How Difficult is it to Ride a Penny Farthing?

In this episode I learn to ride a Penny Farthing.

My name is Mike Boyd and I make videos documenting my process of learning stuff really fast. Subscribe for more upcoming videos and feel free to tell me what you'd like me to learn next in the comments.

Camera Work: Kim Boyd
Music: Epidemic Sound

[aceonfire]

3:29 "I'm f*ckin on it, I'm f*ckin on it! Holy Shit! GOOD DAY TO YOU SIR "

[tokagerkun]

The hardest part of this, is clearly having to talk to people that have questions about the penny farthing.

[crobodile]

benefit of riding this around: nobody is ever gonna try and steal that

[henrycgs]

Fun fact. Penny farthings were used for just some 10 years, from the 1870s to the 1880s, when the moden bikes were invented. Also most people just called penny farthings "bicycles". modern bicycles were initially advertised as "safety bicycles" and very quickly replaced the older models, for obvious reasons.

[drearycoma]

You've learned how to do a wheelie. You've learned how to ride the Penny Farthing, the next step... Wheelie on the Penny Farthing.

[LucasGottfried]

Imagine going out with your girlfriend and then this distinguished gentleman drives by with his 50 inches. There's just no way you could contest.

[Commenter]

The Penny Farthing looks and sounds like something Dr. Seuss would design

[youtuuba]

As a highwheel (aka penny-farthing) owner and regular rider for over 30 years, I am always interested to see the efforts of others to experience this type of bike. Some observations on this video:

- The geometry of that replica bike is not too good. A 50" front wheel is actually on the small side for a highwheel (48 was the smallest diameter in most maker's catalogs), and only the larges bikes (e.g. 62 inches, etc) had two sets of mounting steps. A 50 inch bike should only have a single step (the lower one), as the higher one is just asking to hurt the rider and interfere with proper mounting/dismounting. If the bike has the correct geometry, and the rider is matched to the size of bike (they were typically made in wheel sizes having increments of 2", and a rider always selected a bike (wheel) size that matched his legs/inseam, then when standing up with a foot on the step, the rider's crotch should be at the perfect height to simply slide forward onto the saddle. On this repro bike, the saddle looks to be a bit too high above the frame (backbone), and there are some other subtle geometry issues. Funny thing is, all the manufacturers in the 1880s had all that figured out 'to a T', but (most) modern repro makes have not learned the old lessons.
- Mike Boyd looks to be a bit too short in the leg to properly ride this bike. I can see that the pedals are fit closer to the hub axle to accommodate his shorter legs, but too much so....this is allowing him to ride a wheel that is really too big for him....a 48" wheel might be better. When riding a highwheel with the pedals too close to the hub, the rider does not have adequate instantaneous torque to deal with everyday riding situations, making it more likely that the front wheel may stall on hitting an obstacle, thus inviting a potentially life-altering "header" crash.
- Highwheels are inherently stable as long as the front wheel is even barely turning. Scooting along with lots of leg-skips before mounting accomplished nothing. The rider, in most cases, needs only one or two pushes/skips before the bike is stable and he should just get on with sliding into the saddle and commencing to pedal.
- Turning highwheels is easy, although they are not good at SHARP turns. The point it to always consider loss of momentum during a turn, and be ready to apply fresh torque via pedaling to add more momentum to the wheel.
- Highwheels never had adequate brakes, although front wheel spoon brakes were tried (with minimal success). Modern caliper brakes, such as this repro has, can be useful, but are not very good for serious braking, for example to arrest speed when coasting is just too little weight on the rear wheel, so it is likely to just skid along while the bike barges along forward in spite of it. But any properly made highwheel is direct drive, and should be very responsive to reverse torque applied to the pedals (this is often incorrectly called "reverse pedaling". But reverse torque should never be applied strongly and suddenly, as that would induce a "header" crash.
- For best and most comfortable handling, the highwheel's handlebar grips should be at a height that results in the rider's arms being straight down from the shoulders, no bending at the elbows, assuming that the rider's back and posture is straight up.
- Actual wheelmen in the late 19th Century had some pretty nice looking, practical cycling outfits. Knickers, close fitting jackets, practical caps, slim low heeled shoes. It is a mystery to me why so many newbies automatically dress up in coat, tails and top hat to ride their highwheels....it looks ridiculous and is embarrassingly inappropriate from an historical perspective, and not practical either.

[megalordcartman]

I would have been disappointed if you didn't have the full outfit. The outrageous top hat did not disappoint.

[sboeke]

“I’m turning I’m turning!”
Natural Geographic voice over: “He is in fact not turning instead he is going in a direction humans call ‘straight’”

[MmntechCa]

Perfect for a day out in The Village. There's a reason though why modern bikes were originally marketed as "safety bicycles".

[anonymouse]

"To think this was the main form of transport back in the day."
_Horses have entered the chat_

[Femaiden]

i'm just realizing, that back then, the height of that seat might not have been considered that "high", because that's actually about the same height as riding horseback.
People might have been used to it.
I always wondered how people get on and off these things, the mounting pegs on the back that you climb up them are ingenious.
after a day or two of learning, people probably just got used to it.

[bjct]

Imagine your just chilling at home, look out the window and see a guy, wearing a top hat the size of Britain on a wheel the size of Russia

[rumcookie]

He doesn't mention how tricky it is to get off this bike. The rider must blindly fumble his foot behind him to try to find the stirrup, which seems miles away and is next to the giant spinning wheel. Once his weight is on the stirrup, he can use the brake effectively.(When the rider is in the saddle, the brake instantly makes the rear wheel skid.) Finally, dismount.

[SnakePlissken]

There's a brilliantly hilarious story by Mark Twain called "Taming The Bicycle", about the experience he had learning to ride a Penny-farthing. As Mark Twain goes, it's absolutely hilarious, and I highly recommend it :)

[WhitneyAvalon]

The top-hat-over-helmet bit made me laugh heartily! This whole video is simply marvelous. ❤️

[petri]

imagine hanging in the park and seeing this funny Scotsman ride past saying „g‘day to you sir“

[mostawesomestnamever]

"I'm turning, I'm turning!"
Turning reality: ➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️

[PinkPlume]

"I'm torning"
The accent just adds to these videos