Instructions for building a high wheel bike/pennyfarthing?

Question

Does anybody know a book or internet site? I don't want an already built one. I have to make my own for a class.

Answer 1

Try Abel Baker in England who specialises in retro bikes.

Answer 2

Building this bike yourself will not be easy.

Building a wheel big enough on the front is going to very tough. Finding spokes long enough may be an issue, getting a rim in a big enough diameter will also be an issue. You make have to actually construct your own rim. I have no ideas on the tires or tubes to use on the front wheel. I suppose you could just do without for demo purposes. They do make hubs similar to what you would need, directly attached to the crank arms, for little kid bikes.

Another issue is designing and building the frame. Plan everything out very carefully, because most likely you will only get one chance at this. Look at old pictures to give you some design ideas. There is a considerable amount of information about building your own regular bicycle frame, and this would be a good place to start. http://www.littlefishbicycles.com/frame/ provides an excellent overview. And there are courses at http://www.bikeschool.com/frame.htm.

An easier way out would be to use a 29 inch and a very small  (12inch?) wheel instead of the huge front wheel that are actually used. This would avoid all of the problems with the front wheel (you'd still need to build the wheel yourself, but the parts are widely available), but it would still be geared ridiculously low, similar to the smallest gears that you would see on a mountain bike with the 34 tooth biggest gear.

This is a huge project, and you may want to reconsider it unless you really want to do this.