The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds, owing to it travelling a large distance for every rotation of the legs, and comfort, because the large wheel provided greater shock absorption.
A penny-farthing in the Škoda Auto Museum, Czech Republic
Book cover of The Modern Bicycle, published in London in 1877
Man standing next to a penny farthing in Fife, Scotland, 1880
Two highwheel cyclists at a press conference in Ystad ahead of the "Sweden 3 Days Highwheel Race" 2020.
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
The most popular bicycle model—and most popular vehicle of any kind in the world—is the Chinese Flying Pigeon, with about 500 million produced.
Women on bicycles on unpaved road, US, late 19th century
A penny-farthing or ordinary bicycle photographed in the Škoda Auto museum in the Czech Republic
The Svea Velocipede by Fredrik Ljungström and Birger Ljungström, exhibited at the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology