high wheeling in Japan

David Wilson nears the top of New Zealand

2012-02-01T05:34:00.000-08:00

Passersby did a double take as a man rode through Devonport on a penny farthing.

Dressed in an 1800s outfit, complete with britches, hat and even a pioneer-styled moustache, David Wilson rode the ferry to Devonport on January 25 as he entered the final leg of a 2000km cycle trip.

Mr Wilson's one-man journey began on November 14 in Stewart Island and has seen him spend 36 days atop the 54-inch replica penny farthing as he aims for Cape Reinga.

Countless hurdles, including a broken pedal and seat bracket, have not stopped Mr Wilson and he estimates it will take just two more weeks to reach his destination.

It is the first time someone has ridden a penny farthing the length of the country.

"It's been an incredible journey. I really feel like I've experienced New Zealand and I've been so impressed with the hospitality," Mr Wilson says.

He says the North Island roads have presented challenges and the hills have been the most arduous so far.

"It's near impossible to pedal up steep hills like the Bombays and coming down is a real challenge so I've spent a bit of time pushing it along," Mr Wilson says.

Since leaving Bluff his britches have become a lot baggier and Mr Wilson believes he has shed 3kg.

"It's a really heavy bike. It's a great ab workout because you're constantly balancing while you're riding," he says.

Custom-made saddle bags hold his few supplies including a special tent-hammock and just one change of clothes.

"I wash my clothes in hand basins or in the showers at campgrounds. I'm just making do with whatever's available."

Mr Wilson is an ambassador for his home town of Oamaru and says the ride is his way of promoting the area's heritage.

A documentary crew is charting the trip and Mr Wilson has been recording his encounters in a vintage bound journal made especially for the occasion.

You can follow Mr Wilson's journey by reading his blog. Go to http://pennyfarthingexpedition.wordpress.com.

Pete Matthews - The Champion Next Door

2012-01-23T04:57:00.000-08:00

Here is my mate Peter Matthews from Ireland, We have toured together in Australia and he visited me many years ago in Shibata City and took part in the local parade , he was a big hit with the locals doing tricks up and down the main street. He taught me a lot about riding ordinaries and we had a lot of fun travelling together.

Capt Wilson in the North

2011-12-25T16:16:00.000-08:00

Pictured above is the Capt of the Oamaru Ordinary Cycle Club on tour in New Zealand's north Island. The above photo shows the amount of baggage required for a solo unsupported tour the length of New Zealand.

slotted cranks and pedals

2011-12-25T05:55:00.001-08:00

Today I used my trusty Makita power file again and cleaned up the surface of the slotted cranks. I have always wanted to make some authentic slotted cranks and after drawing a tech drawing of the cranks to scale I then posted my drawing off to a New Zealand company that laser cut the cranks out of 20mm thick mild steel. Because laser cutting steel that thick is a little difficult there were some rough edges left on the cranks which I cleaned up today plus I smoothed off the edges as well. My customers friend who is an engineer drilled the axle hole and cotter pin hole and tapered the back face of the crank as well. Later on a little more cleaning will be required before getting them nickel plated.

At first I was going to make some replica pedals but we ended up purchasing a fantastic set of replica Victor ball bearing pedals made by Victory Bicycles of Florida U.S.A , We have also purchased from them a Brooks replica long distance saddle also known as a Century Saddle which will be fantastic for long distance touring. If you are wanting a custom made replica high wheel bicycle or maybe a saddle and some pedals get in touch with Victory Bicycles as I'm sure Al will be able to help you out, their quality is outstanding so I'm sure if you purchase any of their products you will be most happy.

Pictured above are the slotted cranks I designed with the replica pedals from Victory Bicycles

Progress update

2011-12-21T23:34:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days I've spent a lot of time hand filing and using my Makita power file to shape the fork to bearing housing connectors, rear fork and yesterday the steering head fork legs. Quite a long time ago while at the local Komeri home center one of my favorite places to visit in Niigata as you can find almost anything you require,I saw some fantastic looking flattened steel tube that were designed for hand rails for stairs. That got me thinking that they might be perfect for fork blades as they are steel with 1mm thick walls and the perfect oval shape of an ordinary fork blade. They were covered in some thin shiny tin but that was easy to cut off so I then filed down the fork to bearing housing connectors so that the tube would easily slide onto them giving a smooth profile which turned out very nice. The next job was a test to see if I could somehow fit the fork blades to the legs of the steering head. The overall diameter of the steering head legs was about 15mm but once it was filed down to about 11mm and the tube was gently flattened in my bench vice they slipped on giving a nice tight fit. Thank god that worked as I had no idea and was only guessing by looking at the tube that it could be altered to fit.

Also I have taken a photo of what the rear wheel in the fork will look like once attached to the tapered end of the backbone. Later on some holes will be drilled into the fork steering tube which will allow it to be welded onto the tail of the backbone, afterwards once cleaned up with the power file it will look like it's one piece and not joined together.

Front fork to bearing housing connector

2011-12-19T05:11:00.000-08:00

Today with some my time on my hands, I made a start at re shaping the stainless steel bearing housing to fork connector. As you are most likely aware this part is vital to the stability of the front wheel and therefore is made from stainless steel. The engineer copied my design exactly and now I have the hard part of re shaping the connector to fit inside the fork blades. Luckily I have my trusty Makita power file and with a 40 grit belt it slowly files it to the preferred shape. Which in this case is the inside diameter of the fork blade. Later on once it's a perfect fit I will drill a couple of holes in the bottom of the fork blades so it can be welded together. I have almost finished one today and now I'm finishing it off with a course bastard file to get a nice smooth fit. I have a slight headache today from prolonged use of the power file but the power file is really the only way to get the perfect fit as there is no way you could hand file such hard steel into the shape required.

Pictured above are a few photos showing the part I'm working on and the other connector with still needs to be re shaped

Rear fork and solid tyre fitting

2011-12-18T04:51:00.001-08:00

As I now have all the machined parts back from my customers engineer in Tokyo I thought I'd re fit the rear tyre. Previously I used some American style wired on tyre but after joining it together discovered it wasn't tight enough and on a recent trip to my mates bicycle shop I found some left over English type rubber tyre with the metal spiral down the middle so I have decided to use that for the rear tyre because the rear wheel rubber always wears out a lot quicker and it will be easier to change if it's the wired on type. I forgot how much fun it was trying to fit the English style tyre and if I knew a snake wrestler I would have invited him around to my workshop this morning !. After using a vast range of colorful language I finally had the tyre fitted tight enough to my liking so now that job is complete.

The other job I did today was smooth off all the welding on the re cycled 2009 Fuji track 700c forks which I cut shorter and after cleaning up the welded joint this afternoon they are looking pretty nice. Later on this fork will be powder coated so maybe the small holes won't matter , although I might end up filling any imperfections with some brass or silver solder , just to be sure. The forks will be cleaned up further once they are attached to the tail of the backbone. I'm pretty happy with the overall shape of the forks and glad I decided to shorten the 700c forks as the uni crown looks perfect and once welded to the backbone and cleaned up they will look even better I'm sure. Thank god for my trusty Makita power file !.

Pictured above are a few photos I took today at work

Capt Wilson in Wellington

2011-12-16T04:14:00.001-08:00

If it looks tricky enough to ride a penny farthing on the flat, try going downhill, says David Wilson.

He is on a Wellington stopover as part of his ride from Stewart Island to Cape Reinga, but things nearly came unstuck on the downhill ride into Blenheim.

"I lost the bike coming into Blenheim," Mr Wilson said. "You control it by constantly having to hold the bike pedals slow. Soon as you start to feel the pedals moving too quickly, you have got to get off real quick. I got off. It went to the side and I had a crash. Fortunately I was OK. I've been lucky because you can hurt yourself badly coming off these bikes."

Mr Wilson, founder of the 1882 Oamaru Cycle Works Shop, arrived in Wellington on Sunday on his marathon ride to promote Oamaru's Victorian precinct and identify a touring route for a proposed 2014 international penny farthing tour of New Zealand.

He left Stewart Island on November 14 and expects to complete the ride within a month.

"If I've got a good straight road I can do anything from 70 to 90 kilometres in a day," he said.

Motorists had so far been courteous to him by giving him plenty of room. "I've been getting a lot of toots and waves all the way."

New parts

2011-12-05T14:43:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone

A while back I designed a few parts that I required for the replica ordinary and put my high school tech drawing skills to good use and drew up several detailed drawings of the parts that I required. I then posted off the drawings to my customer in Tokyo whose mate owns an engineering shop for him to machine the parts. Just the other day he sent me some photos of the parts I had designed and soon the parts will be sent back to Niigata so I can continue building again.

First up is the front wheel bearing housing to fork blade connector. The reason I had this part machined from it's original form was so it looks the part when connected to the fork blades that I am going to use. I have some fantastic fork blades and the bearing to fork connector will be shaped to fit inside the bottom of the fork legs and welded in place. They are nice and long will give added strength to this part once welded together, plus they will look similar to the style used in the late 1880s.

Another part that needed to be re made was the adjustable steering head bolt. There was nothing wrong with the one that was supplied with the steering head but once I cleaned up the welding from around the top of the steering pin and yoke the bolt was too short so that's why a longer one was needed to be manufactured. The new one unlike the old one is one made from one piece of steel rather than having the nut brazed to the top.

Another part is the steering yoke steel half rounds , of course nobody will see these as they are inside the top of the backbone on either side of the yoke but they are very important in adding to the strength of the backbone to the steering yoke. Many home builders have not bothered to add such a solid support to the connecting area between the backbone and the yoke and as a result this is where the backbone is damaged or bent. After all the entire weight of the rider puts a lot of stress on this section and it's the main part that holds the frame to the front forks so why not make it as strong as possible. The half rounds will be welded to both sides of the yoke with the overall diameter matching the internal diameter of the backbone then with a couple of holes drilled into the side of the backbone the area will be welded together plus they will be welded from the front and then finished to give a smooth appearance. Sounds like a lot of work , yes it is but worth the effort !.

One other part that I designed was the slotted adjustable cranks, I always wanted to make a nice pair of slotted adjustable cranks and after drawing up a traditional design I then had a New Zealand company laser cut them from 20mm steel plate and the engineer in Tokyo has drilled the axle hole and the cotter pin hole and tapered the back of the cranks to give it a traditional shape. The pedals that are attached to the cranks are a fantastic set of replica Victor ball bearing ordinary pedals made by Victory bicycles in Florida , USA. The cranks should look fantastic once cleaned up and nickel plated. It would have been very simple to use standard cotter cranks from an older bicycle but the main aim of this build is to make it traditional as possible. Therefore that's why I'm taking the time to make every part as authentic as I can as I know the end result will be worth all the hard work.

Pictured above are a few photos showing the parts that have been made.

Capt Wilson is on his bike !

2011-11-23T15:26:00.000-08:00

Wheelman Judge David Wilson is officially "on his bike" and heading for Cape Reinga at the top of the North Island.

Mr Wilson, aboard Pioneer Spirit, is doing the ride unassisted.

Farewelled by the Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton, Mayoress Heather Familton and a group of supporters, Mr Wilson was accompanied to the outskirts of Oamaru by New Zealand champion, Oamaru wheelman Mitch Fox.

"We know you will do Oamaru very proud," Mayor Familton said.

"We wish you safe travelling and godspeed."

Mr Wilson, who will be reporting exclusively to the Oamaru Mail during his travels, said he was ready to go.

"There has been a lot of preparation and a lot of support and I really appreciate it all.

"I am ready for the journey," he said.

To help keep Mr Wilson sustained along the route, he will receive a package of rich decadent Victorian mud cake, baked and couriered to selected stopping-off points, by Miss Annie Baxter of Annie's Victorian Tea Rooms.

Mr Wilson's first stopover was north of Timaru yesterday and this morning, he pushes off for Ashburton where he will be met by local penny-farthing riders for a turn around town.

Mr Wilson is fundraising along the ride and donations can be made at any branch of Kiwi Bank.

Teen wins New Zealand National Penny Farthing Champs

2011-11-22T14:21:00.001-08:00

Junior Oamaru wheelman Mitch Fox has become the youngest holder of the national men's open penny-farthing championships title.

On Saturday he competed in the 17th National Penny and Veteran Cycle Event.

Oamaru Ordinary Cycle Club captain David Wilson said Mitch headed off a highly competitive field.

"He demonstrated committment and tenacity as he pushed his big wheel at breakneck speed to take the event," he said.

"Never before in the history of New Zealand has such a young rider held this highly sought-after prize."

Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton congratulated Mitch following the formal presentation on Saturday afternoon.

"It is a great honour for Oamaru to now hold this prestigeous title, being the host town of the event since 1994, and having one of the youngest members of the Oamaru Ordinary Cycle Club showing so much potential is a double priviledge," Mr Wilson said.

LONDON NOCTURNE - Penny Farthing Races 2011 // BROOKS ENGLAND

2011-11-17T02:14:00.000-08:00

Another great clip from this years London Nocturne penny farthing race sponsored by Brooks of England

Honest Ade

2011-10-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

A little while back my mate Brian went home to visit the USA and while there found the bottle pictured above. It's not everyday that you see a drink bottle with the image of an ordinary bicycle on it so I have taken a few photos of it. I have no idea what the drink tastes like but if you live in the USA no doubt you can purchase it somewhere.

First Bicycle Crossing the United States

2011-10-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a short Youtube clip on the 1st person to cycle across the USA and around the world on a ordinary bicycle. The story is about Thomas Stevens the famous American cyclist and the narration and bicycle riding is provided by my friend fellow wheelman Steve Stevens of Golden Colorado, USA. This short clip is part of a series on the history of cycling in the state of Colorado.

Why solid tyres need to be tight !

2011-09-22T05:29:00.001-07:00

Pictured above is a friend of mine Jack Castor from the USA on a New Zealand penny farthing tour. I was on the same tour when the above accident happened. The tour was from Mt Cook to Oamaru and Jacks header happened going down route 83 into the village of Kurow . It was a nice long decent and many riders took it at a slow pace , but as Jack is a very experienced rider he decided to go legs over . Putting your legs over the bars is the preferred method to safely descend a steep hill as if there is an accident you can jump clear of the bars instead of being trapped under them. Luckily for Jack in this case he had his legs over the bars and the English type tire on his new Willan replica bike stretched causing the tyre to come off a great speed sending him across the road. It is very rare such an accident is well documented and a film crew had been with us making a TV documentry on our tour and the following penny farthing racing in Oamaru. lesson to be learned - make sure you fit your tyre's very tight and the English tyre will stretch at high speeds !

Solid Tyre fitting

2011-09-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today I spent about 5 hours fitting the solid tyres to the wheels that I have just built up. Even though I have built 9 previous replica ordinaries before, this was still a learning process as I had never used the American style wired on tyre's before as previously I used the British type with the internal cork screw wire . I am using a Simpson tire machine from NZ and some stainless steel 2mm wire with silver solder & liquid flux. The rear wheel was pretty easy and it didn't take too long to get it fitted but after doing a nice job on soldering it and joining it together I discovered that it should have been a lot tighter on the rim. It looks great in the photo but for my liking it's not tight enough so I will saw the wire in half at work in the bench vice and re fit some more wire and solder it back together again. The pictures above show the wiring process of the rear wheel. After I had soldered it together I cleaned it up with my faithful hand held Proxxon which is a Dremel type tool with a small grinding stone to give a nice smooth finish. As for the large wheel I almost had it tight enough on the rim when one of the wire clamps slipped causing the tyre to come off, so to save trouble next time I'm going to buy two small vice grips and use those instead to hold the wire while tightening it. A great deal of tension is required to hold the tyre onto the rim and it's very important that it cannot come off the rim or otherwise a serious accident could occur.

The rear wheel is done !

2011-09-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

Just today I took delivery of a brand new Park PS 2.2 wheel truing stand and what better way to test it out than to build up the rear 17" wheel. The rim is from Brett Richardson and drilled to 32 hole rather than the standard 28 hole -why did I do this ?. Well the main reason is that I found a fantastic steel classic type hub and it was 32 hole , it's a brand new hub designed for traditional heavy duty Japanese delivery bicycles and being steel it was easy to get it brass plated so it would match the front hub. The spokes are CN MAC spokes laced in a 3 cross pattern and it turned out rather nice and is very strong. The next job I need to undertake is to fit the solid tyre to both wheels .

52 inch wheel 002.MOV

2011-09-16T05:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a short video that I made of the 52 inch wheel after getting it running true, it took me a while to build but turned out fantastic in the end

The big wheel is finished !

2011-09-15T02:26:00.000-07:00

Finally today I had some free time so I spent that fine tuning the front wheel of the replica ordinary that I'm building and managed to get it 99.8 % perfectly true. If you have ever laced up and built a high wheel bicycle rim you will know it's a lot harder to build than any standard wheel that's currently available. As it's so large it will not fit in any commercially made wheel truing stand and because the rim is hand made it takes a while to get to perfectly true, in fact it would be fair to say that it's almost impossible to get a wheel of this size 100 % true. Anyhow after a lot of swearing and a few broken spokes I have finally finished building it to my satisfaction. It's a steel 52 inch rim with hand made 610mm long spokes built in a 3 cross pattern. Later on I might tie and solder each spoke crossing not that it really makes the wheel any stronger but if you do break a spoke while riding it will prevent an accident.

An old bike re appears

2011-08-25T03:34:00.000-07:00

Many years ago while living in Oamaru in the South Island of New Zealand one of the customers to my back backers from Japan tried riding a replica ordinary and before he left he asked me to build him one. He returned the following year in 2002 to collect his new 50 inch replica ordinary and took it back to his home town of karuizawa in Nagano. A few years ago I decided to try and track down my old customer and on a visit to Karuizawa I asked around but it appeared he had left town and nobody knew where he had gone. Just the other day my customer in Tokyo was net surfing and found somebody who had a replica ordinary on the Island of Ishigaki which is located below Okinawa right at the bottom of Japan. After sending me a link to a blog I straight away recognized the bicycle I had built all those years ago in NZ. It looks a little worse for wear and could do with a good clean up but at least it's still in one piece and getting some regular use. I'm not sure if the original owner is still in procession of the bike but it's nice to see it again.

Steering yoke clean up

2011-08-21T05:38:00.000-07:00

Today was a wet day here in Niigata City so I thought I might end up with some free time at work so I took the steering head and yoke into work and spent an hour or two cleaning up the welds and re shaping the yoke into a more traditional profile. One of my favorite power tools is the Makita power file as it has six different speeds and you can purchase a variety of different grade sanding belts for almost any job, this tool is a must have if you intend of building your own bike, then again if you like hand filing or sanding for hours & hours on end just do that. But believe me the power file is the way to go as it's such a time saver. I also drilled the brooks long distance saddle mount bolt hole as well and because the yoke will most likely get nickel plated once the bike is finished there will be more cleaning to do after I attach the backbone to the steering head. But if you check out the above photos that were taken on my mobile phone you can see the progress I made today. Another thing that needs to be fixed is I now require along steering head bolt, after cleaning up the rough welds the nut will not fit in the current gap.

Pictured above are a few photos of the work I did today

The truing stand

2011-08-18T02:34:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I thought about when designing the truing stand was that it should be totally rigid and free from movement, plus it had to support the wheel to allow it to smoothly spin. As the axle is machined to fit sealed bearings that are retained by c clips in milled slots, all I have done is fit the sealed bearings minus the bearing housings and to hold the wheel firm I have attached two bicycle toe straps which go over the bearings and down around one of the stands supporting legs. When these straps are done up nice and tight the wheel can roll very smoothly allowing you to true the wheel.I have measured the inside distance of the truing stand and the width of the rim then I took away the rim width from the overall distance which gives you the measurement needed on both sides of the wheel. At the bottom of the stand I have attached a flexible plastic card that is held in place with tape to the stand. This allows the truing guide to flex and it's easy to see when the wheel is running true or not. Later on I will adopt a similar method to make sure the wheel is round.

The spokes have arrived

2011-08-11T02:46:00.000-07:00

Today I received a bundle of spare spokes from Oamaru Cycle Works in New Zealand and set about lacing up the remainder of the front wheel. The spokes were the prefect length and the bend at the head was a nice fit onto the large front hub. I'm so happy to have the front wheel finally laced up as now I can start truing it to get it nice and straight. Which will no doubt take quite a while as large wheels such as this are a lot more difficult to build. I have fixed a plastic card to the bottom left hand side of my custom truing stand and that will act as a guide to getting the wheel straight, later on I'll attach another card underneath the rim to check that the wheel is round. Now it's the middle of the Japanese summer and the room that I'm truing the wheel in is rather hot so whenever I get some free time I'll true it little by little. I do need to attach a bicycle toe strap or zip tie to the hub shaft to stop it moving but apart from that the truing stand is perfect. I'm looking forward to getting this front wheel finished so I can then mount the 3/4 inch solid tyre. After the wheels are built the who process of building the bike will be a lot quicker.

Pictured above are the spare spokes that arrived from NZ today and a couple of shots of my truing stand with the 52 inch wheel laced up

Penny Farthing Racing in Australia

2011-07-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

Here is an older youtube clip of the racing that takes part every Feb in the village of Evandale, Tasmania. I raced here with the NZ team back in the late 1990s which was great fun as it was my 1st chance to meet up with fellow penny farthing riders from around the world. The weekend before they race they hold a century run and it was one of the toughest events I have ever taken part in as many riders gave up around the 120km mark but I rode with wheelmen Nolan Bay at a steady pace and managed to finish the century in a time of 11 hours 40mins . If you own a penny farthing I highly recommend attending at least once as you will love it.

Penny Farthing race, London 2011

2011-07-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

Brooks of England " M.I.P " touring bag

2011-07-17T05:47:00.001-07:00

Just the other day at my bicycle shop I received a new order from Brooks and in the box was the latest edition of " The Brooks Bugle " which is a large format newsletter / paper with info on events Brooks have sponsored and other cycling related news. Among the stories was a copy taken from a newly acquired 1888 Brooks catalog which shows that Brooks were not only making fantastic long distance touring saddles for ordinary bicycles, but also the popular M.I.P touring bag. This bag was intended for use on day or or multi day tours and there was enough room for a change of clothes and a few repair tools as well. A number of years ago I had made a replica M.I.P bag which is constructed from water proof canvas with leather edging & straps etc. I have used this bag on many multi day tours and it was perfect for carrying the items that I needed, although you do need a support bracket to stop the fully laden bag from swinging about on the backbone, if the bag is not fully supported it could get caught between the backbone and the front wheel causing a nasty header . Pictured above are a few photos of my replica bag plus the add from Brooks showing the different model of bags that they offered for sale in 1888.

Wheel building continues

2011-06-30T01:29:00.001-07:00

well it's been ages since I had something to blog about , part of this reason is that I live in Japan and everybody who makes limited numbers of replica high wheel parts live in either New Zealand, Australia or the US so sometimes it can take months just to organize the purchase of some parts and then a few more months before the parts are made etc. After lacing the front well up last winter on a rather flimsy wheel truing stand it seems because the stand itself was not true the tension on a number of the spokes was too great causing the threads to break off. Partly my fault but now I have a fantastic custom made truing stand I'm able to rebuild the wheel correctly. After throwing away the damaged spokes that were unsafe to use I re laced the wheel. As you can see from the above photos only one side has both sets of spokes crossed and the other side just has the leading spokes installed. Once I get some new spokes from a different supplier I'll then be able to finish building the front wheel.

Pictured above are some photos of the wheel on it's new truing stand

Wheel building

2011-02-05T05:03:00.000-08:00

Today I made a start on lacing up the 72 hole 52 inch steel rim and as you can see from the photos I'm halfway there as I have both sets of lead spokes placed . The next job is to make sure that all the spoke heads are seated correctly on the hub flanges and then give the hub a twist and put in the cross spokes. This wheel will be built 3 cross and then I will tie and solder each cross to give the wheel some more strength. I like the challenge of building a wheel of this size and it makes a change from lacing up 700c or MTB wheels.

Steering yoke clean up

2011-02-01T04:45:00.000-08:00

Today I had some free time at my bicycle shop so I spent the time cleaning up the steering yoke. When I received the yoke from Brett it was already attached to the pivot and the steering pin nut and bolt were also made , which saves me a lot of work. As Brett usually builds racing penny farthings he has his own style of yoke that he uses which can be seen in one of the above photos. But as I'm building a more traditional style bicycle I needed to change the shape of the yoke to suit the long distance touring saddle that I will fit later on. As you can see from the above photos I mounted the yoke in the bench vice and using a selection of round, half round and flat metal files removed the un wanted areas and cleaned up some of the excess welding. The yoke is made from 10mm steel plate and is extremely strong , later on I will purchase a small sandpaper flap wheel and mount it to my electric drill to clean up the remainder of the yoke. As you can see the final shape is cut out and after some more cleaning it should look pretty good. As this part will most likely be nickel plated it needs to be perfectly smooth to obtain a nice finish.

Mr Simpsons solid tyre fitting tool

2011-02-01T04:34:00.000-08:00

If you have been following this blog you would have seen a while back a couple of Youtube clips from my club mate Mr Simpson of the Oamaru Ordinary Cycle Club demonstrating the two different types of solid tyre fitting tools that he has made. Luckily my customer was able to purchase one of the improved fitting tools and now I have a lend of it for fitting the American style solid tyre to the wheels I'm about to build. I have never used this type of solid tyre before but as the traditional English type with the steel spiral running through the middle is so expensive and sometimes pron to stretching on long downhills at speed I thought the wired on type would be more suitable.

Pictured above is enough 3/4 inch solid tyre for the two wheels I have and Mr Simpsons new improved solid tyre fitting tool

Parts for a 52 inch replica ordinary

2011-02-01T04:17:00.001-08:00

Pictured above are a full set of parts for building a replica ordinary / Penny farthing bicycle. The majority of the parts came from well known replica penny farthing builder, parts supplier and racer Brett Richardson of Brisbane in Australia. Brett has been involved in the construction of replica's for a long time and manufactures all of his own parts to a very high standard. If you are looking for some parts I can recommend him as he sells most parts that you would need. Pictured above are the following parts :

Steel 52 inch rim 72 hole - powder coated black
Steel 17 inch rim 32 hole - powder coated black
Steel backbone curved and tapered to suit a 52 inch rim
Cast steering head and yoke
Brass front hub
Brass front wheel bearing housings and C clips
80 x front spokes

The saddle in the above photos is from Victory Bicycles a manufacturer from the USA. They make a very good copy of the Brooks replica long distance saddle which extra strong saddle frame and mounting hardware. There are 3 other manufacturers of this style of saddle but as these saddles are hand made they are often hard to obtain, but if you are interested in long distance touring they are perfect as I have used this type of saddle myself for over 15 years.

Parts have arrived ?

2011-01-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

After a long wait and quite a few hassles my customer Kas Kobori has finally received the kit set of parts so I can build him his 52" inch replica ordinary. Living in Japan has made this project a lot more difficult and time consuming than it should be , but at least now all the parts I need to start building are here in Japan. At present the parts are in Tokyo at Kas Korbori's apartment and soon as the weather is better and he gets time he'll be delivering the parts to my bicycle shop here in Niigata City. I'm looking forward to getting started as I haven't built a bike in many years and have learned a lot from the past replica's that I constructed.

Listed below are the parts we have purchased

3/4 inch solid tyre & a tyre fitting tool from Oamaru Cycle Works in New Zealand

Brooks replica century saddle from Victory Bicycles in the USA

Steering head casting
Brass front hub 72 hole
Front bearing castings in brass
Steel backbone curved for a 52 inch wheel
Steel front 52 inch rim drilled to 72 holes & powder coated black
Steel rear 17 inch rim drilled to 32 holes & powder coated black
80 x 14 gauge spokes headed & threaded
Sealed bearings & C Clips for the front bearing housings

The above set of parts were purchased from well known replica builder and parts supplier Brett Richardson of Brisbane , Australia

Pictured above are a couple of photos that Kas took of the cast steering head that was purchased from Brett Richardson, the remainder of the parts are still boxed up and later on once I receive the parts I'll post more photos. As I build this bike I'll be updating the blog with a description of the building process and photos which will hopefully be of interest to anyone considering constructing their own replica ordinary.

Cheers Don
Furumachi Bicycle

The Knutsford Great Race

2010-09-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

Just recently the Knutsford Great race was held in the village of knutsford in the UK. This race which is only held once every 10 years attracts riders from all over the world including one of my countrymen from New Zealand. There was a huge turnout of spectators and it seems everybody racing had a great time apart from one chap who was knocked down and apparently broke both arms. Racing antique or replica ordinaries / penny farthings has always been a dangerous sport and with modern road conditions the bikes are able to go even faster than they did back in the late 1880s. Check out the attached Youtube clip for some of the Knutsford racing action and do a serch for the Knutsford great race crash.

Cheers Don

Mr Simpson's new improved solid tire fitting tool

2010-05-28T02:23:00.000-07:00

Well Graeme Simpson of the Oamaru Ordinary Cycle club in New Zealand has just made another new Youtube clip showing his new improved solid tire fitting tool in action. This tool is based upon the original type that was used back in Victorian times to fit solid tires to bicycles. His new design has been made so it can be either used on a bench mounted vice or free standing for field use. The clip was filmed inside Oamaru Cycle Works on the day of the grand opening. Oamaru Cycle Works was officially opened by John Key the Prime Minister of New Zealand

Fitting solid tire to a ordinary bicycle wheel

2010-05-10T16:16:00.000-07:00

In this clip my club mate Graeme Simpson from the O.O.C.C. ( Oamaru Ordinary Cycle Club ) of New Zealand, is demonstrating how to fit a solid tire to the rear wheel of an ordinary bicycle also known as a penny farthing. He is using a Wiedman tiring tool that he built himself , the Wiedman tool was designed by American Wheelman Carl Wiedman for the fitting of solid tires to antique bicycles.

Kas Kobori - mounting his replica ordinary

2010-05-08T04:21:00.000-07:00

Tokyo rider Kas Kobori has posted another youtube clip , This time of of him mounting his replica ordinary on the Tamma river cycle road. You can hear the cheers of the crowd watching him in the background. It's not everyday that you would see something like this in Tokyo.

A recent find - circa 1882 - 1884 ordinary

2010-03-21T02:13:00.000-07:00

Well as there are very few original ordinaries in private collections in this country I was surprised to learn of a fellow foreigner who happened to locate an original ordinary. The history of the bike is rather interesting as an American sold it to a motorcycle shop here in Japan in the late 1940s and it had sat there ever since on display until it was recently found by it's current owner. The owner of the motorcycle shop had passed away many years ago and his son who now runs the family business decided to sell it to someone who would take care of it and restore it.

The owner of the motorcycle shop it seems never rode it at all as when found it was missing it's tires and the bottom bearing cup from the steering head, it had also been painted in silver paint at some stage of it's life and for some reason the motorcycle shop owner believed it to be a Rudge which recently was found out to be incorrect.

It now appears that the bike may not be a Rudge but another brand circa 1882 - 1884 with solid forks and non detachable cranks. We are currently awaiting on more info so this bicycle can be more clearly identified, so it can be restored correctly. Overall it's a fantastic find and for it's age it's in great condition as it's not missing any major parts at all which will make restoring it a rather straight forward process.

Pictured above are some photos that were taken of it when found. As the restoration of this bicycle progresses I will provide further updates

Don
highwheelinginjapan

Spare parts

2010-03-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had some free time so I took a drive out to Shibata City where I used to live to visit Hasegawa san the owner of the bicycle store where I used to build replica ordinary bicycles many years ago. The reason for visiting him was to ask if it would be ok to use his workshop again for the building of another bicycle, luckily he said it would be ok for me to use his workshop as where I live in Niigata city I don't have access to a decent sized workshop in which to construct a bicycle. while I was visiting the bicycle shop I found two of my items that had been left there many years ago.

One of the items is a brand new 16" rear steel rim for an ordinary bicycle which is un drilled so it will come in handy as a spare rim as all it needs is to be drilled for spokes and powder coated black.

The other item was a custom made rear touring rack made by Phillip Levi of the Edlee bicycle company in South Australia. At the time I did not have a M.I.P touring bag but used the above pictured rack with two front bicycle pannier's mounted on it which proved very useful. Although not traditional at all the rack served me well for a number of years and if I do happen to use it again in the future I'll make some brackets to fix it to the rear of my bike.

brass rear hub

2010-03-03T00:17:00.000-08:00

well as I wanted the rear hub to match the front custom made brass & steel hub I decided to get the rear hub brass plated. I thought this would have been possiable here in Niigata City, but for some unknown reason the largest plating comany in Niigata was unable to do it. So I posted the hub back to my hometown of Geraldine in New Zealand's south Island where we are lucky to have a fantastic plating company called Shiny Bits , I used to use this company when I was building replica high wheel bicycles in New Zealand. Shiny Bits is well known for doing some of the highest quality plating in New Zealand and even though they are small their work is of the highest standard. Most of their customers send parts from classic or antique cars & motorcycles to them as they know they will be happy with the final result. The photo above shows the plating that was done on the steel hub, which will become the rear hub for a 52" replica high wheel.

Pedal parts update

2010-01-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Well as everything closes down over the New Year period I had one small job that I wanted to do on the MKS pedals which was to hand cut the round end cap sections from the 2mm steel MKS pedal plates. The reason for this is they are designed to hold the bearing cups in place and I will get the MKS end caps brazed onto the laser cut traditional end plates so that the pedal shaft & ball bearing housing fits perfectly. Once brazed together and nickel plated they should look authentic with the replica high wheel pedal rubbers which are pictured in the photo. These pedals are not a direct copy of any one particular brand but are similar to pedals that were used on high wheel bicycles of the period. Later on a new pedal shafts will need to be machined from hardened stainless steel to allow them to be fitted to the slotted cranks which are also currently being laser cut.

Photos from Hasegawa san

2009-12-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

Pictured above are two nice photos that Hasegawa san sent me while I was back in NZ living. The large photo shows Hasegawa san with his 50 inch replica ordinary at a local event held at the Nakajo Interchange in 2002 and the other photo was taken in the NHK TV studios in 2002 as Hasegawa san was invited to take part in a quiz show on TV about bicycles. The show featured Hasegawa san riding around inside the studio and then the presenter asked the panel some questions related to the bicycle.

Parts for sandblasting

2009-12-13T19:08:00.000-08:00

Today I took the front hub ( Which will become the rear hub ) apart as it needs to be sandblasted before it is re plated in brass to match the front hub and I have taken apart the MKS 3000 rubber block pedals, some of the parts will be re used such as the main housing for the ball bearings and a section of the end plates. These parts also need sandblasting before they will be nickel plated. I am getting new end plates laser cut to a traditional pattern and these new end plates will be fitted together with the MKS pedal parts along with some traditional high wheel pedal rubber.

Pictured above is a photo of the parts to be sandblasted and plated, I have found by past experince it pays to take a photo of parts sent to a plater so you can check them off once the work is finished.

Pedals & hubs

2009-12-11T02:37:00.000-08:00

Today I received a package containing what will be the pedals for the slotted cranks & the rear hub.

The pedals which I will be converting to high wheel bicycle pedals are the Japanese MKS 3000 steel ball bearing pedals. I have used this pedal for several years on my own bicycle as well as others and the great thing about them is that they are very strong, well made and they are serviceable i.e you can take them apart to re pack the bearing cones and the end plates are bolted on which makes it easy to re fit them with a more traditional end plate profile. I will design a traditional end plate profile which will then be laser cut from 2mm steel plate and once nickel plated that will be bolted on to the MKS pedals

The front hub pictured above is a traditional heavy duty 32 hole front hub from a delivery style bicycle. It's very strong and has a nice traditional profile. The reason I chose this hub is that it's steel so it will be able to be re plated in brass to match the front hub which is now being made in Australia which has brass flanges. Even through high wheel bicycles never had brass hubs as far as I'm aware some of them did have bronze flanges which are of a similar color. Most high wheel bicycles only used 24 spokes in the rear wheel and today many replica high wheel bicycles use 28 hole rear wheels. But I have decided to use 32 holes for the following reasons, first of all the bicycle I'm building is not a direct copy of any one model but will use elements of high wheel bicycle design that I like, secondly it is not being built as a light weight racer but as a solid touring bike able to withstand heavy loads e.g a loaded M.I.P bag and the rider standing on the step for extended periods and braking with the right foot upon the wheel if required. Therefore I'm sure the steel 32 hole hub which will be laced into a steel rim will be incredibly strong.

Building your own bicycle

2009-11-21T02:51:00.000-08:00

While there is much debate over originals vs replica's, I'm not keen to get into that in depth discussion on this blog as the fact of the matter is many aspiring riders can not afford to purchase an original bicycle therefore building there own bike or purchasing a replica is the only way they will get to ride a high wheel bicycle. In my home country New Zealand most riders have built their own bicycle with parts supplied from Oamaru, the center for replica ordinary bicycle construction since 1994 and home to the now famous annual NZ penny farthing championships. Apart from that NZ is also home to one of the most authentic replica builders around, Robin Willan of Christchurch whose fantastic replica's are highly sort after from collectors in NZ and abroad.

SUPPLIERS OF PARTS:

Oamaru Cycle Works - located in Oamaru , New Zealand
suppliers of solid tire - American style 3/4 inch wired on type
wire tensioning device for fitting the above tire
Custom made ss long spokes
steel tapered backbones

For more info please check their website which is listed below
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~gsimpson/supplies.html

Brett Richardson - located in Bracken Ridge Queensland , Australia
supplier of Steel & Alloy rims
hubs, spokes, backbones, cast steering heads, bearing castings and other related parts

For more info please contact me and I will send you a copy of his current price list

If you are interested in building your own bike the first thing is to figure out what size bike would fit you and if there are other riders of high wheel bikes in your area they could offer you some advice re what size to ride but the best way is to measure your leg length and that will determine the size wheel which you can ride with ease.

Early in the New Year I will be building a 52 inch replica for a Japanese rider and once the parts that I have ordered are here I will be posting my progress on this blog, which will give anyone wanting to build their own bike an idea of how to go about it.

Pictured above are some examples of replica's and parts

Penny farthing's in Karuizawa ?

2009-10-27T05:07:00.001-07:00

Just last weekend my wife & I took a trip to the mountain resort town of Karuizawa which is on the border of Nagano & Gumma. While trying to locate a long lost friend who rides a penny farthing replica I happened to spot the two bicycles pictured above. I have no idea why there is a giant penny farthing bicycle mounted on top of the building in the above photo and I forgot to ask the staff at the information center but the building is not a bicycle shop as you can see. The other photo is of a popular old replica that was made in Japan, I have seen many of these about the country and they were designed for kids but are made very strong. A few bicycle shops use them as a display item to hang on the wall.

Cycling alongside the Tama river

2009-10-26T04:35:00.000-07:00

Just today Kas Kobari sent me the enclosed clip of him riding his 52 " RBR alongside the Tama river in Tokyo where he often goes for a ride

Kas Kobari - Japanese wheelmen

2009-10-21T23:21:00.000-07:00

Not long ago I was contacted by Kas Kobari from Tokyo who rides a high wheel bicycle, I was very surprised to hear from somebody in Japan who also rides high wheels bicycles and not long after receiving the e mail, Kas drove up to Niigata to meet me one Saturday. It was easy to spot him as not too many people wear T shirts screen printed with an image of Thomas Stevens on it. We retired to a nearby coffee shop to chat about high wheel bicycles and I showed him some photos of the bicycles I had built in the past. He is a very keen cyclist and rides his 52" Rideable Bicycle Replica along the Tama river cycleway in Tokyo whenever he gets the chance. He's also built a rack that fits on the back of his car so that can transport his bike. In the future we hope to do some touring together once I bring my high wheel back to Japan.

Pictured above are a few photo's of Kas Kobari and his bicycle

Golden week tour 2000

2009-10-19T04:06:00.000-07:00

In Golden week of 2000 I sent out on a 5 day tour starting from Shibata , upon telling my students of my plan to cycle around half of Sado Island they thought it wouldn't be possiable & that I was crazy - the 2nd part is probably correct but in order to find out for myself I sent out early in the morning on the 1st day of Golden week ( A Japanese public holiday in May ) to ride into Niigata City. The route I took bypassed the busiest roads into Niigata city but it was still rather busy and I received plenty of strange looks from motorists. Upon arriving in Niigata city I met up with my cycle companion & fellow workmate Brian Southwick who was upon his modern MTB. Soon we were aboard the car ferry to Sado Island & within a couple of hours we had arrived in Ryotsu we were proceeded to our accommodation for the night in the village of Niibo. It was so peaceful as there is not a lot of traffic on Sado which makes it perfect for cycling. The next day we rode to the top of the Island to Futastugami and down the other side of the island to our next overnight stop at Sotokaifu where we took an onsen and had a fantastic dinner at the Youth Hostel. The next day we pressed on towards Mano bay & the town of Sawata where we had reserved another Youth Hostel in the hills over looking Sawata. Along the way we stopped and checked out the villages that dot the roadside and we stopped for lunch at a small camping spot by the sea at Senkaku - wan bay that had the clearest water I've ever seen in my life. That night we headed downtown in a taxi to take a stroll around Sawata and have dinner followed by a few drinks at a cocktail bar that looked like it should have been in Tokyo. The next day we rode to visit a famous temple called Myosen - Ji Temple a 5 story pogoda located between Mano & Niibo where I said goodbye to Brian as he headed back to Ryotsu to catch the late boat back across to the mainland. I enjoyed a fantastic meal and chatted to the other guests who were all Japanese including one old chap who had cycled from Tokyo and was keen to share his large bottle of sake with me. The next day I rode back in Ryotsu & caught the car ferry to Niigata and then proceeded to ride back to Shibata. In was a fantastic trip and it was a shame I didn't have more time. I hope in the future to ride around the other part of the Island as it's such a great place for cycling.

Pictured above is a map of Sado Island - the route I cycled is coloured black with my overnight stops as red circles. The other two photos show me at the ferry terminal in Niigata City and in front of the Myosen - Ji temple

A trip to Tokyo

2009-10-18T04:12:00.000-07:00

While I was living in Shibata I joined the JCA - Japan Cycling Assn which has chapters in every prefecture that organizes events and holds extended tours over the public holidays. The JCA is a fantastic organization and their events are very well run and they produce a monthly newsletter as well. Hasegawa san informed me about the annual meet of the JCA to be held in Tokyo which included a day ride in Tokyo to Odiba , lunch and a bicycle swap meet. The day concluded with a large dinner party at the Prince hotel located in the center of the city where everybody was staying. Upon arriving at the hotel by car with two ordinaries strapped to the bicycle rack we received a lot of attention from the other members who had never seen anything like our bicycles before except in a museum.

The ride was well planned and the bicycle swap meet was great fun, but riding through one of the biggest cities in the world on an ordinary was something I'll never forget. Part of the cycling course that we were on stopped off at Tokyo tower a replica of the famous Ifel tower in Paris and it was here where we were photographed by the JCA photographer. Our photo ended up gracing the cover of the national JCA magazine which you can see pictured above.

Weekend rides in Shibata

2009-10-18T03:47:00.000-07:00

In 1999 I happened to meet Hasegawa san a bicycle shop owner in Shibata where I was living and teaching English and when I found out he had an interest in vintage bicycles I told him about building my replica ordinary bicycle in New Zealand. Shortly afterwards he asked me could I build him a bicycle as he would love a replica ordinary as well, it was a little difficult to import the required parts but in the end we had everything we needed and in my spare time with Hasegawa sans help we built a 50" replica ordinary with moustache bars , spade grips & a hammock saddle. Considering the parts we had and it was only my 2nd bicycle that I had built , it didn't turn out too bad and before I brought my 50" ordinary to Japan I regularly borrowed Hasegawa sans bicycle to ride on my days off. I had a great time exploring the local countryside on the ordinary and I got plenty of strange looks from the villagers up in the mountains along my favorite 80km route who had never seen anything like it before. Once I had my bicycle in Shibata I often joined Hasegawa sans Sunday cycling club which was held once a month mainly for the benefit of the local kids. Even though most of these boys & girls were only around 8 - 10 years old they were keen cyclists and we often rode 30km or so with a stop for a picnic lunch somewhere.

Pictured above are two of the young girls who were part of the cycle club , this photo was taken in Nov 2000 before I had made upgrades to my handlebars, rear fork & mounting step

The history of the ordinary in Japan

2009-10-09T02:08:00.000-07:00

While I was working as an English teacher here in Niigata in 2000 I was contacted by Yukio Ootsu of the Japan bicycle history research club to help him with his history paper for the 11th Cycle History Conference which was held in Osaka. It was a great pleasure to be able to help Yukio with his paper titled " The history of the ordinary in Japan " , it was fascinating to learn about the history of the ordinary in Japan and the accompanying pictures & woodblock prints of early cyclists are fantastic. It seems from Yukio's research that the ordinary was popular between 1885 - 1895 which by comparison to the UK & the USA is rather late as already the Rover safety bicycle had made an appearance in 1885. If you are interested in learning more about the research that Yukio Ootsu has done please visit the following website

http://www.eva.hi-ho.ne.jp/ordinary/

Pictured above is a photo from the Japanese bicycle history research center showing Kaisaku Morimura with his nickel plated ordinary

The first foreigner to ride a high wheel in Japan

2009-10-08T06:11:00.000-07:00

The first foreigner to ride a high wheel bicycle in Japan would have been Thomas Stevens from the USA on his world tour in 1884. Stevens was actually born in the UK and moved to the USA at age 17 where he discovered the joys of cycling after purchasing a 50" standard Columbia which he practiced riding in the parks of San Francisco. He embarked on his world tour in 1884 and on that tour he spent some time traveling in Japan. Thomas Stevens arrived in Nagasaki by ship (the name of the vessel was the Yokohama-maru). He left Nagasaki on December 23rd by bicycle on an overland route towards Kobe. Then he returned to America by ship from the port of Yokohama.

If you ask anybody who has an interest in high wheel bicycles today what their favorite book is they will most probably say " Around the World on a Bicycle " which was published after the completion of his world tour in January 1887. Steven's wrote other books and articles about travels he made without his bike but for riders of high wheels his account of touring the globe on his Columbia is a must have for ones bookshelf. Not so long ago his book was re published in paperback form and it can now be purchased again. If you are looking for a book and love cycling & adventure I'm sure you will enjoy it as it's a fantastic read.

Pictured above is the book in question and on the top left corner of this blog is an engraving of Thomas Stevens