Why isn't this a thing? A small modern penny farthing, with like 26-28" front wheel, light, compact, you can easily carry it and keep it your appartment, no chains or gears (fixed on a middle speed, balance of ease and speed), thus easier to make and maintain and repair, production cost should be cheaper than for a typical bike. Why isn't it a thing?! Seems to me like it's simply better than a typical bike for a city bike / commuting bike. People should be riding this around town. It should be made more, it should be popular. Maybe just make it with a higher handlebar and adjustable height seat.
by zelenisok
7 Comments
Have you been to frederick md? They have a annual penny farthing race thru their streets. Really fun to watch and I’m sure a blast to ride in.
Because penny farthings suck as a design, at any scale?
A 28” wheel would be exactly 28 gear inches, a super low gear, you’d be pedaling like crazy and not going very fast. And penny farthings are fixed gears, you can’t coast.
That being said, increasing the wheel diameter and so the gear inches, would make it more viable. This guy rode 11000 miles on this 46” penny farthing in 1887.
https://preview.redd.it/h24n1f73gukf1.jpeg?width=1056&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2619eb7cc87aa1ca871dc2c404ec3b4efa243369
https://preview.redd.it/uyzczs2epukf1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3cae858933296c8491f5cd3c2c3504924de1d852
This guy rode in RAGBRAI this year, 410 miles in 7 days. Wonder how he did on the descents on day 7.
People like having teeth.
I recently learned that penny farthings were originally called spider wheels and that the term penny farthing was only used quite a while after their popularity had waned and they had been superseded by more modern looking bikes.
Because we lack the whimsy