# Why in the hell are early safety do damned tall?!



## ohdeebee (Oct 31, 2013)

Safety bikes that is. Just curious. That's all.


----------



## bricycle (Oct 31, 2013)

They didn't want to look too short compared to the highwheelers! :eek:


----------



## Iverider (Oct 31, 2013)

So we tall people have a genre to collect!!!


----------



## fordsnake (Oct 31, 2013)

Safety bikes initially were expensive utilitarian vehicles for "adults only" hence the tall frames, and were not considered toys! It wasn't until bikes transitioned into motorcycles that the concept of children riding bikes emerged. Manufactures quickly saw opportunities to grow their business and strategically offered line extensions to the juvenile audience; via pseudo motorbikes (no engine). An ideal ride for the young boy who wished to emulate his big brother or father that owned a real motorcycle.


----------



## jpromo (Oct 31, 2013)

Actually the frame heights of this era are probably much closer to optimum height versus a balloon bike or later. I run my seats all the way up on my bicycles to somewhere around 22-23" to the BB center.. sizing it like one would a road bike. They may not photograph as well but boy am I comfy riding them!


----------



## walter branche (Oct 31, 2013)

*early safetys*

Early safetys are mounted , from the left step , like on ordinarys, once you have mounted the machine it is no different than any other bike , you , mount and dismount from the step, or pedal dismount if you are cool , or a fancy rider . All the bikes are different with seats and wheel sizes and tire selections , just like today ..., its a different style riding, and takes some agility and practice to get comfortable , walter branche


----------



## sqrly (Oct 31, 2013)

I am wondering if there is a larger proportion of taller bikes still around because they were too tall for adolescent and teen kids to ride/wreck.  The tall bikes stayed in the shed while medium and smaller bikes were ridden to death.  I have the same feeling about tandems.

I do notice when looking at ads from pre TOC, the frames are taller than current, but not quite as tall as many surviving TOC bikes.


----------



## Larmo63 (Oct 31, 2013)

My Racycle build is a tall frame....Maybe even a racing frame set up....?


----------



## fordsnake (Oct 31, 2013)

Again, early bikes were primarily made for adults and comfort...their costs were indeed expensive for their time; an ounce of gold in 1885 was $20.65...(today's price $1,474.03). A high grade bicycle in 1885 cost $100 and many bike stores and manufactures offered schools to learn how to ride safeties. I believe it was the Scorchers and the Cracker-Jacks that altered the trend for smaller frame sizes? 

Check out the sizes offered in 1887...juvenile bikes were the 24 & 26 sizes.


----------



## dougfisk (Oct 31, 2013)

walter branche said:


> Early safetys are mounted , from the left step , like on ordinarys, once you have mounted the machine it is no different than any other bike , you , mount and dismount from the step, or pedal dismount if you are cool , or a fancy rider .... walter branche




I think Walter is supporting what I believe to be the case... * All* previous bicycles were *immensely high*, the newfangled safety bikes were high because it was *traditional*.


----------



## MrColumbia (Oct 31, 2013)

Simply put, the bigger the wheel, the faster you can go. There was no multiple speeds back then. That's why the big wheel on the highwheelers in the first place. The early safeties still had the same issue to contend with. With large diameter wheels came tall frames. The frame ideas like on the motobikes and camelbacks that lower seat height seem like a give-in to us but someone had to think of them and design them. It was a gradual process. Later cantilever frames would accomplish the same seat lowering feat but again, the ability to bend steel tubing or even the idea of doing it for this purpose was years in the future during the early safety bike period. Even a simple idea like a shorter diamond frame and then a tall seat post and tall handle bar stem had to be thought up. At first they simply made the frame to the height they needed for optimum ergonomic riding and let the rider climb up on the peg.


----------



## sam (Nov 1, 2013)

Also the early safetys did not have "standard" wheel sizes  as did later bikes


----------



## walter branche (Nov 1, 2013)

*gear hanging*

There are many examples of early gear changing, it was mostly experimental , although there are plenty of bikes in museums in europe and the U S A , some with half inch wide , 1 inch pitch chain , the shifting mechanisims are very unusual , some are bulky , some are very artistic , the earliest gear changing safety I have seen in america was manufactured in 1891 , it is a beautiful piece , very rare ..  There are all different sized safety bikes as well as ordinarys , all were very expensive , it was a social class of people who could afford to take part in the fun of congregating and riding, . Lots of bikes are out there to be discovered, I always buy small sized bikes for the kids to ride, the tires are very expensive and difficult to find , so I lace up , later skinny rims for tubular tires and put hard tires on them , so .in reality I am building hard tired safetys, walter branche , velocipede ventures of america


----------



## fordsnake (Nov 1, 2013)

I’m aligning with Ken on this one... cycling was an evolution! Cyclists had adopted the High Wheeler and quickly became a standard. However, inventors evolved the bike for comfort and reductions; of vibration, physical strain and headers, via wheels of equal size and chain driven gears, hence the term “safety”.  

To achieve acceptance and familiarity, many of the forerunners of the safety wheels used a tall diamond frame with a rear mount peg, a long steering head, a top tube that sloped slightly upwards and a short wheel-base.


----------



## olderthandirt (Nov 2, 2013)

*The real reason*

well we all know that most cyclist were cowboys and they were used to jumping up to mount there horses, so they made the bikes to match after several  were injured after turning cartwheels when overshooting the smaller frame sizes.


----------



## GiovanniLiCalsi (Nov 2, 2013)

Hope they were wearing their wooly chaps! :^)


----------



## JChapoton (Nov 3, 2013)

before





and after




here is a tall framed and short wheel based safety I restored last winter. 36" tall frame on 28" wood wheels.


----------



## GiovanniLiCalsi (Nov 3, 2013)

Very nice restoration!


----------

