So you want to ride Penny-Farthings, but don’t know what your options are or any considerations to inform a purchase decision. Here is info on both vendors and thinks to weigh when making purchase decision

Modern vs. Antique:

You could buy an antique or a modern build Penny-Farthing. But if you’re a beginner, you don’t have sufficient knowledge & experience to assess the quality of an antique- and they can be of wildly varying quality.

So I’d suggest to beginners to buy a modern build as you’ll get support and you can get replacement parts such as tires & bearings which will wear over time.

So if you choose to buy a modern PF, you again have (2) options:

  • Mass-Manufactured: These will be the cheaper, modern Penny-Farthings. Significantly less expensive than bespoke builds and you can have one VERY quickly
  • Bespoke: These are the relative “Ferraris” in the Penny-Farthing world, and they will accordingly have much higher price tags. They are built by hand, can take weeks to build and are significantly more expensive the mass manufactured modern ones. But if you want a period replica that oozes olde world charm, this will be your only choice.

Sizing Your Penny-Farthing:

Once you’ve determined the type of Penny-Farthing you want- mass-manufactured or bespoke- you next need to get the right size. And the size of the Penny-Farthing’s high-wheel can vary with the model.

Penny-Farthings are sold in a variety of sizes of 2″ graduations of the High-wheel: 50″, 52″, 54″ & 56″. Why? Because a Penny-Farthing don’t have an adjustable seat post like a regular bicycle, so the distance from the saddle to the pedals is (largely) fixed. So depending upon the model of Penny-Farthing and where the saddle is placed- directly on the spine or on a small fixed seat post above the spine will dictate the maximum wheel size of the PF that you can buy.

For example, on a “UDC” model Penny-Farthing (described further down) which has a 3.5″ seat post affixed to the spine, I can only comfortably ride their 50″ model Penny-Farthing. But for a Richards-of-England Penny-Farthing with the saddle mounted on the spine directly, I can ride a bigger 54″ high-wheel.

The business you buy from will help you choose the correct size for the model you’re interested in purchasing.

Penny-Farthing Manufacturers:

Below are the most well known, long established larger Penny-Farthing manufacturers and assemblers from around the world. Their work is out there in sufficient numbers to be assessed to a consistently high standard and they operate only as businesses specialising in the manufacture and/or assembly of Penny-Farthings.

Although organized by geographical area which is interesting to avoid Customs duties and shipping charges, if you want a true reproduction of a famous Penny-Farthing, you have exactly one choice: Richards of England (“RoE”) are the only manufacturer I’m aware of that specialize in crafting detail-perfect, non chrome-molly replicas.

UK

Richards-of-England (UK): RoE control their production end-to-end and specializes in period replicas of various models, perfect to the tiniest detail. RoE are based in Hull, England. Because RoE are really the only choice for detail-perfect reproductions of historically important Penny-Farthings and their quality is epic, there’s always a waiting list to get an RoE. But as a customer, I can personally attest having bought their 1885 Singer Challenge replica that these are well worth the wait. Absolutely stunning; amazing. Also superlative customer service. Here’s my Review of the 1885 RoE Singer Challenge Replica. However, if you did want to buy an antique PF, RoE are considered a safe pair of hands and do a lot of restoration work for customers with antiques. But again, buying an antique when you’re learning to ride a Penny-Farthing is not advisable.

Trott & Sons (UK): This is a UK assembler. They are between worlds; “semi-bespoke” might be a way to describe them. Their wheels & hubs are the same as the UDC’s and they use Brooks saddles, but the rest of the build they fabricate. These are not detail-perfect period replicas, but neither do they look ultra modern like the UDCs. So olde world in appearance, but Trott’s Penny-Farthings are rugged & reliable. I have (3) friends who ride Trotts and are very pleased with them. And their price is ballpark for a UDC. The Trotts also organise the Beachy Head World Penny-Farthing Hill Climb Championships in Eastbourne each year which is a favourite with not just UK Penny-Farthing racers, but many others travelling from the continent to compete.

Unicycle.com: These are known as “UDC” (UnicycleDotCom) Penny-Farthing and are designed & manufactured by Roger Davies who races- and wins– on them. These are of modern design and Roger tests everything racing before anything ever enter production. They are manufactured in Taiwan and these are just outstanding: lightweight (because they use chrome-molly in lieu of heavy steel), and (generally) no lead time as Roger keeps plenty of stock on hand. These are probably the most commercially successful mass-market modern (non-replica) Penny-Farthings and are ubiquitous to the Penny-Farthing world.

20220814 PF Hill Climb Top 3: Myself with Roger Davies (center holding the trophy ;-> ) who manufactures the UDC Penny-Farthing

EU/Scandinavia

Mesicek.cz (EU): A continental manufacturer of bespoke Penny-Farthing which delivers the entire product end-to-end. Beautiful work, creating stunning PFs, but not exclusively focused on producing replicas of the classic models like Richards-of-England.

Standard Highwheels (Sweden): Like UDC, these too are produced using chrom-molly which make them strong, but lightweight. The Standard Highwheels are a modern Penny-Farthing without any pretenses of copying the olde-world models. They design and deliver a product end-to-end and focus on providing a mass-market high wheel experience at an affordable price like UDC. The owner of Standard Highwheels Per-Olaf Kippel- like Roger Davies & Christian Richards- races his own brand of Penny Farthing. Standard Highwheels also organises a 3 day Penny-Farthing race, “Sweden 3 Days“.

USA

Ridable Bicycle Replicas “RBR” (USA): . For American PF enthusiasts, a way to beat shipping & import duties from buying a UK, EU & Australian PF!

Australia

Dan Bolwell (Australia): A bespoke Penny-Farthing manufacturer in Australia. However, these are not period replicas of the olde-world Penny-Farthings.