I just read about a group of people who ride reproductions of the old penny farthing cycles, and have become fascinated with the idea. If you're going to ride, may as well do it in style... anyway, I have been looking at the somewhat pricey Boneshaker reproductions, they seem to be the prevalent repro in the US.

Anyone out there have any experience with these repros? I have my tweed jacket and sport cap all ready.

I owned one from about 1977 to 1986. If their present production quality is even remotely like those I saw in years past, I must strongly advise against buying one. I now own a 'real' ordinary that rides far better, will maintain its value and is far more interesting all around. If you are looking to buy a replica, there is a fellow in Vietnam who is presently setting up production of a high quality replica. I believe he still has a bit longer to go before his bikes are ready for sale, but the parts that he has produced so far do look good. www.tallbike.com

I found this place on the web awhile ago. I've saving my pennies since. I have no experience with them, but they appear to be quality built.


https://www.hiwheel.com/

These are precisely the ones that I was recommending against. If you have no other alternatives, it is better than nothing but I would search far and wide to find a better alternative.

No thank you. Bicycles with equal-sized wheels were called "safety cycles" for a reason.

What is it about these that make you advise against them? Just curious, because the pictures and descriptions make them look pretty nice.

I saw a guy at Interbike that built their penny farthings. And they seemed reasonable in price, ranging in price from the $400's dollar range on up. It was called "Rideable Bicycle Replicas" in California. I almost bought one on the spot from them. The guy who makes the bikes is very cool and laid back.

Koffee

As I wrote above, my experience dates back to some of the very earliest bikes that they made. Hopefully in the subsequent 20+ years they have learned from their many mistakes and remedied them. I am however somewhat doubtful as I have also ridden a 1996 one bought by a friend and it appeared to suffer from the same 'defects'.

1) The steel used in the frame is very soft which means that the headsets cups quickly loosen up and there isn't much that you can do to fix it.
2) The quality of the bearings are very poor, especially the rear wheel.
3) The tiring is not well fitted and tends to twist on the rims.
4) the spoke nipples loosen up with incredible regularity.

and most importantly they are a far call from the original in every respect: handlebar position, saddle position, rear wheel position. Put one of the ridable replica bone shakers next to a 'real' antique one and you will see how different the two are. The rideable replicas ride very poorly when compared to the original. If you want to really experience the ride of a penny farthing, they are not representative. They are a novelty wheeled toy. As mentioned above, they are however cheap, so I suppose that you are getting what you pay for.

Koffee, in case you did not know, I am the one who hooked you up with Cristiano for the bike. The Barron family has been building rideable replicas for close to 30 years and they have dedicated more time than probably anybody else in trying to make these bikes available. This does not necessarily make them good quality. About all that I can say is that the price is indeed right.

Well, glad I was able to smoke you out!

Welcome to the forums! I'm glad to see you posting.

Anyway, so the idea is that they keep to their name then? The "Rideable Bicycle Replicas" are just "rideable"?

I was actually thinking of picking one up at some point in the future if I can save up for it.

Koffee

johno; I ride and collect highwheelers. I even have an RBR Boneshaker in my window for a shop sign. They are the most citizen friendly bike to ride... everyone wants to ask questions, take pictures, and Joe Commuter usually waves with more than one finger, and with a smile on his face.

The RBR or the Classic are good bikes to learn to ride a highwheeler on, and have more rake to the front forks than a 100 year old ordinary, so less chance of a header.

Can anyone tell me if i have an original or reproduction Boneshaker. I bought it in 1985 at a bike shop in Hemet,Ca. for $400 which leads me to think it is a remake. I went to 2 different web sites (hiwheel .com, Tallbike .com) & my bike doesn't look like any of theirs

Some of you might like the pics I took of a few of them.
https://photobucket.com/albums/y214/g...0Sakai%20City/
Steve.

Interesting!! My first bicycle was a "saftey cycle", with front wheel pedals!