The first cycling races were taken on penny-farthing bicycles. A rider was placed on the top of the front wheel and could fall head-first from high up. Even though a rider could look unusual and sometimes ridiculous, noble gentlemen, ladies, and different kinds of people had used penny-farthing bicycles daily.īut penny-farthing bicycles were dangerous because such a high bicycle with thin and hard wheels was very unstable. Eyewitnesses have said that a penny-farthing bicycle could reach a speed of 20 mph with no serious physical efforts from the side of a rider. Such a construction provides very fast speed. A high-wheel bicycle includes two different wheels: one small and one extremely big, one and a half meters tall. Penny-farthing bicycles had gained its original name because of its appearance.
Then society was unaccustomed to bicycles but this had served as a great opportunity to introduce brand-new bicycling machines because people weren’t pre-disposed and experienced in cycling.
The construction of penny-farthing bicycles can amaze everyone and there were not so many people who were brave enough to try such a bike. Thus such a view can confuse everyone nowadays, penny-farthing bicycles had numerous technological advantages and had proved itself as an efficient but yet dangerous means of transportation. Perhaps we all have seen vintage photos of gentlemen on top of penny-farthing bicycles. Although penny-farthing bicycles were famous and widespread for a short time, between the 1870s and 1880s, they became an integral part of the then society. Penny-farthing bicycle or high-wheel bicycle came into existence in 1870, when Eugène Meyer had developed the first high-wheel bicycle and the founder of the bicycle industry, James Starley had launched its mass production. Penny-farthing bicycle or high-wheel bicycle There was a lot of unusual about a penny-farthing bicycle.
One of the most famous and recognizable symbols of the Victorian era is a penny-farthing bicycle – a machine that looks so unusual and unaccustomed to modern people and cyclists. Many iconic symbols of the Victorian era still excite people’s imagination, making them wonder how interesting and romantic then living was. Humanity perceives the Victorian epoch as something highly-romantic and enveloped with myths and legends. 0 Penny-Farthing Bicycle – History and Appearance
0 kommentar(er)
