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.

1975 Cinelli Pista

1975 Cinelli Pista

1975 Cinelli Pista

Cino Cinelli, a former pro and winner of Milan – San Remo and the Giro di Lombardia, started his bike company in 1948. Well known for reliable handlebars and stems, the Cinelli Unicanitor saddle, and the first ski-binding type pedal, Cinelli also produced some fabulous racing bikes.

This beautiful track bike represents everything that made Cinelli great. Made with flawless, smooth lugs and paint, light and springy Columbus tubing, it sported classic looks while utilizing the cutting edge in technology. Actually, we chose a couple of older (not quite so cutting edge) era components when building this bike just because some of the older stuff was so pretty.

The Cinelli coat of arms logo

Fantastic Cinelli Seat Lug

Cinelli Track Bars and Stem from the late ’50’s

Cinelli stem badge from the 1950’s

Campagnolo Record Pista Crankset

Cinelli M71 clipless pedals

The mid 1970s were a design, quality and sales peak. In 1974, Cinelli made waves when Ole Ritter set the hour record on his futuristic Cinelli track bike. Cinelli saddles, pedals, handlebars, and stems were the choice of every top rider and bike builder. The Super Corsa road bike and this track bike were considered the best available. In 1978 Cinelli sales and production peaked, and Cino chose to go out on top, retiring and selling his company to his tubing supplier, Columbus.

By paul|2018-07-22T01:13:28+00:00October 27th, 2014|Museum bikes 1966 to 1985|Comments Off