penny-farthing
Sign in to saveAlso known as high wheel, high wheeler, man slicer, ordinary, penny farthing
thumb|15-mile Penny Farthing Race, Harvard University Cycling Association in 1887 thumb|right|A penny-farthing in the Škoda Auto Museum, Czech Republic
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
14 sectionsContents
- History
- Origins and development
- Attributes
- End of an era
- Modern usage
- Characteristics
- Construction
- Operation
- Performance
- In popular culture
- Events
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|15-mile Penny Farthing Race, Harvard University Cycling Association in 1887 thumb|right|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. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds, owing to its travelling a long 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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “penny-farthing” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.