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.

Jaime’s 1973 Colnago Super

Jaime’s 1973 Colnago Super Pantografata

1973 Colnago Super Pantografata

One of the more famous bicycles in the museum collection, Jaime used this Colnago Super to win the fifth stage of the 1974 Giro d’ Italia… Oops, sorry. Our mistake. That was Piermattia Gavazzi who won that stage. Jaime was still a toddler. Pretty sure she could have won it though, if they allowed baby girls to race the Giro.

This Colnago actually was imported raw into the United States by a San Diego area bike shop, where it had internal brake cable routing added and a paint job done by Joe Bell. Built during the drill-holes-in-stuff-and-pantograph-everything era, the components are drilled and etched for light weight and extra style. The bike rolled around the West Coast for years until a friend of ours traded it in on a new Colnago C59.

Colnago's classic club headbadge

Custom engraved Campagnolo chainrings

Internal brake cable routing, Ernesto's signature

If this bike could talk, it would have an Italian accent. Nisi Sludi tubular rims, Cinelli Giro d’ Italia handlebars and stem, Vittoria silk sew-up tires, a Silca pump, Regina cx freewheel and hollow-pin chain, and Campagnolo all around make this Italian expatriot a fine representative of its homeland.

Colnago's custom engraved Nuovo Record brakes

Campy Nuovo Record rear derailleur

Jaime working with the Nisi tubular rims for her bike

Ernesto Colnago’s bikes from the 1970’s were way ahead of everyone else in terms of quality and style, and the Campagnolo Nuovo Record component group had no peers. Bikes like this one have become treasured classics, and serve as benchmarks for modern racing bike design.

By paul|2016-01-22T01:00:56+00:00June 10th, 2012|Museum bikes 1966 to 1985|0 Comments