Anyone else see this guy on the telly today?

Redmog

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3411787/Cyclist-goes-around-the-world-on-penny-farthing.html

I love the way they made a big thing about it being hand made - like he should have gone to his LBS and got a factory one like the rest of us . . . :shock:

adrianb1066

Well done that man :shock: Don't suppose anyone else will do it for another 100 years!

always_tyred

Only someone from Britain would think to do that. Its completely barking.

Good though.

lost_in_thought

I read about this in the paper - completely mad. And we (well, I) go on about pushing a big gear... :shock: :oops:

2tired2ride

Thats pretty impressive!

snooks

I recon that's a GI of 148! :shock:

downfader

I saw it too. Love penny farthings! :P He's got a website too, had a poke around it a few times already.

That front wheel is incredible - its got center nuts to tighten the spokes as I assume he couldnt get spoke material long enough or stable.

Redmog

snooks wrote:

I recon that's a GI of 148! :shock:

But think of the 'Hens teeth' bonus

Of course the man is completely barking, but it would be fun to to look down on all the other road users for once. Not sure about the braking arrangements tho' - it would be far too easy to find yourself head butting the pavement . . .

wgwarburton

Snooks writes:

> I recon that's a GI of 148!

Umm, nope: It's about 48". Says in the article that his wheel is 1.2m in diameter. 1.2m is about 48" and so that's what his gear is.

On a high wheeler, your gear is pretty much determined by your inside leg measurement. constrained by the distance from saddle to pedal at lowest point. So if you have, say, 6 1/2" cranks and a 34" inch inside leg you get a twenty four inch radius after leaving some room for a frame and saddle, hence a 48" gear...

The early racers tended to be big men....

Cheers,
W.

lost_in_thought

WGWarburton wrote:

Snooks writes:

> I recon that's a GI of 148!

Umm, nope: It's about 48". Says in the article that his wheel is 1.2m in diameter. 1.2m is about 48" and so that's what his gear is.

On a high wheeler, your gear is pretty much determined by your inside leg measurement. constrained by the distance from saddle to pedal at lowest point. So if you have, say, 6 1/2" cranks and a 34" inch inside leg you get a twenty four inch radius after leaving some room for a frame and saddle, hence a 48" gear...

The early racers tended to be big men....

Cheers,
W.

Gah! Stop being so damn logical!

attica

c=2 x pi x r

24 x 2 x 3.141 = 150 inches approx

Sorry WGWGWGWGWGWharburton , you're wrong, no wonder there's a baker's dozen that's different to everybody else's dozen!

wgwarburton

Attica writes:

> c=2 x pi x r

Gear inches represent diameter, not circumference.

In fact, as I understand it, the whole reason for using it as a measure dates back to the days of the penny farthing: it was a way for people to relate the effective wheel diameter of their Safety bicycles to Ordinary ones.

At any rate, a gear ratio expressed in inches is the diameter of the rear wheel (nominally 27") multiplied by the ratio of front to rear chainrings. Pi doesn't come into it.

Cheers,
W.

attica

Dammit, I think most of us are talking about "development" not GI.
Apologies WG

(curse you and your buns of knowledge)

Greg T

Atts,

Never cross maths swords with Buns, he's mustard on all things mathematical and generally hard to think about.

I have it on good authority that he throws like a girl though.

I think Penny Farthing guy was spotted in NY by Bikesnob - I'll have a look.

edited to add

It was Washington

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2008/10/bringin-it-casanovas-couriers-and.html