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.

1934 Caminargent

1934 Caminargent

1934 Caminade Caminargent

This stunning aluminum racing bike was built by Caminade of Paris at a time before aluminum TIG welding had been developed. Instead of welded joints like we know today, Caminade used socketed joints and glued and pegged each tube into place. Over seventy years have passed by, and this bike is still rideable (although a bit creaky). The tubing is heptagon shaped, and in places it is drilled out to save weight! A high-tech wonder from the thirties that weighs less than most modern bikes at just 15 pounds.

The Osgear "derailleur"

The Osgear chain tension arm

Cheese grater hubs and wingnuts.

Pegged and glued tubing sockets

Constrictor Osgear Super Champion or simply "Osgear"

Caminargent head tube

The three-speed shifter on the bike is an “Osgear”, fully known as the Constrictor Osgear Super Champion. The name ‘Osgear’ was a take on the name Oscar Egg, the designer (and a famous Swiss-French cyclist from the era). The Osgear was light yet sturdy, and fairly simple to operate. Fitted to the chainstay is a cable operated guide arm that moves the chain right or left across the three sprockets. The tensioning arm near the crankset takes up the slack of the chain, and has a guide-loop of metal on the pulley to keep the chain from coming off.

Looks pretty modern with sidepull brakes, aluminum tubing

Hey... Check out these jugs

The bike was procured for the museum in the late ’90’s from the bike shop owned by Attilio Pavesi in Buenos Aires. Attilio was a member of the Italian Olympic team, and the 1932 Olympic road race gold medalist. Attilio and many of his compatriots emigrated to Argentina at the onset of World War II. This bike had been raced by one of Attilio’s friends, but he couldn’t remember who.

By paul|2014-12-08T23:43:31+00:00March 16th, 2014|Museum Bikes Pre WWII|1 Comment

One Comment

Caminade: The Circle of Cycle – Ebykr April 16, 2016 at 6:45 pm

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