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.

Frank Bartell

Frank Bartell

Frank Bartell

One of the most successful bike racers of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, Czechoslovakian born Frank Bartell won numerous six-day race, but is most known for setting the land speed record in 1935…

…Along a blocked-off boulevard on the outskirts of Los Angeles raced two motorcycle policemen, followed by Tom Mix’s Auburn speedster with a streamlined windscreen fastened to the rear. Close behind was a man on a bicycle, his tremendous legs pumping like pistons. Racing along in the vacuum of the supercharged Auburn’s wake, the cyclist eventually hit 100 miles per hour before slowing down. The motorcycle officers dropped out at 85.

An official certified that Frank Bartell, professional track racer, had just set the human-powered land speed record, covering a mile at an average of 80.5 miles per hour.

1929 Appelhans

Tom Mix's Auburn 851 Speedster

A staged re-enactment for news reels and magazines

Pleased at beating the world’s record of 76 mph. set by Canada’s William (“Torchy”) Peden, Bartell swore he would average 100 the next time…

By paul|2015-08-03T19:19:02+00:00June 7th, 2011|museum people|1 Comment

One Comment

inrng : the competition bicycle November 29, 2011 at 8:03 am

[…] some machines that have more modest stories. You can see an early mountain bike, machines used for land speed records and 1950′s courier bikes which helped ferry newspapers from the printer to the news kiosk in […]

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