1.2 How did unicycling begin?
Description
This article is from the Unicycling FAQ, by Beirne Konarski with numerous contributions by others.
1.2 How did unicycling begin?
The accepted view is that the unicycle came from the penny-farthing bicycle,
which had a large front wheel and a small rear wheel. The penny-farthing had
cranks directly connected to the front axle. If a rider stopped quickly, the
rear wheel would go up in the air as the rider moved forward a bit. Some
riders no doubt found that they could ride a bit with the rear wheel up, and
then decided to see how far they could go. Pictures of unicycles from the
late 1800's show big-wheeled unicycles, which would support the idea that
the first unicycles came from penny-farthing bicycles.
The Quebec Unicycle Association has a page in French discussing the origin
of the unicycle which describes the same view (I think). The URL is
http://www.gel.ulaval.ca/~stpier02/amq/homeangl.html.
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