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.

1960 Wilier Triestina junior racer

1960 Wilier Triestina Junior

1960 Wilier Trestina Jr.racing bike

Aw, isn’t this a cute little bike?

Perfect for the first-grader who wanted to beat the school bus home.
This was the race-ready rig for the rider who wanted to keep up with all of the older kids in the neighborhood.

It can be difficult to find a good little road bike for kids, even today. In the late ’50’s and early ’60’s kids typically had to choose between small balloon-tire bikes and mid-weight “English Racers”. The kid who originally owned this one was pretty lucky, considering that his bike weighed about half as much as other options and boasted some fine features.

We aren’t sure which parts were available off the shelf and which of this stuff was custom. Actually, the handlebar stem was obviously custom as it sports a nice Wilier crest. The handlebars, stem, saddle, brake levers, pedals and crank arms are all reduced in size and perfectly proportional. The drivetrain is a 4-speed, with a Campione Gian Robert rear derailleur and a single shift lever. The 22″ wheels run on tubular (sew-up) tires like any real racing bike, and the bike even came with a matching pump.

With adult bike wheel for scale

Neat stem badge

Wilier Triestina badge

Campione Gian Robert Derailleur

Wilier Triestina is an Italian brand that was founded in 1906 in Bassano del Grappa. Since the beginning Wilier took racing bikes very seriously. Offering a junior-sized racing bike would have been a natural choice for a company that has backed bike racers for 100 years. More recently it was the U.S. based United Health Care team, but in the ‘90’s it was Marco Pantani, and in the ’40’s it was Giro d’Italia winner Fiorenzo Magni.

By paul|2024-10-07T16:16:30+00:00February 3rd, 2016|museum bikes|Comments Off