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‘Coming a cropper’ was, to the young daredevils of the high-wheeler’s heyday, all part of the fun of riding those magnificent machines. Other riders, who enjoyed the freedom and thrill of cycling, but not the danger, had to wait until the inventors came up with a safer sort of cycling. The solution was the design which came to be known as the ‘Dwarf Safety’. By making the front wheel smaller, and moving the rider back and down, weight was shifted to the rear wheel, significantly reducing the chance of the rider flying over the handlebars. To compensate for the smaller wheel, a chain drive was used to increase the distance travelled with each turn of the pedals. It is this design which Mike West, a York engineer with twelve years’ experience of building high-wheelers, has re-created. Modern technology ensures that the chains on Mike’s machines are much more reliable than those on nineteenth century originals. Mike also offers concealed modern ball-bearings for the axles, in place of the plain bearings often used on original machines. The rims are made by another York craftsman, Len Clucas, to be built by Mike into wheels with the oldfashioned but very effective ‘V’ double spokes, with two ends at the rim. It takes three days to build a wheel: such long spokes need to ‘settle in’ overnight between truing sessions to allow the wire to stretch. 40” wheels are standard, but this can be reduced to 38” for shorter riders. The tyres are made of three-quarter inch thick rubber moulded around a ‘helicoil’ wire.
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Ride this bicycle and you’ll combine the exhilaration of high-wheeling without the terror: you’ll also recapture a very special moment in history. The most famous model with this layout, the ‘Kangaroo’ of 1884, enjoyed just a few years of success before being superseded by a new generation of bicycles with chain-drive to the rear wheel. Mike stresses that the machine shown here is his prototype, and further machines will be equipped with more highly-refined handlebars with extra knee clearance. He has also made numerous detail improvements to tidy the appearance, including a radically-altered hub and fork layout.
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Mike West has been building high bicycles for twelve years. His original product, the ‘Challenge’ high bicycle, is built to a variety of specifications, and with choices of handlebar shape, handle grips style, crank and pedal type. Wheel sizes are from 50" to 54". The bigger the wheel you can comfortably ride on, the faster you can go, since every turn of the pedals takes you the same distance as the circumference of the wheel. Yet the larger the wheel, the further there is to fall! A rider 6' (183 cm) tall can ride a 50" (127cm) wheel, but 53" (135cm) is recommended. Mike strongly recommends that if you are going to ride one of his bikes on a regular basis you should choose the modern and cheaper crank and pedal option; they make for a more enjoyable ride and don’t look particularly out of place. Mike West, Bishopthorpe Bikes, 35 Keble Park North, Bishopthorpe, York YO23 2SX, UK. Tel +44 1904 703 413 In the UK, a cycle from Mike West costs £1500, although this will vary according to specification.
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