A clown bicycle or clown bike is a bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

 designed for comedic visual effect or stunt riding, typically by Circus clown

Circus clown

Clowns have always been an integral part of the circus, offering a source of amusement for patrons and providing relief from the array of animal acts and performances by acrobats and novelty artistes....

s. It is sometimes called a circus bike.

Types of clown bike

• BMX bicycle
• bucking bike (with one or more eccentric
  Eccentric (mechanism)
  In mechanical engineering, an eccentric is a circular disk solidly fixed to a rotating axle with its centre offset from that of the axle ....
  
   wheels);
• Come-apart bike, (essentially a unicycle
  Unicycle
  A unicycle is a human-powered, single-track vehicle with one wheel. Unicycles resemble bicycles, but are less complex.-History:One theory of the advent of the unicycle stems from the popularity of the penny-farthing during the late 19th century...
  
  , plus a set of handlebars attached to forks
  Bicycle fork
  A bicycle fork is the portion of a bicycle that holds the front wheel and allows the rider to steer and balance the bicycle. A fork consists of two fork ends which hold the front wheel axle, two blades which join at a fork crown, and a steerer or steering tube to which the handlebars attach ...
  
   and a wheel).
• small wheel bicycle
  Small wheel bicycle
  Small wheel bicycles are adult bicycles which have wheels of 20 inch nominal diameter or less, which is smaller than the 26" or 700c sizes common on most full-sized adult bikes. While many folding bicycles are small wheel bicycles, not all small wheel bicycles can fold...
  
  
• tall bike
  Tall bike
  A tall bike is an unusually tall bicycle often constructed by hobbyists from spare parts. Typically, two conventional bicycle frames are connected, by welding, brazing, or other means, one atop the other...
  
   (often called an upside down bike, constructed so that the pedals, seat and handlebars are all higher than normal)
• tiny bicycle

Some clown bikes are also fixed gear, with no freewheeling, so that they may be pedaled either forward or backwards. Some are built very small but are otherwise relatively normal. Pedaling an extremely small bicycle is very difficult and usually much slower than walking, so there is little practical advantage to having a bicycle that will fit in one's purse or pocket.

External links

• The Clown House, a house in northeast Portland, Oregon, that is home to many clown bikes.