# The Ordinary alias the Penny Farthing



## The ORDINARY Man (27 Aug 2010)

Assuming you are now expert in mounting and dismounting, a few words of wisdom and warning when riding these wonderful creations.

First like any bicycle you need a comfortable saddle especially if you intend to ride a good distance . . one hundred miles in a day is considered a serious challenge and an excellent achievment. 
( 80 miles has been the furthest I have managed ) Joff Summerfield when riding around the Globe on his home built P/F, rode over one hundred miles on several days.

Relax, especially at the shoulders and allow the wheel movement you experience when pedalling to happen, don’t fight it.

Take care approaching speed bumps, and consciously sit back. This applies to other road surface obstacles. Pot holes avoid like the plague.

Always be alert and aware of other road users, basically due to them having superior brakes, this includes ‘curious’ modern cyclists.

Most Original Victorian machines have slotted cranks which allow the pedal to be positioned either long or short. This is the only means to some sort of gearing ~ long position for hill climbing and short for speed. 
Several makers of todays ‘copies’ offer adjustable cranks, which should you be considering buying, I would recommend.

Original machines are available at Sale/Auction houses and occasionally can be found on E-bay, but be aware that what can look like a nice machine is actually a poor modern copy. These machines have and do appear regularly both at Auction’s and especially E-bay.

I would suggest that the first check is to confirm that it is has ball bearings to the front and rear axle. If it has solid bearing’s, bronze or otherwise you will need to be a superman to ride it any distance, so don’t go there.

Then pick or try to pick the whole machine up . . heavy then forget it unless you are a collector and it’s an early machine . . pre 1870 which were solid and quite heavy machines. The poor quality machines mention sometimes found on E-bay for example have solid cast forks, vee section steel rims and weigh a ton.

Look at the gap between the backbone and the wheel which should be uniform and not too wide. Follow this gap down until the rear forks take the back wheel away.
Some designers in an attempt to make a ‘safer’ machine have extended the backbone away from the head which in my opinion makes an ugly looking machine, and in some cases on originals it can be due to metal fatigue.

Run your hand down the inside of the backbone, to check whether the backbone has be fabricated by slitting and welding.

Original rims feather at the edges, modern replacement rims have a definite edge some being rolled from tubing and so leave a rounded edge. Spiral wired tyring in black, white or red, can be purchased from a company in Manchester. 

Enjoy if you get there . . . . .


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