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Try tying this up at the bike cage at Forest Hills
By adamg on Wed, 06/09/2021 - 10:01pm
Mark Anderson spotted this guy riding a penny farthing through the intersection of Washington Street and Ukraine Way this afternoon.
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Comments
Hmm...
Has hipsterism jumped the shark?
Looks like something I’ve seen before...
It cannot. There will always be a fresh take. Nature of the beast.
This looks like the same guy I saw a couple times riding an ordinary about 12 years ago near the Craigie Bridge and Esplanade. He even rode it on black ice which I thought was a bit wreckless, but hopefully not.
Moved JP to Cambridge commute could quite lovely some days... likely works at MIT.
Welcome to JPlandia! I have to admire
his commitment to a hipster aesthetic, the love of old-timey things. That thing out-fixies the fixie for impracticality, discomfort and injury potential. It's of a piece with flaunting one's Polaroid SX-70, manual typewriter or rack of eight-track tapes. I expect pagers to make a comeback next.
I collect vintage clothing and have a wall full of vinyl that pre-dates the format's revival by kids born in the digital age, so I can't throw stones. ("I was into vinyl before it was cool again, you know.") Plus ça change, etc.
Why impractical?
I’ve never ridden one, but it has some practical advantages. It’s gearless (which is cool again, unlike vinyl), which makes for minimal maintenance. The large front wheel provides a high multiplication ratio without relying on complicated gearing; I imagine it’s pretty fast. And the high position of the rider would provide great views. It’s probably a bit tricky to learn, but so are many worthwhile skills. And why do you think it’s any more uncomfortable than the modern variant, which is mostly frame, while this thing is mostly wheel? Wheels are more flexible and forgiving than frames.
The name, though cute, is definitely dated, but before it acquired that nickname, it had another, more widely used name, which has stood the test of time; it was called a “bicycle”.
Let me count the ways..
The small cranks on the large front wheel provide little leverage. You can go fast, but it takes a while to get up to speed because of the high effective gear ratio.
The high position of the rider does give great visibility, but it also puts your center of gravity almost on top of the center of the front wheel. This allows you a great view of the ground if you apply the brakes too strongly (you get pitched over the bars head first).
As for comfort, the large front wheel is basically a rigid disk with a solid (and hard) rubber tire. Any irregularity in the road is transmitted directly to you.
That said, there were many adventurous riders who took these bikes on long rides in the 1880's before pneumatic tires were invented and the 'safety bicycle' was introduced. Apparently it was quite the the rage.
Taming the Bicycle
Mark Twain's essay, "Taming the Bicycle," puts Twain's typical spin on the difficulties associated with learning to ride the ordinary, ending with the line: "Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
Pennyfarthings are *notorious* for being dangerous to ride.
Just picture the forces at play as soon as you hit the brakes -- or hit a bump. If the big wheel stops moving, the rider comes down over the top, and rear wheel lifts off the ground. There's no lever action like you have on today's "safety bicycle" (that's what they were called!) that makes it harder for you to do a superman over the handlebars. On a pennyfarthing you just go flying.
...or you would, except your legs are under the handlebars, which means you end up flipping forward and towards the pavement facefirst. Some riders used to keep their legs *over* the handlebars so they could gracefully jump off forwards at the first sign of trouble.
There's a good reason they dropped out of favor.
Notice
The panniers on the rear wheel are full of tungsten. For safety counter-weighting.
Makes uphills stink, though.
Seriously, though. If tuned, that is probably a lot more efficient and comfortable than a lot of twin-suspension el-cheapo mountain bikes that have tires with too little air in the tires and rusty chains.
Those are so common as to escape notice. Pick on them.
The grandpappy of tallbikes. C’mon... that design and mostly the components like tensioned-spoked wheels and ball bearings changed the world. Propers.
What's his clearance needs
What's his clearance needs with that?
I could just imagine him Storrowing himself on some footpath somewhere where there's a picturesque footbridge overhead.
(exhales)
Stop. Please.
Magoo sez
Hi everyone. Magoo.
Great
I'd much rather this then the boys on dirt bikes and crotch rockets.
Where’s their helmet?!
Where’s their helmet?!
Commuter?
What is baffling to me is that it looks like it has a rack and pannier bags for carrying stuff? I mean, I guess it’s visible?!
I bet it has a cup-holder and
I bet it has a cup-holder and a mount for a cellphone GPS on the handlebars!
What, you want them to wear a backpack
and raise their center of gravity even higher? :-)
Maybe it's filled with bricks
Maybe it's filled with bricks, to keep the rear wheel on the ground.
By god, that's Mr. Peanut's
By god, that's Mr. Peanut's music!
Be seeing you.
Be seeing you.
Hahaha
So hipster it hurts.
Triggered.
Triggered.
What does that mean?
Triggered about what?