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.

1955 Schwinn Hornet

1955 Schwinn Hornet

1955 Schwinn Hornet

1955 Schwinn Hornet catalogue entry

For most of the 1950’s, one out of every four bicycles sold in the U.S. was a Schwinn.

This was the era in which Schwinn created an authorized dealer network and broke away from department stores. To be a Schwinn dealer really meant something. Schwinn dealers received training on everything from repair and bike assembly to what parts to stock, suggested store design, service area set-up and selling techniques.

Authorized Schwinn bike shops flourished in the fifties and around 500,000 bikes were sold each year from 1950 to 1959.

The Hornet, the mid-level balloon tire bike in the line, was everywhere. The brochure said it all: “Here is a fully equipped bike at a price that’s hard to beat — and you get famous Schwinn quality and styling, too! Features include tank with horn, chrome truss rods and torpedo headlight. Sturdy luggage carrier on 26-inch models.” What more could you want?

The “Spitfire” range was the Hornets, Panthers, and Black Phantoms

The chainguard has a little cartoon hornet on it

The horn is built in to this tank with a button on the side

A rack perfect for carrying newspapers on your route

Springs front and back for major comfort

Well, I for one would have wanted a lighter bike. Mid-century Schwinns were beasts.

This bike was hefty enough to keep you safe in the event of a tornado. The 1955 Schwinn catalogue listed the boy’s Hornet at sixty and one-half pounds, so if a twister was threatening to carry you off to Oz, you simply had to hold tight to your handlebars and everything would be fine.

By paul|2024-10-12T03:42:50+00:00January 29th, 2012|museum bikes, schwinn|Comments Off