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A penny-farthing in the Škoda Auto Museum, Czech Republic. The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. [1] It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds, owing to it travelling a large distance for every rotation of the wheel.
In 1880, G.W. Pressey invented the high-wheeler American Star Bicycle, whose smaller front wheel was designed to decrease the frequency of "headers". By 1884 high-wheelers and tricycles were relatively popular among a small group of upper-middle-class people in all three countries, the largest group being in England.
It fell out of favor after the summer of 1869 and was replaced in 1870 with the type of bicycle called "ordinary", "high-wheel", or "penny-farthing". Few original boneshakers exist today, most having been melted for scrap metal during World War I. [3] Those that do surface from time to time command high prices, typically up to about $5,000 US.
[1] [2] It was characterized by a small wheel in front to avoid the problem of tipping forward inherent in other high wheelers. [3] A Star bicycle was photographed being ridden down the steps in front of the United States Capitol in 1885 to demonstrate its longitudinal stability, [4] and Star bicycles were used for the sport of bicycle polo in ...
Jul. 15—On a warm Saturday afternoon, spectators gathered in downtown Frederick for the National Clustered Spires High Wheel Race. People pressed up against the metal railings closing off the ...
An old-fashioned penny-farthing or ordinary has one high wheel directly driven by the pedals and one small wheel. A dwarf bicycle has a chain-driven front wheel, exemplified by the Kangaroo. On an upright bicycle, also called a safety bicycle, the rider sits astride the saddle. On a recumbent bicycle the rider reclines or lies supine.
The term 'safety bicycle' was used in the 1880s for any alternative to the penny-farthing. The front and rear wheel were not necessarily the same size. [3] Later historians began to use the term in a more restricted way for the design that was a direct ancestor to most modern bicycles.
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