Penny-farthing

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Although the name "penny-farthing" is now the most common, it was probably not used until the machines had been almost superseded.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 improving the ride.

All bicycles pose a risk of "headers" (being precipitated head-first over the front wheel when it comes to a sudden stop, e.g. because it has hit an obstacle). The risk and seriousness of the consequences was much greater with the penny-farthing because the rider was higher and placed almost over the front axle. This was a choice: a larger front wheel and forward riding position provided mechanical advantage, allowing the rider to go faster. That was the attraction of the penny-farthing over the velocipede. Manufacturers of penny-farthings responded to customer demand, producing machines with the seat in various (or variable) positions and with front wheels of varying sizes.

Some manufacturers adapted the penny-farthing to reduce the risk. In 1878 Ellis & Co. brought out the commercially-successful "Facile", in which the rider sat further back on a relatively small machine, using pedals which drove the front wheel through levers. Also in 1878, Singer & Co. brought out a similar machine, the "Xtraordinary". This included a (patented) feature which maintained the "feel" of the steering and remains in widespread use today: the fork was shaped so the wheel met the ground on the steering axis, despite its rake.

In 1884 Hillman, Herbert & Cooper introduced the "Kangaroo". in which a chain-drive for each pedal gave a rider the mechanical advantage of a large wheel without its physical size. But by that date, others (e.g. Thomas Humber) were experimenting with chain drive to the rear wheel, separating the steering function (front wheel) from drive (rear wheel). This overcame a problem which only increased as the seat was moved back on a penny-farthing: that the rider's legs had to operate in the plane of the front wheel while the seat lay somewhere between that plane and the plane of the rear wheel.

Although freewheels were patented in several countries in 1869, most bicycles until 1900 were fixed-wheel: the pedals rotated with the wheel when it was turning. This gave the rider the ability to reduce speed by resisting the rotation of the pedals (this was referred to as "back-pedalling", but the term is today more often used for turning the pedals backwards when coasting with a modified freewheel, which applies a brake).

When descending a hill, cyclists took their feet from the pedals, either putting them over the handlebars or on rests provided for them. A separate hand-operated brake operated on the front or back wheel (or both). To save weight, this was omitted from machines for racing, as was the step (a mounting block was used or the rider ran with the bicycle and vaulted on). In his 1887 book, Cycling Viscount Bury gave this advice:

Down hill on a bicycle the safest position is without doubt that in which the legs are placed on the handle-bar, as not only will the sharp application of the brake bring the rider over the front wheel and on to his feet, a somewhat jerky method of dismounting, ... but ... the rider gets at once clear of his machine, and all practical cyclists know that the most painful injuries are caused by the handle-bars striking the front of the legs

Until the 1890s, bicycling remained the province of the well-to-do, mainly men and could be a form of conspicuous consumption.

Attributes

The penny-farthing used a larger wheel than the velocipede, thus giving higher speeds on all but the hills. In addition, the large wheel gave a smoother ride, important before pneumatic tires.

Penny-farthing bicycles often used similar materials and construction as earlier velocipedes: cast iron frames, solid rubber tires, and plain bearings for pedals, steering, and wheels. They were often quite durable and required little service. For example, when cyclist Thomas Stevens rode around the world in the 1880s, he reported only one significant mechanical problem in over 20,000 kilometres (12,000 miles), caused when the local military confiscated his bicycle and damaged the front wheel.

End of an era

During the period of its supremacy, the well-known risks of the penny-farthing were outweighed by its strengths. While it was a difficult, dangerous machine, it was simpler, lighter, and faster than the safer velocipedes of the time. Two new developments changed this situation, and led to the adoption of the safety bicycle. The first was the chain drive, originally used on tricycles, which, with a smaller rear sprocket than the chain wheel, allowed a smaller rear wheel to go as far and as fast as a large front wheel. The second (which came after the safety bicycle had been developed) was the pneumatic bicycle tire, which provided a ride as good as that of a penny-farthing with a solid rubber tyre.

The nephew of one of the men responsible for popularity of the penny-farthing was largely responsible for its demise. James Starley had built the Ariel (spirit of the air) high-wheeler in 1870; but this was a time of innovation, and when chain drives were upgraded so that each link had a small roller, higher and higher speeds became possible without the need for a large front wheel.

In 1885, Starley's nephew John Kemp Starley took these new developments to launch the modern bicycle, the Rover safety bicycle, so-called because the rider, seated much lower and farther behind the front wheel contact point, was less prone to a header.

In 1888, when John Dunlop re-invented the pneumatic tire for his son's tricycle, the high wheel was made obsolete. The comfortable ride once found only on tall wheels could now be enjoyed on smaller chain-driven bicycles. By 1893, high-wheelers were no longer being produced. Use lingered into the 1920s in track cycling until racing safety bicycles were adequately designed.

Modern usage

Today, enthusiasts ride restored penny-farthings, and a few manufacturers build new ones with modern materials. Manufacturers include Richards of England (Hull, UK), Rideable Bicycle Replicas (US), Trott & Sons (UK) and UDC (Taiwan). One of these manufacturers, UDC Penny Farthings, the largest penny-farthing retailer in the United Kingdom, recorded record sales of penny-farthings in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Penny Farthing Club is a cycling club that was founded in 2013 by Neil Laughton. The club offers rider training, bike tours of London and other UK cities, and hosts club events such as penny-farthing polo.