Xtraordinary Challenge

This Xtraordinary Challenge was intended to be much safer than a high-wheeled Ordinary, despite the fact that it still featured a huge 50-inch (127 cm) front wheel.

Its additional safety came from its raked forks, which moved the rider’s center of gravity back from its position on the Ordinary, high above the hub, where there was nothing to stop a person flying over the handlebars if the machine struck something. Now the hub and the wheel were slightly in front of the rider, making headers more difficult.

In this position, it was impossible to reach normal pedals. So special levers were attached to the front cranks. These also contributed to safety, the theory being that applying power to the pedals of an Ordinary at the top of their circle, then continuing beyond the hub, made for instability that led to erratic steering. And in addition, pedalling too hard could lift the rear wheel off the ground, meaning steering ability would be lost altogether. Neither situation would arise with special levers replacing the normal pedals.

On the Xtraordinary, you pedalled up and down in an elliptical arc that was below and behind the front hub, greatly reducing wobble.

Of course, none of this made mounting or dismounting any safer, or stopped the small wheel from skipping sideways when it hit a stone. Nor did it do much to reduce the dangers of coasting downhill with your feet over the handlebars. But it did show that something could be done to make riding the Ordinary at least a little safer.