1899 Rudge-Whitworth Very tall Roadster 32" frame 30" wheels

1899 Rudge-Whitworth Very tall Roadster 32″ frame 30″ wheels

1899 Rudge-Whitworth Very tall Roadster

32″ Frame

30″ Wheels with pneumatic tyres

3/8″ pitch chainwheel, chain and rear sprocket

Brooks Hammock Release saddle with original toolbag

This is a very unusual machine, being an enormous 32″ frame size with 30″ wheels. Most tall bikes have a double top tube to provide extra support but, as you can see, this one does not. The 30″ wheels make it even taller.

The policeman in the photo below is shown with a 32″ frame bicycle, and it says that he was 6′ 7″. That bicycle has 28″ wheels. So I reckon the customer who ordered the bicycle featured here could have been even taller than that.

30 inch Westwood wheels are not common. Unfortunately there are no pneumatic tyres available for such a large wheel diameter. In this instance, the previous owner (Rod Safe) boiled a pair of beaded edge tyres to make them more pliable, and then and stretched them onto the rims.

The Brooks ‘Hammock Release’ saddle is also interesting, with an original toolbag fitted to its rear loop.

I didn’t know the maker of the bicycle, and nor did Rod Safe, the collector who sold it to me in 2021. But Andrew Millward has very kindly informed me that it is a c1899 Rudge-Whitworth with a few later components.