coominya

I saw a dude that rides one of those too, I was parked up replying to a txt and got to take a video of it. He was obviously on his way to work in the industrial area I was in. Ballsy I thought given the trucks in the area. Of course I took off in hot pursuit. At a guess I'd say he was doing 10 km/h

Stucky

Heh, yeah...unicycle...no big deal- I rode one when I was a kid. Penny farthing...now THAT would be a sight! (I wish you guys would stop with all of these unicycle threads- every time i see such a thread, I get the yen to get one!)

FlatFender

Sunday afternoon. Lake Crab tree county park in Raleigh. Wife and I stopped for a break and the dude just rolled right on by. It was amazing.

jefnvk

There are a few by me, actually! Only time I bother using the B&W filters on Instagram is when I see them! One runs around the rail trail by me too, but I am never quick enough to get the phone out to snap a pic.

Stucky

That is AMAZING! I've never seen one myself in the wild. (Knowing me, if someone rode by on one, I'd just have to say something like : "Darn hipsters on their fixies!" )

Thanks for posting the awesome pics!

rubiconazoid

Hats off to anyone riding those things!!

Milton Keynes

I read the Wikipedia article on the Penny-Farthings, and they were/are actually quite dangerous for flipping your forward and landing on your face. Apparently a lot of people died riding those things when they couldn't get stopped and flipped forward. Some riders took to putting their legs over the handlebars when going down a hill so they'd be ready to land on their feet. The main issue with the design is that you're basically sitting very nearly directly over the front axle with a high center of gravity.

Stucky

Now we know why when the "regular" style bike was invented, it was called the "safety bicycle". Those Penny Farthings are as cool as all get-out, but I couldn't even imagine riding one! Imagine having to dismount from the rear every time you stop?!

Chris L

There used to be a Unicycling subforum here many eons ago. There's even a thing called "Mountain Unicycling" - imagine that!

Arizona Nights

Which is interesting because penny-farthings were called "ordinary" when comparing to the "safety". Nothing ordinary about those things.

Can't imagine stopping, or going up a hill, or down a hill, or over a pothole. AND not wearing a helmet.

Stucky

I think that my cousin and I were the originators/pioneers of mountain-unicycling! (When I was 13, he and I got unicycles. Used to ride them on dirt paths....errr I mean "trails" (yeah, trails!) in the woods- in 1975. )

Imagine if they had had bike forums back then? Somebody would be saying "It ain't a REAL bike unless it has a big wheel! Darn contraptions with chains and freewheels are for sissies!". Someone else would say "You darn hipsters on your fixies! At least have a brake!".

Imagine getting your kid a bike when only Penny Farthings existed? "Tomorrow we'll take the training wheels off, Son!" [Next day: Kid goes through the garage door and ends up mangled]. They could have charities, like Bikes For Your Enemy's Kids".....

Milton Keynes

Why did they make those penny farthings so dang tall? I know it's a bit more efficient to have a larger wheel but in the interest of convenience & safety I think I'd rather ride one which isn't so dang tall.

Oh and in regards to unicycles, I think I read or heard somewhere that the taller the unicycle, the easier it is to balance. Which makes sense because it's easier to balance something that's fairly long on your hand than it is to balance something which is a lot shorter.

Nermal

The tall ones probably are easier to balance, but only after you get on them. I saw one performer that more or less ran up the side of a tall unicycle till he got to the saddle, but he was a rare bird, indeed.

Stucky

They didn't have gears (i.e. not even a single chainring and cog) so the virtual "gear ratio" was determined by the size of the wheel. Smaller wheel would give you a lower ratio, and a lower overall maximum speed. It really makes ya appreciate how much of a leap there was in the short space between the invention of the Farthing and the safety bicycle.

base2 

I wasn't going to say anything, until the penny farthing got mentioned. Been looking for a unicycle off/on for a few months until I found an adult pogo stick. It was fun for a while, but certainly not as practical as you would hope for a trip down to the corner package store. It's hanging on a hook right now and still no unicycle. In any case, my interests shifted. I looked to penny farthings. Worksman Cycles sells them new here: Antique High Wheel Bikes from Worksman Cycles

If I pull the trigger on bike number 6 (7?), my wife'll hurt me real bad, but maybe a Worksman might pique someones interest? It's like a unicycle with a training wheel!