Both have similar rake angles, pneumatic tires and the main wheel is a yard across -- but that's about it for similarities:
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| Coker at left, QU-AX at right |
Friday, September 6, 2013
MODERN 36" PENNYFARTHINGS: COKER AND QU-AX
At the WARMfest last weekend, I met a fellow riding a Coker Wheelman pennyfarthing, with the same wheel size as my QU-AX.
Both have similar rake angles, pneumatic tires and the main wheel is a yard across -- but that's about it for similarities:
They're both nice-looking ordinaries and attract a lot of interest. While the Coker does have a brake on the main wheel, the rider I met admitted he doesn't use it much. Meeting him made me wish I'd've ridden mine to the event; there aren't so many of us on pennyfarthings, still less the modern versions.
Both have similar rake angles, pneumatic tires and the main wheel is a yard across -- but that's about it for similarities:
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Uhhhhh....why do you need a brake if the pedals don't freewheel?
ReplyDeleteIs it assist in long downhill paths, or something else?
I'm not sure that the Coker *doesn't* have a freewheel hub! Which is kind of scary, since a good solid wheel-braking effort tends to lift the rear wheel on any of these. You'd want to squeeze very gently, and rely on the old-standby of rapidly dismounting for emergency stops. The one I saw was a well-built machine, with quality parts throughout. Per their website, the price at at par with an entry-level 48"-wheel solid-tire classic, which is more likely to be my next step, by and by.
ReplyDeleteWhile I've never ridden one of these two-wheelers, I used to ride motorcycles, and I agree....a handful of front brake can really get your attention FAST!
ReplyDeleteAs that "Gol-Darn Wheel" song points out, penny farthing brakes are sort'a chancy. As verse four begins:
ReplyDelete"Well, th grade was mighty slope'n
From th ranch down t' th creek
I went a gally-flute'n
Like a crazy light'n streak
A whiz'n an' a dart'n
First this way an' this that
Th dern contravence wobbl'n
Like th fly'n of a bat"
And that was just the start of the trouble. The link's here,
http://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/songinformation.aspx?ID=732
Stranger
Dr. Jim, with an Ordinary, if you clamp down on the front wheel, the rest of the bicycle -- including you! -- goes up and over, "taking a header." These are the machines that brought the phrase "breakneck speed" to the language, and it was literally the case. Later models had dropped handlebars, so on a long downhill you could put your legs atop the bar and not be trapped if your machine tripped over a rock or rut. Instead, you'd land on you feet, possibly with your bicycle going over you; but you didn't auger into the road, head-first.
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