On Sunday I rode 48" PF for the fist time. Just took a second to learn how to mount/dismount and I was off. Everything was fine until the front wheel collasped...literally collaped as I was riding back towards the owner...sick feeling in the stomach. He was cool w/it and said the bike has been sitting for a while. A friend of mine and I are going to attempt a re-build w/new spokes as the rim's ok.

Well, the upshot was/is I'm hooked! Suddenly I want to get knickers, knee high argyle socks, a straw hat, bow-tie and start learning to sing Barbershop Quartet songs. There's a company who makes a pneumatic 36" x 12" combo w/rim brakes on both wheels, but would that be taking a 'wuss' approach? I'm thinking one has to go out in a blaze of glory w/t 48-56", but then...I'm in a quandry. Help.

https://www.outdoorgb.com/p/Quax_Penn...dbundle=168597

Truthfully, they look a little tame, but fundage wise more in my price range.

check: https://hiwheel.com/

There are two clubs that cater to the needs of the "ordinary bicycle". Veterans Cycle Club and the American Wheelmen. A ready to ride ordinary runs in price from $2,000-$5,000 depending on condition but there are still some out there to be found. I have read that the reproductions are generally "novelty" items/riders that only vaguely resemble the originals.

I rode one once also. It was really fun once I stopped fighting the wheel.

I have always wanted to try one, but the fall from 48" up does not seem to appealing. Maybe the 36" with brakes is more my speed.

Spent some time on this website yesterday. They're really nice. The owner of the bike I rode expressed a willingness to part with it maybe. We'll see.

It wasn't a 'fall' as much as a 'sink'. The spokes were fatigued and collasped very slowly. In fact, it took a couple of seconds before I realized what was happening. But, I agree the absence of a brake is pretty daunting. If I get one there'll definately be some sort of stopping mechanism involved.

Get one (and by get one I mean do not get the one you linked in the OP). To every one else, ride one. You'll love it. Do you fall off your normal bike? If so, you should be worried about falling from 48"+. If not, obviously don't worry about it.

Respect w/a capital R. ^^^ However, this is a little more like it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsanHNYZA0Q

My favorite part is when one of the riders misses a turn and you can see the disgust when he pulls his feet off of the pedals.

Btw, sorry if you have to sit thru the ad...I hate it being on there.

For your edification and/or amusement:

https://www.victorybicycles.com/
https://www.koolstop.com/english/hibike.html

So do you want to curate an old bike, or do you want to ride the high wheeler design?
https://rmhwonline.com/index.html
(at least watch the instructional video - they make it look easy)

The Hyundai ad from the superbowl:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGLN4CPROgg

I like the bike messenger @ 19seconds and the Zeppelin @25seconds.

I do not have either the coordination or the courage to try an ordinary, and I am too attached to my gears, anyway.

There's a possibility I'll be able to acquire an old bike as the owner of the one I rode is thinking of letting it go. There's no way I'd be interested in curating an old one. It'll get used just like the rest of my other bikes...I'm not a collector. Or a retro fashionista either. The part about the straw hat, etc. was a joke as an attempt to convey my excitement at having discovered a new challenge in a 150 year old mechanism.

If one reads my OP closer I make mention of the fact I qrasped the mount/dismount from watching the owner. Rode Nu-Teck airless on my commuter for 2 years and have been riding fg for the last 2 as well. I think being familiar w/those 2 cycling disciplines helped in my being able to mount/ride/dismount w/o incident. I rode the bike about 1000 ft dismounted and turned around to head back. About 1/2 way back is when the front wheel collapsed. Being able to ride as far as I did w/little effort has given me the confidence and desire to get one.

I agree. After watching the race I posted from youtube there's no way I'll get one of the 36" ones.

Yes do check it out and then run as far away as possible from any of their bikes. If you don't mind the wait, you could try one of these: https://www.tallbike.com/tall/index.html

I have a 54" Rudge racing machine from about 1884 and have ridden thousands of miles on ordinaries, including time trials and the like. You should try to do a 10 mile out and back ride on a narrow country road.

I want a PF sooooooo bad.

Here's a photo of a Rideable Bicycle Replica (https://hiwheel.com/) ordinary I took at last year's Alameda Car show. IMHO, it's a reasonable facsimile of the real thing.

Reasonable in what way? They replicate the general appearance, but that is it. For the rest they are a waste of time and money (I owned one for many years before I got a "real" one)

I rode one once. I rode it less than a block, just to try it. I was working at the bike shop in Tenafly, NJ. I found it was amazingly easy to get up on. Also, the giant wheel makes a giant gyroscopic force, so the bike loves to stay up. I felt no danger of falling over.

Except, of course, that most of my weight was just behind the front axle. The reason these are dangerous is that if you decelerate too quickly, you go over the front.

Also annoying was the front wheel's tendency to go left and right as I pedaled, which sucks a lot of energy.

I rode to the end of the block and came to the intersection with a highway. I suddenly realized I didn't know how to get off. I didn't feel coordinated enough to step backwards on the step, so I spilled the bike deliberately. I didn't get hurt, but that's one maneuver that I would need to practice.

That was back in 1984. I recently went back to that shop after many years. It has a new owner. The ordinary is still sitting out in front of the shop, and it's now too decrepit to ride. Much too dangerous, without some major work. Too bad. My former boss occasionally rode it between Tenafly and Closter, about four miles each way.

My locale is .5 mile from the Natchez Trace Parkway here in Mid-TN. It's an asphalt/blacktop 2 lane bicycle friendly(40mph speed limit) highway 442 miles long from just outside Nashville to Natchez, MS. I live just off of MP 423. From MP 423 to MP 408 there are grades of 2-4% max. When I do get a PF or as I'm beginning to realize is the more correct reference an 'ordinary' bicycle this is going to be my training ground. The exciting aspect of the success of my first attempt was how quickly I adjusted to it. I realize 1500 ft isn't a 20 mi rt, but it was enough for me to grasp that I could ride one to begin with and build up distance off of that. It's the same stretch of road on which I learned to ride a fg w/confidence.

The whole experience was a surprise b-day present from my wife as she'd met the owner in a completely different context. I'd shared w/her a couple of weeks earlier how I'd always wanted to try one and she surprised me w/the opportunity.

The 'tallbike' website looks to have machines reasonably priced for a contemporary build. Looks like my size according to the blog would be a 52". Thank you very much for the link.

I like the unicycle.
https://hiwheel.com/antique_replicas/unicycle.htm

The configuration is similar.

Are you saying they ride differently? Is there something "wrong" with them because they use currently available parts and modern steel alloys?

I'm confused.

The pictures of the TallBikes look great on the web, but...how many have actually been completed and shipped to the USA from the factory in Vietnam? The TallBikes website has a great review from a single customer a year and a half ago. Most of the website seems to date from nearly two years ago and talks about prototypes and the future. According to the forum on the TallBike webpage, the shop has been closed for months now and folks who pre-ordered are canceling.

Just wondering if you had any information since you pointed to them.

The infamous "header". Riding techniques were developed to make the possibility of a header less deadly, but ultimately the 'safety' bicycle obsoleted the ordinary.

The rideable replica bikes use very low quality tubing which means it is heavy and poor riding. I rode the one that I had a few thousang miles and had to basically rebuild the head tube with proper tubing because the tubing would stretch out so that the headset cups were no longer held in place. The saddle is also placed very much aft (Likely to reduce the chance of a header) making smooth riding more difficult and the chances of rash or burns on the inner leg when turning. Lastly the spokes were of an incredibly poor quality and stretched and stripped out. It seemed that the threads were not rolled. For somebody riding in the occasional parade or sunday ride they are likely sufficient, but for anything serious they are not worth considering.

I do not know anything about tallbike.com As I wrote if you have teh patience to get one from them, it is the place to go. Someone tolf me that they had delivered about 10 bikes to the US and you have seen the waiting list.

Headers are very real and the consequence are even realer. I had the misfortune of taking a header 12 years ago (my front wheel blocked due to a mechcanical error of my own making) and I ended up breaking both elbows, my two front teeth, a vertebra and most importantly my pride. I had both arms in full casts for 6 weeks and a back brace for 4 1/2 months... Not something that I would like to repeat. It was even worse insofar as we had a toddler and my wife was pregnant at the time...