Traveling with a Penny Farthing Bike? Here’s What You Should Know

Take a look through our collection of odd bikes. Among our clown circus bikes and mini bikes, you’ll see that penny farthing bikes are back in stock!

Now that our UDC and Hoppley Penny Farthing bikes are back, in all the variety of sizes, now’s is the time to buy!

But, past that, unless you simply ride your penny around the neighborhood, you’re going to want to learn how to pack one, right?

These are a little harder to break down and pack than regular bikes, but, there are penny farthing races, not just in America (check out “highwheelrace”) but around the world.

To participate in any of these, you need to know how to break down and pack one up. Here’s a primer, from one of our veteran penny farthing masters.

How to Pack a Penny Farthing for a Trip

The first thing you need to do is break down the penny farthing to its constituents. Take off the front wheel, then disassemble the cranks, the frame, saddle, handlebars, brakes, front and rear forks - on the latter you can leave the rear wheel installed.

If you bring your rear fork’s step, you may want to remove it (if possible) or cut it off, as it will slim down the profile of the penny farthing and make it easier to pack. Just a recommendation, though.

You’ll also want to bring along spare cranks as well as anything you need for mounting accessories to your handlebars.

One way to pack up a penny farthing is by packing the main parts mentioned here inside of the front wheel.

If you want to do that, you can take four spokes off the front wheel so you can fit everything inside. Remove the spokes, then place the rear fork and wheel, and handlebars inside.

Another way to do it is to pack only a few parts inside the front wheel: the handlebar and saddle. To add a little cushioning to these parts, you can also pack your clothing in a separate back and stuff that inside the wheel, too.

For anything you stuff inside the front wheel, you should use cable ties to hold everything in place, so nothing is rattling around or gets damaged. You should also slip socks over the cranks (as well as the top of the rear fork), because these can easily be damaged in transit.

If you only pack some of the parts inside the front wheel, you will need a separate bag (or a few separate bags) for the rest of your penny farthing essentials.

You also need to consider protecting the wheel that has some of your parts packed inside. Wrap the whole thing in a shipping blanket. You can also make a custom cover for the wheel by cutting the blanket to the front wheel’s dimensions so you can slip the whole thing inside.

You can then pack the frame inside along with the wheel, against the outside curve of the blanket. You can also pack the frame inside the wheel if you want, just make sure to zip tie it in  place.

You can also make a custom pack for the wheel. If you do, we recommend making it out of thick, tough canvas. The diameter must be a little bit wider than the wheel, because if it’s all wrapped in a moving blanket, it needs to be a little wider to accommodate the extra size.

If you’re going to make a pack like this, make the slit around the midsection which will make it easier for you to insert and remove the wheel. You can iron or sew on hook-and-loop fasteners to keep it closed when in transit.

If you go this route, add a little padding in the middle where the cranks will be to provide some additional protection.

You’ll need another suitcase or pack to put away any of the remaining parts that you didn’t pack in the wheel.

Make sure you bring spares and tools that you can pack in the second (or third) bag. You’ll need an Allen key set, a pedal wrench, and crank extractor as well as a spoke key. All of these are available in the link to the previous collection. Bring spare parts, including spare clips, too.

You can use shrink wrap to wrap up your spare parts and tools, as it will keep them together and also keep them from rattling around while you’re traveling.

Breaking down your penny farthing in this manner should make it pretty easy to re-assemble. You should be able to do it within 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on how you broke it down and how many spokes you need to replace.

We covered as many details as we could here. For a full breakdown, visit the following video on how to pack and travel with one of these unique bikes.

They’re Here: Penny Farthings, Mini Bikes, and Clown Circus Bikes

Gearing up for a trip with a penny farthing? Or are you just here looking for spare tools, parts, and unicycle safety gear like knee, elbow and wrist pads?

Either way, we have what you need, along with odd bikes like penny farthings, mini bikes, and clown circus bikes, and the pennies just came in recently.

Get yours before they sell out - and of course, if you have questions, get in touch with us for additional help.