Feature

Pedalling from the Past to the Future

Victoriana met the future in the National Penny Farthing Championships, in the shape of a specially designed bicycle for Christchurch-based entertainer Mr Moon, a.k.a. John Davey.

Davey has a fondness for penny farthings and is a fairly common sight at Christchurch events astride the large-wheeled forms. When he planned to compete in the Championships, involving a rather sedate race from Christchurch to Timaru, Davey decided to bring his vehicle into the 21st century.

He enlisted the aid of sculptor and project manager Phil Price in the production of a redesigned penny farthing. The strong, lightweight carbon fiber that formed the frame produced a bicycle that at 6 kilograms was half the weight of the traditional steel variety and larger too. The cross-sectional profile of the carbon-fibre tubing changed shape as it ran from the large front wheel towards the rear, for both aesthetic, design reasons and for load-bearing.

"We wanted to think futuristic and improve on the existing design," says Davey. The bicycle's design had a number of features not seen in most penny farthings -- a monofork at the rear, where a single attachment fitted to the smaller rear wheel; handlebars that attached directly to the front forks instead of to a conventional headset.

It was a race to complete the penny farthing in time for its national debut as part of the Victorian Festival in Oamaru, and Davey finally got to sit astride the huge 54-inch wheel the day before the race began. Two days of patient pedalling saw him glide into Timaru, but that was the end of the experiment when the new frame snapped.

Davey is undaunted by the result, seeing the 160-kilometre journey as a test drive. He and Price will be back to the drawing board, considering metal strengthening in the long limbs of the 21st-century penny farthing Mark Two.

"I look at this very much from the point of view of being a Thomas Edison or John Britten and co," says Davey cheerfully.