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.

1939 Schwinn Paramount track bike

1939 Schwinn Paramount track bike

1939 Schwinn Paramount (built by Oscar Wastyn)

Arnold Schwinn and Company top hat

Arnold Schwinn and Company made the best bicycles available in the United States for a large part of the last century.

This Paramount (Paramount was the racing division of the Schwinn line of bikes) is an example of some of their finest work.

Adjustable steel quill stem

Narrow sprinter saddle, open-ended seat stays

Built in Chicago just prior to the second World War, this simple track bike is as well built, and nearly as light, as anything that you could ride today.

Built with the best materials available at the time, the bike tips the scale at a respectable 18 pounds.

Master frame builder Oscar Wastyn brazed most of the Paramounts from this era, and his design touches abound, like the open-ended seat stays and the simple and elegant lug work.

Similar decals on many early Schwinns

An elegant crankset design

Proprietary Schwinn-labeled parts make up the component group, with silky-smooth hubs and headset, and a light (and fairly stiff) steel crankset. The bars were Schwinn approved, and the adjustable stem could position the handlebars below or above the slider.

The original beech wood rims are still straight today, as is the steel Schwinn track crank (both items that were easy to bend in a crash).

By paul|2015-03-04T15:21:25+00:00November 4th, 2014|Museum Bikes Pre WWII, schwinn|0 Comments