Built from scrap or converted from (two or three) cherished bikes, Tall Bikes are built for style over speed and fun over performance.
Words Joel Porter Photography Joel Porter, Alex Moore, Bee Wonham & Lydia Wonham
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Sometimes there is real value in silliness, in finding escapism by disconnecting from the serious and allowing yourself to truly enjoy something. Intentionally building a bike where you sit so high up that you can’t put your foot down could be seen by many as a senseless thing to do. To those people, I say, hear me out.
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In 2023, fellow filmmaker Alex Moore and I made a short documentary called Frankenbiking, which introduced us to the weird and wonderful world of tall bikes. Often cobbled together from old frames, leftover parts, and a healthy dose of imagination, these wonderfully odd machines have the power to elevate us above the monotony of the everyday. They are engineered not for efficiency or streamlined performance, but for pure delight.
Lofty introductions
The first time I ever saw one, I was at my parents’ house when a man rode past the window on what appeared to be two bikes stacked on top of one another. By the time I blinked, the blur of handlebars and height had already gone. I didn’t even know what I’d seen. Later, I came across an article about tall bikes in Boneshaker Bicycle Stories – a beautiful anthology of the best bits from Boneshaker magazine. That led me deep into a YouTube rabbit hole: finding Richie Trimble’s Stoopidtall and Stoopidtaller, the surreal bike escapades of the Zenga Bros, and countless other videos of people riding contraptions that seem to defy logic and push the boundaries of what cycling can be.
Most of this seemed to be happening in the US and Canada, so the obvious questions became ‘where were the tall bikes in the UK’, and ‘who was building them’? Alex and I couldn’t be the only ones who loved this kind of thing. That search eventually led us to Jon Thompson of Tomo bikes, who invited us into the fascinating world of bespoke bicycle fabrication via his overflowing and ever-expanding garden workshop – a treasure trove for any bike enthusiast. He then introduced us to Petor Georgallou, a former framebuilder who is known for creating all kinds of sculptural cycling oddities under the name Dear Susan, and who now runs Bespoked (the handmade bike show).
Where’s your ladder?
Through the process of making the film and spending time with Jon and Petor, we realised that tall bikes aren’t just bikes; they’re open invitations. They spark curiosity, ignite conversations, and shake us free from the ordinary. There’s something wonderful about taking parts that don’t belong with one another and seeing what happens when you chuck them together anyway. The result reminds us of something we might have forgotten: the feeling of unfiltered joy when trying something new and unfamiliar.
In the film, Petor reveals that while sitting six feet off the ground, towering over cars and curious pedestrians, people stop and ask the same question, again and again:
“How do you get off?” Not, “How do you get on? Not “Why would you do this to yourself?” Always: “How do you get off?”
It’s funny, really. People see a tall bike and immediately worry about how you escape it, assuming that it’s too dangerous, difficult, cumbersome or impractical. Yes, in some scenarios it may throw up more challenges than a standard bicycle, but that’s kind of the point. To label them as impractical, though – that’s up for debate. It obviously depends on the kind of ride you’re planning, but some riders would argue that tall bikes may be the most practical of bikes. When riding through puddles, there is a good chance that your feet won’t get wet, and if you’re carrying large items or going bikepacking, the added frame space is hugely beneficial. Some tall bikes can even transport a passenger underneath the rider!
There’s a great quote from one of the Zenga brothers in their film Tall Bikes Will Save The World: “The ridiculous nature of it became ridiculously practical. And all of a sudden, I’m like, it’s the only bike I want to take to the grocery store. It’s the only bike I want to tour the world on.” Feel the joy and hang on Tall bikes aren’t pointlessly silly – they’re joyfully silly. They reignite our childlike instinct to try something just because it looks fun. They make us solve problems creatively: if we can’t put our foot down, what do we do at a junction? Well, maybe we coast in a wide arc, hold onto a lamp post, or just trust gravity and improvise. When it comes to riding off-road, it only adds to the challenge. Jon mentions: “You have to concentrate on the trails, including low-hanging branches! There’s an extra little frisson of interest when an innocent dab could place a top tube in your lunchbox.”
You have a different view of the world up there. Seeing over hedgerows and into the distance in a way that standard bikes don’t allow, you notice different lines, spot new routes, and experience the terrain from a totally new perspective.
As Tomo Jon says in the film: “The essence of tall biking to me is creativity. It just leads to that sense of fun and adventure that you can do from something that you’ve dreamt up.”
This is what makes tall bikes so compelling. For the builders, they’re not just riding a bike – they’re riding their own imagination. What starts as a simple sketch is soon a bespoke bicycle, meticulously crafted and injected with their maker’s very own sense of humour. When they’re taken into the world, there is always a response.
Traffic slows and heads turn as the rider towers above like a friendly giant on safari. Children point, laugh and wave; they instantly understand – no questions asked, just pure excitement. Grown-ups, on the other hand, sometimes need a little more convincing. Some are confused, some concerned. They question everything. Why be uncomfortable? Why be difficult? Why be different? And to them I say, maybe you are exactly the kind of person who needs to give one a go.
Doing something purely for joy as an adult is strangely uncommon. In a culture obsessed with efficiency, fun is often pushed aside and treated as a luxury. Many of us fail to understand that it’s, in fact, essential for our well-being. Tall bikes radiate positivity – you don’t even need to ride one to feel it. Just watching one roll past is enough to make you grin.
When we toured Frankenbiking around Vue Cinemas with the Cyclist Film Festival UK, we saw that joy at first hand. After the screening, audience members would spill out and crowd around Jon’s tall bikes. They’d run their hands along the frame, poke at the pedals, ask questions about the design, the balance, the welds. Then they’d ask the most important question of all: “Can I try it?”
While filming, we caught many moments where curious passers-by would stop to chat or test ride Jon’s tall bikes – one of those people was Ash. He’d bumped into Jon on the street, had a quick go on one of the bikes, and clearly something stuck. A few days later, he showed up to a group ride, climbed aboard a Tomo tall BMX, and that was where he stayed for the rest of the afternoon. By the end of the day, he’d bought it.
“Every time I look at this bike, it brings a smile to my face”, he texted us a few days later. That right there, that is the point. Is anything ever perfect? Tall bikes may be a little precarious and imperfect, but that’s the beauty. These bikes create instant joyful connections and draw people in – their magnetism is too strong to resist. In a world where we are so often unaware of those around us, tall bikes are an obvious talking point that snap people into the present. They show us that joy is contagious and that sometimes the very things that make us stand out are what bring us together.
Tall bikes are an antidote to the mundane. They push back against uniformity and challenge the notion that everything needs to be logical, pigeon-holed, and polished.
There’s a quote from Petor in the film that has always resonated: “Why do we need fun? Why did Dada happen between the two World Wars? As long as you’ve got enough to eat and drink, fun is basically the most important thing. It can change your perspective on the world for the better. It’s like a breeding ground for optimism.”
Raising a bicycle a few feet higher than normal might seem like an insignificant, silly gesture, but, as Petor says, it has a striking way of brightening your outlook. You may not be planning to build a tall bike anytime soon, but maybe there’s a part of that tall bike spirit you can carry with you. Maybe it’s a willingness to try something weird without fear of judgement, reminding people, and yourself, that fun matters and life is richer with a few more glorious, grinning detours into the wonderfully absurd.
