The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle distinguished by its large front wheel and comparatively small back wheel. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds, owing to its travelling a long distance for every rotation of the wheel. These bicycles had solid rubber tires and as a consequence the only shock absorption was in the saddle. The penny-farthing became obsolete in the late 1880s with the development of modern bicycles, which provided similar speed, via a chain-driven gear train, and comfort, from the use of pneumatic tires. These later bikes were marketed as "safety bicycles" because of the greater ease of mounting and dismounting, the reduced danger of falling, and the reduced height to fall, in comparison to penny-farthings. The name came from the British penny and farthing coins, the penny being much larger than the farthing, so that the side view of the bicycle resembles a larger penny (the front wheel) leading a smaller farthing (the rear wheel). Although the name "penny-farthing" is now the most common, it was probably not used until the machines had been almost superseded. The first recorded print reference is from 1891 in Bicycling News. For most of their reign they were simply known as "bicycles" and were the first machines to be so called, although they were not the first two-wheeled, pedalled vehicles. In the late 1890s, the name "ordinary" began to be used, to distinguish them from the emerging safety bicycles, and that term, along with "hi-wheel" and variants, are preferred by many modern enthusiasts. In 1869, at the height of the popularity of the boneshaker, the Frenchman Eugène Meyer patented a wire-spoke bicycle wheel which led to the development of the high bicycle. The Franco-Prussian war led mass production to switch to Britain, where James Starley, described as the father of the British bicycle industry, and others, made incremental improvements. During the 1870s manufacturers produced bicycles with ever larger front wheels and ever smaller rear wheels, because with direct-drive the larger the front wheel, the further (and so faster) it went. Wheel size was determined by leg length: 60" was the largest standard size. In 1878, Albert Pope began manufacturing the Columbia bicycle outside Boston, starting their two-decade heyday in the United States. Although the trend was short-lived, the penny-farthing became a symbol of the late Victorian era. Its popularity also coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport.
History
Origins and development
The first step towards the penny-farthing was taken by Louis Rives of Toulouse, who in 1868 obtained French patent No. 81635 for a velocipede with the profile of a miniature penny-farthing. Its front wheel was 35" and its rear 16", with wooden rims and metal spokes. The smaller rear wheel placed close to the front wheel reduced the wheelbase, reducing the moment of inertia resisting rotational acceleration. The second step was taken by the leading Parisian bicycle maker, Eugène Meyer, who is now regarded as the father of the high bicycle. In 1869 he obtained French patent No. 86705 for a wire-spoke tension wheel with individually-adjustable spokes. His all-metal bicycle wheel and the use of hollow tubing took a third off the weight of a velocipede. It also removed the limit of about 48" which wooden construction imposed on the maximum diameter of a wheel. At the bicycle exhibition at the Pré Catalan in November 1869 the unknown maker Alexandre Moyon exhibited what Le Vélocipède illustré called for the first time a "grand bicycle", the French term for a penny-farthing. In November 1869 James Moore won the Paris - Rouen race on a conventionally-constructed velocipede with a front wheel about 42" in diameter and a rear wheel half the size. By Spring 1870, most French racers had adopted such wheel sizes. In July 1870 Moore rode a 43" Meyer "spider-wheel" grand bicycle at the British championships. His performance was so outstanding that British manufacturers rapidly copied the design. A teenager from Wolverhampton, who had been riding a 36" machine, appeared on a 50" machine and promptly beat the four-minute mile. The penny-farthing had arrved.
The Franco-Prussian war brought the French bicycle industry to a halt and mass-production switched to Britain, focused on Coventry, where in 1868 Rowley Turner had placed an order for 300 velocipedes with his uncle's sewing-machine company. James Starley was a foreman at the company and proceeded to make a series of incremental improvements, starting with a mounting step. In 1870 he patented a method to tension simultaneously all the wire spokes in a wheel and then left to found his own business. This mass-produced the all-metal "Ariel" bicycle of 1871, which initially had a 42" front wheel and a 24" rear. Over the next few years, front wheels grew to 60" or more while rear wheels shrank (see James Moore's 1872 bicycle). Ball bearings, solid rubber tires and hollow-section steel frames became standard, reducing weight and making the ride much smoother. Penny-farthing bicycles are dangerous because of the risk of headers (taking a fall over the handlebars head-first). Makers developed "moustache" handlebars, allowing the rider's knees to clear them, "Whatton" handlebars that wrapped around behind the legs, and ultimately (though too late, after development of the safety bicycle), the American "Eagle" and "Star" bicycles, whose large and small wheels were reversed. This prevented headers but left the danger of being thrown backwards when riding uphill. Other attempts included moving the seat rearward and driving the wheel by levers or treadles, as in the "Xtraordinary" and "Facile", or gears, by chain as in the "Kangaroo" or at the hub, as in the "Crypto"; another option was to move the seat well back, as in the "Rational". Even so, bicycling remained the province of the urban well-to-do, and mainly men, until the 1890s, and was a salient example of conspicuous consumption.
Attributes
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
