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 Lance Claudel

1920s Lance Claudel

1920s Lance Claudel

This bike was made by in New York by Lance Claudel. It was late in the 1920s, a time when Claudel was apprenticing as a bike builder with Willy Appelhans.

The bike is a terrific riding road model, even by today’s standards. The handling seems appropriate for lawless 1920’s American roads. The ride quality is pretty smooth and comfortable (especially with the adjustable stem), an early “gravel bike” design, capable of handling dirt roads, brick pavers and cobblestones.

A durable three-speed hub gave the rider a few gears to choose from, at a time when road racers typically toughed it out with a single speed. By the way, there isn’t a coaster brake as part of this geared hub, and there will be no coasting either. This is a three-speed-fixed-gear hub, so when the wheels roll the pedals turn.

Anyway, having multiple gears and the ability to change them via a shift lever up on the handlebars must have made this cyclist the envy of his friends.

Rare Claudel/Appelhans apprentice badge

3 speeds and “quick release” wingnuts in the 1920’s

An old brake design…

Shift levers up on the bars in the 1920s

The ingenious rear brake bolted in place and provided additional speed control when riding a fixed gear was not enough. The brake pads were usually felt or cork and they worked pretty well with the ubiquitous wooden rims. The brake has a similar pivot design as Campagnolo’s Delta brakes from the 1980s, and it actually had some decent stopping power.

By paul|2024-10-27T01:10:10+00:00December 5th, 2011|Museum Bikes Pre WWII|0 Comments