Today we have a bicycling double feature plus an intermission. Part one is a set of those late 19th C. wonders, the penny farthing bike. Named after two radically different sized British coins, they became a fad that time stamped an era. As an added bonus, our P/F riders all have mustaches.
We start the show with a guy who must have been good at it. Look at those medals.
What led to such a design for bikes? Looking back at it, it does not seem to make sense.
ReplyDeleteThe large front wheel produced greater speed because the ratio of pedal rotation to wheel rotation was amplified by the size of the rim. When effective chain drives were developed, the modern type appeared around 1885, and these became obsolete.
DeleteOh! A penny. A farthing. A Penny Farthing. Now I get it! I thought it was from a name like Penny Robinson from Lost in Space.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to hit me over the head with a 2x4, but sometimes it helps!
My mother always kept a 2x4 handy.
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