Original Penny Farthing Bicycle
Original Penny Farthing Bicycle
Original Penny Farthing Bicycle. A fabulous original antique Penny Farthing Bicycle, iron framed, black painted, with wooden grips and single rod-brake, large spoked front wheel and similar smaller trailing wheel, with solid rubber tyres. Leather saddle. This is circa late 19th Century and does seem to be in excellent original condition. The front wheel size is 60″ and saddle to pedal is 38″. A rare opportunity to purchase such a rare item. The previous owner rode this bicycle each year in the Lord Mayor’s of London annual parade.
The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. 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. These bicycles had solid rubber tires and as a consequence the only shock absorption was in the saddle.
It 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. They 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.
** Ammunition, Firearms and any Licensed components are not available to order online. Due to current Firearms Legislation these items are collection only and can only be purchased upon production of the necessary Firearms Permits. If you would like to purchase this item then please contact us on info@guntopia.hu or call +36 30 304 3036 **
€ 13 959,00
Original Penny Farthing Bicycle
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Although the name "penny-farthing" is now the most common, it was probably not used until the machines had been almost superseded.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.
Around 1870 English inventor James Starley, described as the father of the bicycle industry, and others, began producing bicycles with front wheels of increasing size, because larger front wheels, up to 5 feet (152 cm) in diameter, enabled higher speeds on bicycles limited to direct-drive.
