pics from his site. He uses a pulse jet engine and has tested it on the Penny for 3 second bursts.

www.pennyfarthingworldtour.com/

These guys also make and sell them:
http://www.hiwheel.com/

Someone has recently been selling plans on ebay to build your own Penny Farthing.

The legendary Tomato has been Killed (actually retired) from competition from competition a few years:

http://snorlax.lampi.org/mike/killertomato.jpg

http://fst.orst.edu/bob_durst/story3.html

Killer Tomato's wheels do a good job dwarfing those Penny wheels.

In article <[email hidden]>,

A Muzi said:

David Damerell said:

Lately I have had the urge to get a penny-farthing. I'm
wondering if any
r.b.t. types already own such bikes, or know of competent
manufacturers - Google suggests some people still
make them, but are they any good?

Easy: victory bicycles diane blake

[email hidden]

yellowjersey.orgORDNARI.JPGOpen ↗

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1
April, 1971

Also Check out Robert Howe's home page:

home.inreach.comindex.htmlOpen ↗

Howe is a member of "The Wheelmen", which is an
organization of 'Ordinary' and early safety bicycles
owners. He has a lot of information and might be a source
of who is making machines.

I know that there is in fact a reproduction project going on
right now, but don't know exactly how far along they are.

Your's Pureheart

David Damerell <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Lately I have had the urge to get a penny-farthing. I'm
wondering if any
r.b.t. types already own such bikes, or know of competent
manufacturers - Google suggests some people still
make them, but are they any good?

Rideable Bicycle Replicas: hiwheel.comhiwheel.comOpen ↗ still
builds them. One of my friends has an "adult tricycle":
hiwheel.comadult tricycle.htmOpen ↗ ,
which he uses occasionally for parades and fun meets. He's
also got a repro'd cruiser and a couple recumbents... I
can't recall if there's a "normal" bike in his stable.

You might get in touch with Jim Langley, the former
editor of Bicycling magazine. He's got a penchant for odd
bikes: jimlangley.netstanfordhighwhOpen ↗
eelraces.html .

Jeff

Quoted message said:

David Damerell said:

Lately I have had the urge to get a penny-farthing. I'm
wondering if any r.b.t. types already own such bikes, or
know of competent manufacturers - Google suggests some
people still make them, but are they any good?

No.

Consider that most bicycling on the level is done in a
gear above 85 inches (the way gears were measured in
respect to these bicycles) which means a wheel diameter of
85 inches. A 52-13 for instance is a 108 inch gear for
comparison. Your inseam minus about 2 inches times two is
the largest wheel radius you can ride. That's about a 62
inch high wheeled bicycle. You'll need to do a lot of
spinning.

The only single-speed bikes geared as high as 85 inches are
those for the velodrome, which has no hills, corners, or bad
surfaces. A BMX bike typically uses a 55 inch gear, a single-
speed MTB about 52 inches, and a balloon-tire criser
anything from the mid-50s to the mid-60s.

When I was exceptionally fit and I lived in the gently
rolling terrain of Austin, Texas, I used an 81 inch gear
on my fast cruiser. Here in hilly Seattle, all my one-
speed bikes sport something around 64 gear inches-- even
the fixie.

By using shorter cranks, one can use a larger wheel and a
higher "gain ratio" at the same time. High speed is thus
available to a high-wheel rider who opts to sacrifice hill-
climbing and acceleration.

High-wheeling is by nature a more leisurely activity than
your own riding, if you use an 85 inch gear to cruise
around. If you could only choose one, though, I bet you
would not ride a gear quite that high.

Quoted message said:

On top of that, you can't stop worth a damn because rider
CG is close to vertically above the ground contact point
of the wheel, so forward dismounts are a skill to master.

Another reason to keep speeds modest when riding the wheel.

Quoted message said:

They are nice to view in museums but don't ride them. They
have solid tires and the rider sits directly in line with
road shock on no cushioning.

The gentle vertical accelerations imparted by a four to six-
foot wheel rolling over irregularities require none of the
cushioning a squishy tire imparts. You will remember that it
was Dr. Dunlop's invention of the air bladder tire that
allowed safety bikes to come into general use. Those were
the bikes whose ride qualities suffered for lack of
cushioning.

Quoted message said:

The riders crotch must be as close to the wheel as
possible to get a reasonably large gear. You can imagine
who won races in those days. They were pretty tall.

I can find no virtue in a technology on the basis that it
confers a competitive advantage to short people, Jobst. I
wonder why you would! ;D

Chalo Colina

(Chalo) said:

Quoted message said:

David Damerell said:

Lately I have had the urge to get a penny-farthing. I'm
wondering if any r.b.t. types already own such bikes,
or know of competent manufacturers - Google suggests
some people still make them, but are they any good?

No.

Consider that most bicycling on the level is done in a
gear above 85 inches (the way gears were measured in
respect to these bicycles) which means a wheel diameter
of 85 inches. A 52-13 for instance is a 108 inch gear for
comparison. Your inseam minus about 2 inches times two is
the largest wheel radius you can ride. That's about a 62
inch high wheeled bicycle. You'll need to do a lot of
spinning.

The only single-speed bikes geared as high as 85 inches are
those for the velodrome, which has no hills, corners, or
bad surfaces. A BMX bike typically uses a 55 inch gear, a
single-speed MTB about 52 inches, and a balloon-tire criser
anything from the mid-50s to the mid-60s.

When I was exceptionally fit and I lived in the gently
rolling terrain of Austin, Texas, I used an 81 inch gear
on my fast cruiser. Here in hilly Seattle, all my one-
speed bikes sport something around 64 gear inches-- even
the fixie.

By using shorter cranks, one can use a larger wheel and a
higher "gain ratio" at the same time. High speed is thus
available to a high-wheel rider who opts to sacrifice hill-
climbing and acceleration.

High-wheeling is by nature a more leisurely activity than
your own riding, if you use an 85 inch gear to cruise
around. If you could only choose one, though, I bet you
would not ride a gear quite that high.

Quoted message said:

On top of that, you can't stop worth a damn because rider
CG is close to vertically above the ground contact point
of the wheel, so forward dismounts are a skill to master.

Another reason to keep speeds modest when riding the wheel.

Quoted message said:

They are nice to view in museums but don't ride them.
They have solid tires and the rider sits directly in line
with road shock on no cushioning.

The gentle vertical accelerations imparted by a four to six-
foot wheel rolling over irregularities require none of the
cushioning a squishy tire imparts. You will remember that
it was Dr. Dunlop's invention of the air bladder tire that
allowed safety bikes to come into general use. Those were
the bikes whose ride qualities suffered for lack of
cushioning.

Quoted message said:

The riders crotch must be as close to the wheel as
possible to get a reasonably large gear. You can imagine
who won races in those days. They were pretty tall.

I can find no virtue in a technology on the basis that it
confers a competitive advantage to short people, Jobst. I
wonder why you would! ;D

Chalo Colina

Dear Chalo,

Nice point about huge wheels rolling more smoothly.

Tiny but inquiring minds now want to know your preference.

Penny-farthing or tall-bike?

One of Leona's Little People

[email hidden] wrote;

Quoted message said:

Tiny but inquiring minds now want to know your preference.

Penny-farthing or tall-bike?

Ah, I must confess...

It's the tall bike over the high wheel, on a purely
circumstantial basis.

The most usual "penny" in a penny-farthing is 54" in
diameter, and such bikes are notably scant of seat height
adjustment (for obvious enough reasons). This allows me an
insufficient leg extension for comfort or efficiency. Add to
this the sub-five-foot saddle altitude, and the experience
as a whole gives away much to my own tallbike, six feet at
the saddle and equipped with four well-spaced gears and
effective brakes. To say nothing of the many footholds my
tallbike offers for scaling its heights!

I suppose my collection will be incomplete without a
generous 68 to 72 inch wheel, perhaps luxuriously equipped
with a sprag clutch for freewheeling. A Greg Harper two-
speed epicyclic hub would be the cat's pajamas, but a 2:3
underdrive would be more useful than a 3:2 overdrive for a
wheel that size.

staff.washington.eduEpicyclicHub.htmOpen ↗

I believe I'll have to be a little deeper into my home
improvements before an expensive and esoteric novelty like
that seems feasible.

It looks like a good justification for building a 96 spoke
wheel, though. Cross-nine, of course.

Chalo Colina