Harry Nettleton’s 1907 RaCycle Pace Maker

1907 RaCycle

There are a lot of names here so lets see… This is the Pace Maker model RaCycle, and RaCycles were made by the Miami Cycle and Manufacturing company of Middleton, Ohio.

Bikes like this one followed high-wheelers onto the cobbled streets of early 1900’s America. With newly invented roller chain and pneumatic tires, this would have been a luxuriously smooth ride compared to a Penny-Farthing.

One of the selling points of the Pace Maker was the massive front chainring (equivalent to a modern 84-tooth ring) that was meant to attract attention and suggest higher speed (but the big ring was actually offset by a big back cog that ended up producing a comfortable gear ratio).

The new air-filled tires were mounted (using shellac as glue) to wooden rims (maple, I think).

Head badge

Adjustable handlebar

Oversized drivetrain

Fork pegs

42 skip-tooth chainring

A RaSaddle?

The handlebars on the Pace Maker are really cool. They pivot at the stem, and can be adjusted in width and height, depending on a rider’s desire.

Foot pegs on the front fork allowed the rider to enjoy speeding downhill on his fixed-gear bike. Sure, without your feet on the pedals to control the speed there would be no brakes, but brakes are overrated.

Racycle advertisement

Check out the old ad that we found for RaCycle bikes. The copy in old advertising and press releases like this one was so earnest. According to the manufacturer, a 1904 Worlds Fair jury “consisting of the ablest consulting and manufacturing engineers in Europe and America, were unanimous in their decision that the Racycle was the most perfectly constructed, easiest running bicycle in the world.”

However they were judged, early “safety” bicycles like this one really brought inexpensive personal transportation to the masses. They connected people with jobs and schools, connected rural areas of the country with cities, connected extended families (and liberated family members from one another).

This bike was originally owned by Harry Nettleton of Red Wing, Minnesota. Harry raised the original $16.50 purchase price by collecting clam shells from the Minnesota river and selling them to a local button factory.

By the way, if you take a look at the Iver Johnson Truss-bridge bike from the same era, you’ll note that the RaCycle was about a third of the price of the Iver Johnson.

1920s Arrow Racer

1920s Arrow Racer

The Arrow “Racer” bicycle from Australia

This is an awesome and unusual racing bike from Australia.

The tubing sizes and frame angles suggest that it was a mid-level racing bike bike from the 1920s. Nickel plating makes the handlebars, the adjustable handlebar stem, and the hubs really sparkle. The Beech wood rims still spin straight and true.

The paint is more ornate than what would have been original, and it is fairly likely the paint job was an upgrade done to the bike when it was still relatively new.
We’re guessing that the same painter who worked on our purple Malvern Star, a man named Ken Dickie, did the marvelous detail work on this bike. Ken was a talented artist whose bicycle detail work spans decades, and is evident on a lot of vintage Australian racing bikes. The detail on this Arrow was crazy, even for Ken. Hours and hours of painting are on display here, and it is clear to us that Ken could not have been paid adequately for his steady brush work.

Paint details like this cover the bike

Not really a separate badge, but part of the head tube

A braced adjustable stem made the fit custom

In great condition after eighty years

Wooden rims and BSA components

Lovely hand striping runs down the fork

Jeff showed this bike to a local artist who has done some amazing paint and striping jobs himself (like on our Paramount tandem), and he was taken aback. The level of intricate paint work on this bike would make even the most patient craftsman go cross-eyed.

By paul|2024-10-05T15:21:21+00:00January 19th, 2018|Museum Bikes Pre WWII|0 Comments