A key element of cycling safety is that the rider can put his or her feet on the ground safely at any time. Having this in mind, when I saw this cyclist pedalling down Harold's Cross I was concerned. It looked awfully dangerous to me. I cycled behind the guy for some time, but lost him about a mile down the road when he broke the red light in Leonard's Corner (South Circular Road). I doubt he could have actually stopped abruptly, if he had wanted to.
After seeing this extraordinary bike, I read more about Tall Bikes on Wikipedia. As I originally suspected, there are some mounting and dismounting issues with this kind of bicycles. However, Tall Bike cyclists (or as I like to call them: The High Sitters) enjoy an increased visibility and a "wow effect" that supposedly gives them an advantage over "short bikes". Well, it might be true for empty roads, but it's not the case in normal urban commuting that requires an infinite number of sudden breaks.
I saw this guy on the 1st of November 2012 in Harold's Cross. There are two more photos below, the first gives a similar view whereas the second provides a better perspective of how high the rider actually sits.
You can read more if you want to build your own tall bike.
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