This monstrosity, owned by bike collector Richard Loncraine, is a modern take on the penny-farthing bike (or P-Far, as the Bike Snob would call it). The bike looks to be very well made, but also rather unstable: your legs go between the handlebars, which have a very long and awkward-looking stem, and your weight is directly over the rear wheel – no wheelies here.
The bike, built on a modified track frame (check the track-ends on the rear) is also a fixed-gear (at least we hope so, as there are no brakes on it) and has no toe-clips on the pedals. Even with such a low gear-ratio this thing would be hard to stop without just putting your feet down, Fred Flintstone-style.
I'd like to take it for a spin, though (away from busy roads). And if it is actually stable enough to ride, it also has the advantage of being the size of an already-folded folding bike.
P-Far [Tokyo Fixed Gear/Flickr via Bike Hugger]
Photo: Tokyo Fixed Gear/Flickr
