About this model

A detailed model, replicating a late Penny Farthing bycycle; interestingly featuring pneumatic tyres and sprung seat. 90k polys, textures include Colour, Gloss, Reflection and Normal maps for PBR workflow.

History

The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler and ordinary, was the first machine to be called a 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 (the large wheel provides greater shock absorption). It became obsolete from the late 1880s with the development of modern bicycles, which provided similar speed amplification via chain-driven gear trains and comfort through pneumatic tyres, and were marketed in comparison to penny-farthings as safety bicycles due to the reduced danger of falling and the reduced height to fall from.