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.

1989 Rocky Mountain Blizzard

1989 Rocky Mountain Blizzard

Updated 1989 Rocky Mountain Blizzard. $1199

A bold design and great ride quality from 1989, updated for the new century.

This is Rocky Mountain’s Blizzard model mountain bike. It’s from the upper end of the Canadian company’s lineup in 1989. Built out of Tange’s sweet-riding Prestige steel tubing. Built up with Shimano’s ground-breaking Deore XT M730 component group and built for laughs with their stupid-looking (but powerful) Deore XT U-brakes.

We have given this bike the hotrod treatment.

Study the pictures and you’ll see that the vintage frame & fork is still shod with a lot of the original M730 XT parts, but important elements have been updated to make this a wonderful modern gravel rig. The original equipment list is comprised of the Synchros seatpost, a Nitto stem, Wolber rims with the old M730 hubs, the aforementioned U-brakes, brake levers, front derailleur and crankarms.

A mix of vintage and Modern

Deore XT M730 now 2 x 10!

Original ‘80’s Synchros seat post

Tange Prestige tubing, Nitto stem

Updated to modern 2 x 10 Deore XT

Instead of the old 3 x 6 Deore XT stuff we now have modern Microshift thumbshifters controlling a 2 x 10 Deore XT drivetrain with a modern chain, sealed bottom bracket, and a Deore XT clutch-style derailleur (which does a great job of handling the old chain slap irritation.

There’s a new WTB Rocket saddle, WTB All-terrain tires, Shimano platform/SPD pedals, and a flat handlebar that looks like the original but significantly is four inches wider than the original.

All of these updates make this an excellent bike for modern gravel races and tours, as well as bringing some needed refinements to a terrific old machine.

Gotta have it? It’s a medium 18” size, good for a rider 5’7” TO 5’9” and it’ll only set you back $1199.

By paul|2024-09-23T19:03:27+00:00February 1st, 2024|Museum Bikes 1986 to 2000, Museum bikes for sale, used bikes|Comments Off