Inpd

E-bike Concept Rides Into the Past to Prepare for the Future of Urban Mobility - Automotive Solutions

nastystang

Guy in the video did not look very comfortable. I think his fit was off. He looked awkward pedaling. Electric would be mandatory to climb at all but I could ride one.

trainsktg

Great video...it makes me want to add a Penny to the stable.

Keith

catgita

These exercises happen every few years. I think it was specialized back in the 90s that was most impressive, but can't find it.

Reynolds 

It's confirmed again: designers know nothing about bicycles.

chaadster

Both Coker and ChoiceCollective have had them available for years, with 36er high wheels. The Choice Collective one is pretty sweet:

gsa103

So it can only have a rear brake, because using a front brake would immediately toss the rider straight OTB for major injuries due to the added height. It's a good thing he never exceeded 3 mph, because going 20 mph on that would be asking to die.

chaadster

Skills, my friend, skills!

trainsktg

Yeah, like this guy:


https://youtu.be/iUbrh0Ac29M


Keith

ciderguy

Pros: High seating position for traffic visibility. It looked like the rider might actually be able to see over cars.

Cons: Everything else.

The dismount looked challenging. I have no idea how usable this thing would be to start and stop at every stop sign and traffic light. IMHO commuter bikes should be able to carry clothing, groceries, or other items and the designers should think about such things.

Stucky

I've always wanted to ride a real penny farthing....but seriously- such a design is not practical for the vast majority of people in today's world. Can you imagine having to dismount EVERY time you need to stop????

mawashi

Dismount??? The bugger is so high you can just hang off the street post or traffic lights etc etc you can learn mad hanging skills like a monkey, why the need to dismount?

rmfnla

The large front wheel is to make up for the lack of gearing; talk about a big step backwards...

Zuzus pedals

Didn't somebody do just over 16 miles on a penny-farthing to set the first official hour record BITD?

kbarch

You guys!
Did you even listen to the video or read the webpage? I hate to spoil it for you, but that's not really a prototype for a new bike - it's really just a one-off, very expensive and sophisticated promotion for plastic tires.

mawashi

The only big wheel I might use regularly...

Stucky

Looks like there might be a little rolling resistance there.

f4rrest

Track stand...

ciderguy

I read the webpage, but the obtuse marketing speak was too dense for me to get though. I only watched, but did not listen to the video. There was nothing about why the new tires were better than the old kind. Just some brand names.

Cyclosaurus

It seems really ironic to me that they chose the penny farthing to use for their example, since the reason that it was discarded was not because materials weren't available to make it viable any more. This penny farthing bike geometry only prevailed for the short time it did because of a lack of modern materials made better designs impractical for the moment. Prior to the penny farthing, bikes with two wheels the same size were called "boneshakers" because they had rigid wheels. The response was to create bigger front wheels that could better absorb shock and vibration. As soon as the pneumatic tire emerged, the penny farthings disappeared practically overnight, precisely because it was an inferior design in virtually every way. No amount of magic material innovation is going to rescue that from the dustbin of history.

Vicegrip

I have a 36 inch wheel Coker I found on craigs list for next to nothing. it is great fun to ride around on. You can hop off curbs and bomb around through yards and dirt roads. My kids learned to mount and dismount in a few min with no blood lost. It makes people smile and want to ride it whenever the kids have it out. It is not in any way better than a modern bike. High G stopping, hills both up and down and aero are not strong suits. Riding it makes me want to get a 50 inch high wheel but common sense kicks in and asks me where I would ride it.

joejack951

The ability to cheaply manufacture chains to allow for higher drive ratios was the main reason (IIRC) for the demise of the penny farthing. The only reason for the existence of the penny farthing was its ability to offer more gear inches than a bone shaker which also had a directly driven front wheel. Perhaps the shock absorption was another selling point but the chains always stuck out to me as the most important advancement.

Vicegrip

^ This does not at all track with the history of high wheel and safety cycle bicycles I have been reading.

rmfnla

Only with pepperoni...

chaadster

Cool! I've been wanting to get one of the ChoiceCollective "pennies", but worry that the 36" would just feel too rink-dink for me, and it sounds like that's your experience, too, eh? A good buy for nothing, but would you pump $800 or whatever into 36er?