The Penny Farthing

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exchangeandmart

New Member
Arch said:
I knew (know? is he still with us? Lionel?) an old chap who used to bring his to roadshows for us, and if it was within London would ride to the show, or occasionally, take it on the tube.

I'd have loved to have bumped into him while he was taking it on the tube, it's not quite the fold-up bikes people now carry around! Hmmm after all this discussion I'd love to try it, does anyone know where I could try it? Anyone got a spare one lying around?
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
tyred said:
Of course, once you master it, then you need to start doing it while smoking a pipe.

To be really hard core, it has to be a hookah...
 

Crash

New Member
Got to take my hat (top hat of course :biggrin:) of to anyone who rides one. My brother in law recently restored one for someone and despite lots of coaxing he couldn't get me to climb on the thing it was a monster ;)
 
simon_brooke said:
Seriously, presumably you'd technically need to stick a brake on the back wheel (even though it would do very little good) in order to be street legal? Obviously a brake on the front wheel would be pretty lethal... Do you ever have police questioning the legality of it?

Where do you get tyres? Is there a cottage industry of penny-farthing-tyre-makers out there somewhere?

You buy it in a long roll and make your own. I have several rolls of the stuff if anyone needs any

What are the parameters for the safe descent of hills - i.e. what's the longest, steepest downhill you'd consider tackling on the machine?

If you can't see the bottom of the hill, don't ride it.

Are all the parts necessarily custom made, or are you able to use some conventional bike parts (e.g. rear wheel, headset?)

Pedals, rear wheel, headset - some modern bike bits can be used.

What's the technique for an emergency dismount, and how easy is it to do in practice?

Jump off the rear and watch yer goolies on the seat.

a
 

simon_brooke

New Member
Location
Auchencairn
Hilldodger, what's the Q (or OLD) on yours? Charlottes' (and Joff's) look pretty wide...

Clearly there must be a bearing in each fork leg, and clearly if these don't align very precisely you'll get at best accelerated bearing wear. Is this a problem? Presumably the fork blades have to be pretty stiff anyway...

Is the hub and axle turned out of a single billet, or is it built up out of parts?

Yes, of course I'm thinking about a carbon fibre penny. Proper UCI 3-to-1-aspect-ratio aero sections, too. If you're gonna do steam punk, you gotta do it right...
 

MajorMantra

Well-Known Member
Location
Edinburgh
Does no one use any form of foot retention on p-fars? From riding fixed I would have thought it was desirable, though I suppose it would pose problems for dismounting.

Matthew
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
Hilldodger said:
The gear ratio is in the region of 50 - 60 inches

The wheel diameter on my smaller Penny is 52 inches with a circumference of 162 inches

If it's exactly 52 the circumference will be 163.4 to the nearest 1/10th of an inch.
 
Obviously the tyre has worn down a bit;)
 

Zipperhead

New Member
exchangeandmart said:
I'd have loved to have bumped into him while he was taking it on the tube, it's not quite the fold-up bikes people now carry around! Hmmm after all this discussion I'd love to try it, does anyone know where I could try it? Anyone got a spare one lying around?

Here's Charlotte taking hers on the District Line on evening:

DSC_0488.JPG
 

Yellow Fang

Legendary Member
Location
Reading
Well, considering she dyed her hair red, and the last time she posted on here was to tell us she'd been cycling around with no clothes on, I doubt she worries about funny looks.
 

Greenbank

Über Member
simon_brooke said:
Seriously, presumably you'd technically need to stick a brake on the back wheel (even though it would do very little good) in order to be street legal? Obviously a brake on the front wheel would be pretty lethal... Do you ever have police questioning the legality of it?

No, Ordinaries/Penny-Farthings don't need any brakes at all.

From: http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4073

"
I've already noted that fixed wheel counts as a brake. Taking that a stage further: if one wheel is not only incapable of rotating independently of the pedals, but the pedals are fixed directly to it without any intervening chain or gears, the cycle does not have to be equipped with any other braking system at all. This is obviously designed to allow various antique machines such as penny-farthings to be exercised on the highway without adding incongruous modern accessories!
"
 

The ORDINARY Man

New Member
Location
LEICESTER
Sorry, how do you do a track stand and smoke two pipes?
Hi Charlie . . being an avid enthusiast for the High wheel, to give it another name . . track stands, with or without a pipe or two are now banned down under at the Australian P/F Championships due to several of the competitors in the penny farthing SLOW race being able to just sit there indefinitley, and I'm not joking. The judges now implement the rule that the wheel must keep turning.
Doug Pinkerton, ex-UK Ordinary Champion was able to sit stationary for some time . . a sight to behold.
In answering your other question . . be that it was last year . . check out the website :- www.mesicek.cz
Mine is the 50" beige beauty in the colour section. Price for a standard machine are approx 2200euro.
 

The ORDINARY Man

New Member
Location
LEICESTER
Seriously, presumably you'd technically need to stick a brake on the back wheel (even though it would do very little good) in order to be street legal? Obviously a brake on the front wheel would be pretty lethal... Do you ever have police questioning the legality of it?

Where do you get tyres? Is there a cottage industry of penny-farthing-tyre-makers out there somewhere?

What are the parameters for the safe descent of hills - i.e. what's the longest, steepest downhill you'd consider tackling on the machine?

Are all the parts necessarily custom made, or are you able to use some conventional bike parts (e.g. rear wheel, headset?)

What's the technique for an emergency dismount, and how easy is it to do in practice?
Hi Simon . . little late answering but I have only just joined and have been reading the P/F items .... Legality: a spoon brake slows the machine down slightly actioned on the front wheel, so together with fixed drive it is street legal. I have owned and ridden an 1874 P/F with a rear brake and would have to agree wih you that it was more effective than the current front spoon brake.
Tyres are readily available both for the UK type machine and the new aluminium velocity rims.
Rule when approaching the descent of a hill is if you cannot see the bottom don't ride down . . get off and walk. Victorian times it was common practice to place your legs over the handlebars in case you came to grief and thenyou were able to jump clear . . OUCH !!
Modern day riders of these wonderful but dangerous machines when descending have been known to stand on the mounting peg whilst holding the handlebars, apply the spoon brake and at the same time place there shoe sole on the rear wheel . . don't know how long the sole lasted ?
Most parts are available from certain persons in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Cezch Rep, U.S.A. should you be inclined to make your own.
Cheers . . The Ordinary Man
 
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