Editing Penny-farthing (section)

=== Origins and development ===
[[File:Cover - The Modern Bicycle (1877), cover - BL.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Book cover of ''The Modern Bicycle'', published in London in 1877]]
Eugène Meyer of [[Paris]] is now regarded as the father of the high bicycle<ref name = "Hadland"/> by the [[International Cycling History Conference]] in place of [[James Starley]]. Meyer patented a [[wire wheel|wire-spoke tension wheel]] with individually adjustable spokes in 1869.<ref name=Herlihy/> They were called "spider" wheels in Britain when introduced there.<ref name=Herlihy/> Meyer produced a classic high bicycle design during the 1880s.

James Starley in [[Coventry]] added the tangent [[spokes]]<ref name=Herlihy/> and the mounting step to his famous bicycle named "Ariel". He is regarded as the father of the British cycling industry. [[Ball bearing]]s, [[Bicycle tire#Solid|solid rubber tires]] and hollow-section steel frames became standard, reducing weight and making the ride much smoother.<ref name=Herlihy/>

Penny-farthing bicycles are dangerous because of the risk of headers (taking a fall over the handlebars head-first). Makers developed [[Bicycle handlebar#Moustache|"moustache"]] handlebars, allowing the rider's knees to clear them,<ref name="Norcliffe">{{cite book
| last = Norcliffe
| first = Glenn
| title = Ride to Modernity: The Bicycle in Canada, 1869-1900
| publisher = University of Toronto Press
| year = 2006
| page = 52
| isbn = 978-0-8020-8205-3}}</ref> "Whatton" handlebars that wrapped around behind the legs,<ref name="Wilson" /> and ultimately (though too late, after development of the safety bicycle), the American "Eagle" and [[American Star Bicycle|"Star"]] bicycles, whose large and small wheels were reversed.<ref name="Norcliffe, p.53">Norcliffe, p.53.</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.oldspokeshome.com/hb-smith-co-42-pony-star-smithville-nj-1889
 |title       = Old Spokes Home: 1889 Special Pony Star
 |access-date  = 2010-01-05
 |url-status  = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20101010141419/http://oldspokeshome.com/hb-smith-co-42-pony-star-smithville-nj-1889
 |archive-date = 2010-10-10
}}</ref> This prevented headers but left the danger of being thrown backwards when riding uphill. Other attempts included moving the seat rearward and driving the wheel by levers or [[treadle bicycle|treadles]], as in the "Xtraordinary" <!-- This is the correct spelling, don't change it. -->and "Facile",<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.oldspokeshome.com/ellis-and-co-40-%E2%80%9Cfacile%E2%80%9D-1884
| title = Old Spokes Home: 1884 "Facile" Highwheel Safety 40" by Beale and Straw
| access-date = 2010-01-05
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101010150852/http://oldspokeshome.com/ellis-and-co-40-%E2%80%9Cfacile%E2%80%9D-1884
| archive-date = 2010-10-10
| url-status = dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.oldspokeshome.com/about-osh
| title = Old Spokes Home: 1885 Xtraordinary Challenge 50" wheel by Singer
| access-date = 2010-01-05
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151108013824/http://oldspokeshome.com/about-osh
| archive-date = 2015-11-08
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> or gears, by chain as in the "Kangaroo" or at the hub, as in the "Crypto";<ref name="Norcliffe, p.53"/> another option was to move the seat well back, as in the "Rational".<ref name="Norcliffe, p.53"/><ref>{{cite book
| title = Bicycles & Tricycles, A Classical Treatise on Their Design and Construction
| last = Sharp
| first = Archibald
| publisher = Courier Dover Publications
| year = 2003
| isbn = 978-0-486-42987-8}}</ref>

Even so, bicycling remained the province of the urban well-to-do, and mainly men, until the 1890s,<ref>Norcliffe, pp.31-2 & 124.</ref> and was a salient example of [[conspicuous consumption]].<ref>Norcliffe, pp.31-2, 35, 124, & 243-6.</ref>
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