The Melbourne-based penny-farthing maker has spent years supporting Wagga's alternative cycling culture, even sponsoring the Gold Wheel Carnival when it's been in the city.

As one of the only penny-farthing specialists in the country, he builds 50 vintage bikes a year, exporting them to 20 different countries.

"I feel like I've reborn the idea, it's about the culture, the ride, the experience," the 44-year-old cyclist said.

"Cycling has been seen as just lycra men with all the latest gear going like a bat out of hell at it. People want to cycle but they don't want to be a part of that culture. We're just another cycling interest and people are realising you can get involved with all sorts of interests."

Over the past 12 months, he's seen a sizable increase to his clientele, with niche cycling making a definitely return worldwide.

Now, he works up to 15 hour days, even on weekends, with up to 10 bikes in progress at any one time.

"People really just want to do fun things. I think COVID has slowed us down, we're looking at the world differently, we want to be a part of something," Mr Bolwell said.

Mr Bolwell remembers vividly the first time he rode a penny-farthing. It too was one of his own design, and, he recalls, it just fit him so well.

"I was in my early 20s, it was about 20 years ago. I made one because I just wanted to ride one," he said.

"People started asking me for them, but I think you have a human responsibility to ensure people's safety so I took 10 years to make sure they were proven before I sold them.

"The very first concept I made eight or nine years before I went full-time into making them."

He remembers the reactions around him as he rode the first bike through the streets of country Victoria.

So rare was the sight, that people stopped as he passed by.

"What motivated me was that they're theatrical. They're so big and abstract," Mr Bolwell said.

"For me, it's always about the design and the engineering. People did not see them as bicycles but to me, they're the pinnacle of [bicycle] engineering.

"I just wanted to make people happy and they [the penny farthings] are the happiest things. People see them and it just makes them happy. I'm all about making those connections."

Riding it successfully took some getting used to. But, Mr Bolwell realised early on, he might have been overthinking the entire process.

"Just look ahead, steer and the rest will do it for you," he said. "A well-made bike will ride itself really."

With its chest-height seat, the penny-farthing stands taller than the average two-wheeler bicycle. But, "not ridiculously so", Mr Bolwell admits.

"It feels like a bike to ride," he said. "I engineer my bikes from the ground up. It's about designing them to be really ridden."

Penny-farthing racing is becoming a much more recognised sport. Riders of Mr Bolwell's bikes are able to reach speeds of nearly 60km/hr.

"It's still not as fast as modern bicycles which have had 150 years of development," he said.

"But this was once the fastest vehicle without modern tech. We're talking about pre-cars, pre-motorcycles, penny-farthings were the hoons of the 1880s."

When they were first devised the penny-farthing was all about speed and comfort. That image is something Mr Bolwell is trying to revive.

"When you look at history, the penny-farthing was all about high speed and long-distance," he said.

"The modern bicycle has had years to be refined. The penny-farthing was only really around for 20 years, the development hasn't really gone far. I've jumped in right where they left off in 1890."

As he describes it, the experience of riding the old-timey bike is not unlike its modern counterparts.

"You're fixed to the front wheel and that's where all the steering is done. Actually, unicycles are a bit the same that way and how you can't really relax off the pedals," Mr Bolwell said.

"[On a penny farthing] the pedals have to keep moving. You can step off the pedals, but they have to keep moving.

"There's no interference between you and the road. There's no free-wheeling, no coasting, no gears. Every revolution [of the wheel] is you doing it."

Aiming to see the humble wheelset become commonplace again, Mr Bolwell is adamant, everyone has room for a penny farthing in their life.

"Not one is the same and that's crucial to the riding experience. The same person with the same dimensions can have a very different wheel size," he said.

"I can't change the person but I can change the bike to fit the person so that they're comfortable and settled riding it."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: