Pentacycle

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title: "Pentacycle" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cycle-types"] description: "Human-powered vehicle with five wheels" topic_path: "general/cycle-types" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentacycle" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Human-powered vehicle with five wheels ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Postal_Museum_(London)_Pentacycle.jpg" caption="Hen and Chick pentacycle for delivering mail. Trialled in 1882."] ::

A pentacycle ("hen and chickens") is a human-powered five-wheeled vehicle.

Origin

The original pentacycle was designed and patented by the architect Edward Burstow in 1882. It had a large central wheel directly driven by pedals like a penny-farthing bicycle, with a "bath-chair type handle", and four smaller wheels for stability. This arrangement led to it being referred to as the "hen and chickens" cycle, as it resembled a mother hen surrounded by her four chicks. It was trialled by rural postmen in Horsham and, although liked, the design was not widely adopted. There is a replica in the British Postal Museum.

Modern-day interpretation

Modern-day pentacycles do not often share the same layout as the original pentacycle, usually using various other wheel configurations.

A 2002 interpretation, specifically designed to use the disused Aérotrain monorail track near Orléans, is more accurately described as a tricycle; although it has five wheels, two are actually used for guidance and are placed on either side of the monorail support.

In 2012, Sajjad Moosa, a Pakistani art graduate, spent almost creating a 48 foot long pentacycle using a single front wheel for steering, a middle pair of wheels for drive and another pair at the rear.

References

References

1. Albery, William. (1938). "Transport at Horsham and in Sussex: From 1550 to the Present Day". T.R. Beckett..
2. Smail, Henfrey. (1948). "Coaching Times and After: Including Some Old Coaching Celebrities, the Coaching Revival, Etc". Aldridge Bros.
3. "Replica pentacycle". British Postal Museum.
4. "VWORK".
5. (10 April 2015). "48-feet pentacycle of peace".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::