The radius of the wheel couldn't be any bigger than the inseam length of the rider, whoch would have put the practical limit at somewhere around 30". Diameter, or "height" would have been twice that.
A 50-something inch diameter of the front wheel seems to have been fairly common.
The size of the front wheel is limited to a max of twice the inseam length of the intended rider, and then maybe 10-15" for the handlebar and frame. So around 70"
Really, really big. Big enough so that the rider's legs just reached the pedals stuck in the middle.
the front wheel was bigger than the back wheelThe most unusual thing about the Penny-farthing bicycle is that it was a high wheeler. The front wheel of the bike was very high while the back wheel was very small.The penny farthing ( also known as the high wheel, high wheeler and ordinary) has a large front wheel and a small rear wheel. The front wheel is directly driven by the pedals. It took a lot of skill to ride the ordinary without coming to grief.There was a very large front wheel and a very small rear wheel. There was a direct drive from the pedals to the front wheel. The rider was seated high and had to learn the technique of starting and stopping the penny farthing - which was also known as the high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary.It was called the Penny-Farthing. Those were two different sized coins. The front wheel was large, the rear wheel very small.
the front wheel was bigger than the back wheelThe most unusual thing about the Penny-farthing bicycle is that it was a high wheeler. The front wheel of the bike was very high while the back wheel was very small.The penny farthing ( also known as the high wheel, high wheeler and ordinary) has a large front wheel and a small rear wheel. The front wheel is directly driven by the pedals. It took a lot of skill to ride the ordinary without coming to grief.There was a very large front wheel and a very small rear wheel. There was a direct drive from the pedals to the front wheel. The rider was seated high and had to learn the technique of starting and stopping the penny farthing - which was also known as the high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary.It was called the Penny-Farthing. Those were two different sized coins. The front wheel was large, the rear wheel very small.
A bicycle with a huge wheel in the front- Apex Just took the quiz and its correct :)
It had a very large front wheel, and a very small rear wheel. It also had a direct drive via the cranks to the front wheel. It had a single brake that worked on the front wheel. It took a lot of skill to ride one and not fall off! The Penny-Farthing was sometimes known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary.
You're probably thinking about the high-wheeler, AKA Penny-Farthing, which had a huge drive front wheel and a small rear wheel.
Very early bicycles were called hobby horses or bone shakers. These were replaced with the high-wheeler/Penny-farthing(the one with the big front wheel and the small rear wheel. After that came the "safety bike" which looked pretty much like our current bikes.
It was an early type of a bicycle*****The penny-farthing (also known as: high wheel, high wheeler and ordinary) had a large front wheel directly driven by fixed pedals, with a small rear wheel. It took quite some skill to ride.
The Ordinary had a large front wheel with direct pedalling. A high seat and a small rear wheel. Braking was rather primitive. It took skill to mount and dismount the ordinary bicycle, commonly known as the Penny Farthing.
A high-wheeler
The "safety bicycle" with rear wheel drive and same-size wheels.
The penny farthing, sometimes known as a High Wheeler, or the Ordinary, had a large diameter front wheel directly drive by the pedals. It had a much smaller diameter rear wheel. The tubular frame connecting the wheels was in an arc with a small saddle bolted near the top, and a small step just above the rear wheel used to help in mounting. The penny farthing was notoriously difficult to ride, and rather wobbly when setting off, which took some practice - and often just as difficult to stop and get off without falling off. The wheels were usually covered in narrow, solid rubber tyres, which made the penny farthing rather noisy as there were a lot of cobbled roads at the time.
According the advertising sections in magazines of the time, a quality bicycle was priced from 60 to 100 dollars for an average model. They could cost more. This is about 800-1000 dollars today. A good high quality bike today costs 500-1000 dollars, so even though the dollar hasn't held its value, the cost of a quality bicycle has remained about the same in real terms.1p£6 - £2020 shillings