You know those bicycles with big front wheels? Yeah, they’re actually called penny farthing bicycles or just simply penny farthings. They’re so called because the front wheel and rear wheel in tandem look vaguely like a penny and farthing; the latter is a defunct unit of Sterling currency that is no longer in circulation, and which was considerably smaller than a penny.
These were the first machines that were termed bicycles and in their day were the fastest things on the roads; as fast as horses and faster than early cars. They also lacked a chain drive, which is the reason for the big front wheel. To attain any real speed, a larger wheel diameter was needed, and that wheel has to be attached directly to the crank arms, as is the case in these bicycles with big front wheels.
Of course, this means a few different things. For one, it means that the rider has to sit over that big front wheel. This in turn carries some other consequences that we will explore here, all of which contribute to the reasons that you need to be very careful when you brake when you’re riding one of these bikes.
Efficient Braking and Avoiding Taking a Header
The brakes in most penny farthing bikes communicate directly with the rear wheel. It is also the case that, given the design of the penny farthing, the rider must sit atop the larger front wheel, necessarily. This removes the center of gravity from over the top of the brake and also objectively elevates it. This is not necessarily a good combination.
First, it means that if you brake, the efficiency of the brake is necessarily going to diminish while you are sitting over the front wheel. For this reason there are often pegs on the rear fork of a penny farthing. Getting out of the saddle to step on these is one way to improve the effect of the brakes.
Also, if you brake too aggressively, whether you are standing over the rear fork or not, you are likely going to skid, at best.
And, more importantly, having such a high center of gravity, if you brake too suddenly or try to stop too abruptly, whether you engage the brake or not, you might experience an unfortunate event known as “taking a header” which will occur if you stop short and are pitched over the handlebars. With such a high center of gravity, it has been known to happen.
As a result, savvy riders are sparing in their use of the brake in the first place, preferring instead to coast to a stop, and even when they do use the brake, they are ginger about it and observe the good advice contained in this post.
Considering Learning to Ride a Penny Farthing
If you’ve been reading this wondering if you can even still get a real penny farthing that exhibits enough quality to ride, the answer is yes, and the place to get it is Unicycle.com.
Don’t be fooled by the name. While they are most certainly the authorities in all things unicycling, they also sell a number of odd bikes as well. Check out their website for more information and if you have questions about sizing (you have to get a penny farthing of an appropriate size for your inseam dimensions or you will not be able to ride it) get in touch with their customer service team for assistance. They will be more than happy to assist.
For more information about Square Taper Crank and Knee Elbow and Wrist Pads Please visit: Unicycle.com.
