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.

Gavin O’Grady’s 1988 Cyclops track bike

Gavin O’Grady’s 1988 Cyclops track bike

1988 Cyclops Track Bike

1988 Cyclops Track Bike

Here’s a fast bike from the late ’80’s. Built by Toronto bike builder Mike Mulholland for our friend Gavin, this is a Cyclops track machine. An endurance-event design (as opposed to sprint event), it was best suited to riding kilos, pursuit races, points races and madisons.
Gavin was designed for none of these events. He liked the longer distances covered and familiar tactics involved while racing on the road, and because of those preferences his track bike was raced only a dozen times or so.

Dura-Ace 7600 track crank

Dura-Ace 7600 track crank

High-flange hubs slotted for aero spokes

High-flange hubs slotted for aero spokes

Built by Mike Mulholland

Built by Mike Mulholland

Racing pedigree aside, this is an impressive bike. The flat purple paint dresses up a rigid and robust frame made from True Temper steel tubing. The cranks and high-flange hubs are Shimano’s Dura-Ace 7600 track models. The Araya rims are laced up using 2mm wide bladed spokes, and we have 25-year-old Barum track tubulars sheltered inside of the tire covers. A lot of track bikes (even those built today) feature steel handlebars and stems. Steel is used to reduce bar flex while sprinting. Toe clips are used to prevent accidental cleat release during a hard effort. Design a bike for longer track events and you can use more comfortable (and convenient) road bars or clipless pedals…
This bike sports Cinelli aluminum road bars and Time Equipe road pedals.

True Temper frame tubing

True Temper frame tubing

San Marco Regal saddle

San Marco Regal saddle

Tire covers over Barum sew-ups

Tire covers over Barum sew-ups

Vintage track bikes always look great. Since they’re always raced in dry weather (and sometimes indoors) and on clean velodrome surfaces, old track bikes sometimes look like they’re brand new. This Cyclops is a perfect example.

By paul|2016-02-12T02:13:13+00:00July 12th, 2014|Museum Bikes 1986 to 2000|Comments Off