{"id":175476,"date":"2019-09-19T14:29:28","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T14:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=175476"},"modified":"2019-09-19T14:29:28","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T14:29:28","slug":"bikes-in-the-circus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/","title":{"rendered":"Bikes in the Circus"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you go to a circus today, it\u2019s pretty rare if the show doesn\u2019t include a bicycle, used by either an acrobat or a clown or two \u2013 or both. Bikes have been part of circus performances for over 100 years \u2013 beginning shortly after they became a popular means of transportation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The first modern circuses, which took place in the early 18th\u00a0century, were primarily demonstrations of tricks performed on a horse, first by former soldiers who learned the skills in military training, and later by men and women trained from a young age to do acrobatics atop a horse.<\/p>\n

After the bicycle started\u00a0competing with the horse as a means of personal transportation, it also became popular\u00a0with acrobats and other performers. The public of that time, impressed by the novelty of the bicycle, admired performers who rode an \u201cordinary\u201d (also called a penny-farthing). They were called ordinaries because these high-wheeled bikes were the two-wheelers most in use at the time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A penny-farthing in the \u0160koda Auto Museum, Czech Republic. \u00a9 Agnieszka Kwiecie\u0144 (Nova)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soon, circus troupes, theatrical and fairground performers\u00a0and other entertainers started experimenting, both with safety bicycles and ordinaries. A safety bicycle (or simply a safety) became very popular in the late 1880s as an alternative to the ordinary and is now the most common type of bicycle. They were known as safety bicycles because they were marketed as being safer than the high wheelers they were replacing. Safeties were more versatile but tricks on ordinaries\u00a0made a deeper impression on the audience because of the greater risk involved, especially when it involved more than one rider on the bike.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear when bikes became a popular foil for circus clowns but it could not have been long after bicycles were first used in circuses. From the moment bicycles first appeared on the streets of 19th century France, some riders began using them for comedic visual effect or stunts.<\/p>\n

Acrobats adapted bicycles for trick riding but clowns wanted bikes that looked unusual, to increase the comedy. A grown man riding a tiny bike was incongruous and funny so they often used small bikes. An example of a bike produced especially for clowns is the George Stratton clown bike, first made in the 1950s. It has a lightweight frame that was professionally \u2018abbreviated\u2019 to create a bicycle that is as functional as the full-size model but can be ridden in an amusing way with its 40.7-cm frame and wheels \u2013 for example, with the rider\u2019s legs sticking out sideways. It also included a 22.8-cm chainwheel and oversized honking car horn to increase its \u201cclownish\u201d appearance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Nowadays, circus performers use a variety of bicycles. \u00a9 Profimedia, Alamy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today, circus clowns use a variety of bikes, from ordinary machines, which often involve performers performing various tricks while they ride, to monocycles with elevated saddles. Unicycles used in circuses generally have a single gear and no freewheeling. This gearing configuration is also often used on other circus bikes. Little bicycles are sometimes so small that the clown can ride it in front of the audience (but he has to pedal very fast to reach even ordinary walking speed) and then pick it up and put it into his pocket.<\/p>\n

Generally, circus performers today use BMX bikes, either commercial or slightly customized, unicycles, tall unicycles, tiny bicycles, bicycles with eccentric wheels (or bucking bikes<\/a>), and bicycles that can be easily disassembled into smaller parts.<\/p>\n

If the idea of riding a bike in a circus while wearing a red nose appeals to you, check out this link for circus<\/a> bikes you can purchase to practice on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you go to a circus today, it\u2019s pretty rare if the show doesn\u2019t include a bicycle, used by either […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":175479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[334],"tags":[3524,3522,3523,3521],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-175476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-socialising-and-culture","tag-circus","tag-circus-bicycle","tag-clown","tag-george-stratton"],"yoast_head":"\nBikes in the Circus - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you go to a circus today, it\u2019s pretty rare if the show doesn\u2019t include a bicycle, used by either an acrobat or a clown or two \u2013 or both. Bikes have\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bikes in the Circus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you go to a circus today, it\u2019s pretty rare if the show doesn\u2019t include a bicycle, used by either an acrobat or a clown or two \u2013 or both. Bikes have\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-19T14:29:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2019\/09\/clown-history-profimedia-0436791727-CVR.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tereza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Siegfried Mortkowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/\",\"name\":\"Bikes in the Circus - \u0160koda We Love Cycling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2019\/09\/clown-history-profimedia-0436791727-CVR.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-19T14:29:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/50f01ecd18718d2333cf72e823c4f926\"},\"description\":\"If you go to a circus today, it\u2019s pretty rare if the show doesn\u2019t include a bicycle, used by either an acrobat or a clown or two \u2013 or both. Bikes have\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2019\/09\/clown-history-profimedia-0436791727-CVR.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2019\/09\/clown-history-profimedia-0436791727-CVR.webp\",\"width\":900,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bikes in the Circus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/\",\"name\":\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\",\"description\":\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling magazine\",\"alternateName\":\"\u0160koda WLC\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/50f01ecd18718d2333cf72e823c4f926\",\"name\":\"tereza\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f9eb71be33845f0afabce3791bc1c58ecdb0a25c62964987e5dbcf7a20d2ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f9eb71be33845f0afabce3791bc1c58ecdb0a25c62964987e5dbcf7a20d2ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"tereza\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/author\/tereza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bikes in the Circus - \u0160koda We Love Cycling","description":"If you go to a circus today, it\u2019s pretty rare if the show doesn\u2019t include a bicycle, used by either an acrobat or a clown or two \u2013 or both. Bikes have","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bikes in the Circus","og_description":"If you go to a circus today, it\u2019s pretty rare if the show doesn\u2019t include a bicycle, used by either an acrobat or a clown or two \u2013 or both. Bikes have","og_url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/","og_site_name":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling","article_published_time":"2019-09-19T14:29:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2019\/09\/clown-history-profimedia-0436791727-CVR.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"tereza","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Siegfried Mortkowitz","Est. reading time":"5"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/","name":"Bikes in the Circus - \u0160koda We Love Cycling","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2019\/09\/clown-history-profimedia-0436791727-CVR.webp","datePublished":"2019-09-19T14:29:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/50f01ecd18718d2333cf72e823c4f926"},"description":"If you go to a circus today, it\u2019s pretty rare if the show doesn\u2019t include a bicycle, used by either an acrobat or a clown or two \u2013 or both. Bikes have","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2019\/09\/clown-history-profimedia-0436791727-CVR.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2019\/09\/clown-history-profimedia-0436791727-CVR.webp","width":900,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2019\/09\/19\/bikes-in-the-circus\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bikes in the Circus"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/","name":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling","description":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling magazine","alternateName":"\u0160koda WLC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/50f01ecd18718d2333cf72e823c4f926","name":"tereza","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f9eb71be33845f0afabce3791bc1c58ecdb0a25c62964987e5dbcf7a20d2ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f9eb71be33845f0afabce3791bc1c58ecdb0a25c62964987e5dbcf7a20d2ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"tereza"},"url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/author\/tereza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175476"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175482,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175476\/revisions\/175482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175476"},{"taxonomy":"global-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/global-categories?post=175476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}