It's true! My grandparents had a vintage Penny Farthing in their garage and it telekinetically flung me across the room when I tried to get on in my 21st century clothing. Damnedest thing, really.
That’s like saying “no you don’t have to wear a train conductors hat to be a train conductor. Amazing he knows so much about the vehicle but yet got that response incorrect.
I dated a girl in high school who’s dad owned an antique bike like that. And when you say it wasn’t so hard to learn I seem to remember falling off quite a lot. No brakes and that giant wheel spinamathinging your legs around is a recipe for crashes. And crashing hurts worse when your ten feet in the air.
@@ehlee5394 I assume you have force the pedals backwards to stop. Dunno if these things have a ratchet/clutch or if the pedals are directly attached to the wheel.
Yeah seriously, that's insane. Here in the Netherlands you can get a very solid used bicycle for under €100, a new one for ~€300. $1700 is just prohibitively expensive for something that isn't very great for transportation.
@@daylen577 it's just for fun, not for actual transportation, because of the dangers of using it (sitting very high and in the front with no great way to immediately stop)
The front wheel, when travelling at speed, has quite a lot of angular momentum. It basically acts as a flywheel. A rotating object resists being turned about other axes, which means it will typically keep its heading. You can test this with an ordinary bike wheel with some handles attached.
Yeah but another big and more important factor is the angle of the steering. That gives you "self aligning torque". That means the vehicle turns the steering, pointing it were it should so it doesn't fall.
Yes, that’s why when I got a proper road bike I was cruising with no hands the first day, and it’s even more pronounced on my motorcycle which feels like it’s actually on rails
@@sayingnigromakesyoutubecry2647 Surely that only affects the steering direction? Momentum prevents the bike from falling sideways while it's moving forwards. Heading was the wrong term to use, I really meant to talk about roll angle but I'm not sure if there's a more elegant term for that.
Penny Farthing facts. The Peddles are attached directly to the front wheel, meaning that you have to keep peddling as long as your feet are on the peddles. Early versions had poor breaking power. The only shock absorbing is the solid rubber attached to the wheels. Meaning you feel ever bump on the road. When you stop you either have to hang on to something to stay aboard or dismount. This could be a problem if you have to stop suddenly. Also remember that if you fall it's from several feet above the ground.
"Hmm, even though I've broken several bones and destroyed my bike falling off it because there's no other way to brake...I wonder why it didn't catch on."
Had the pleasure of meeting a pomme, in Mackay australia 1971 who rode one of these from England to Australia, 4 is a day, an he was in the serina ranges plenty of hills.
@@AlexMageethefirst It was actually the opposite. Farthings were worth 1/4 of a penny, so they were much smaller than a penny, which was roughly the same size as an American half-dollar is today.
“Do you need to wear the clothing while riding it” Well do you need to need to wear running shoes run no but it sure makes it feel more comfortable Yes I took this sorry just saw the opportunity
this is seriously a smart way for you to get more exposure on your channel. people are naturally drawn to people who can do things they can’t so you hooking people in with reels/shorts is genius
Yes like it magically stops you from riding when you do not have clothes from a specific era that's like saying we cannot use the tank unless we are Leonardo da Vinci
I like that you're wearing a helmet even underneath that top hat I see so many people not wearing helmets on bikes when they should it saved a relative of mine in an accident so I'm giving a like for the helmet
Before most bicycles used bike chains and gears to enable bike wheels to spin faster, bike pedals were directly connected to the wheel, so your speed was rather limited. The penny farthing looked to address this by making the front wheel very large, so each spin would travel a long distance.
