penny farthing

[lewis1641]

A friend is replacing the roof on an old bike shop. Amongst other things they found a penny farthing in the rafters. We are trying to get some information on it. The plan is to either let the local museum have it or if they don't just sell it on to someone that can use it.

Wheels measure 16 and 50 inches

It is in a very poor state but the hubs and steering still move .
Of note are the curved handlebars, apparently flat would be the norm.

Where do I begin with identifying and aging such a thing?

IMG_20120615_210040 by lewis1641, on Flickr

 

[lumos2000]

theres a website somewhere full of nutters that restore old bikes i forgot the name but im sure someone here will know

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Flat would not be the norm for these. The ones with the saddle right behind the bars, would need such curved bars to make room for the legs.

Dating it based on that one picture would be difficult, but the amount of curvature of the bars and the saddle mount makes me think it's somewhere in the 1880-1890 era.
Mind you, that was the most common era, so it doesn't make it any rarer than most other examples.

Mind you, I'm not an expert. Just a regular biker who's looking into buying either an old or a modern one.
I'm not even sure if a 50" will fit me, but I doubt it. My guesstimate is that you need a 35" inseam to be able to reach the pedals on that one, whereas I only have a 30" inseam.

 

[lewis1641]

Thanks. He isn't expecting it to be worth a fortune particularly and was told about the bar situation from someone else .

I will upload more pictures tomorrow.

 

[REKIBorter]

Is it a Saracen?

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

Paint it up, all it on the bay as a Klein!

 

[ajm]

What a fantastic thing to find... I love finding old stuff hidden away but that's amazing, a bike catalogue from that era is the best I've managed!

 

[ferrus]

There's a member on here who's into these in a big way - I think he gives lessons on riding them and even builds contemporary versions. 'hilldodger' s the fella. I bought an old Stumpy of him and have his phone number somewhere if you need it.

What a find!

 

[warpedboy2]

That is the coolest thing I have seen all week

 

[Midlife]

Where are you based? when I worked in a bike shop in Hull in the 70's there was a mad crowd who ran these things...... I guess they are still alive and have offspring LOL

Cycling Plus / Active have various pics of these nutters riding them

Shaun