Penny-farthing the trend was short-lived, the penny-farthing became a symbol of the late Victorian era. Its popularity also coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport. Eugène Meyer of Paris, France is now regarded as the father of the high bicycle by the International Cycling History Conference in place of James Starley. Meyer patented a wire-spoke tension wheel with individually adjustable spokes in 1869. They were called "spider" wheels in Britain when introduced there. Meyer produced a classic high bicycle design during the 1880s. James Starley in Coventry added the tangent spokes and the mounting step to his famous bicycle
Frank Meyer (political philosopher) had two sons, John Cornford Meyer, a lawyer, and Eugene Bown Meyer, who became a president of the Federalist Society. Both of his sons hold international titles in chess. John is a FIDE Master, while his younger brother Eugene holds the rank of International Master, which is right below Grandmaster. Meyer converted to Catholicism just before he died of lung cancer in 1972. Meyer was known in conservative and libertarian circles for his nocturnal lifestyle – Buckley among others has recalled (in "Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography") that Meyer would sleep by day and be on the phone by