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.

Jim Farley’s Pinarello road bike

Jim Farley’s Pinarello

Jim Farley’s Pinarello

The ultimate road bike, restored on behalf of the ultimate car guy.

This is a bike that we created for a guy named Jim Farley. Jim is the CEO of the Ford motor company. Turns out that Ford’s CEO, who is clearly an avid car guy, happens to be an avid bike guy too. Jim asked us to recreate a favorite bike of his from the 1990’s.

The frame happens to be the Record model of the late ‘80’s. The paint was a little rough, so our friend Aaron Strom (who paints cars at Modern Collision on the island) gave it a fresh new blue that matches the Pinarello in Jim’s memory. In case you were wondering, Ford’s Velocity Blue is a little brighter and more metallic. This is Light Blue Metallic as seen on the 2015 Nissan Leaf. But enough about cars…

We outfitted Jim’s Pinarello with a mid-‘90’s Campagnolo Chorus group, complete with Record Delta brake calipers and deep dish 16-spoke Vento wheels. The 8-speed ergopower levers downshift up to three gears at a time and drop all the way into the sprinting gears with a push of the right thumb lever.

Chorus Ergopower levers

Chorus crankset

Campagnolo Chorus 8

Pinarello pantographed

Regal saddle, Chorus post

Like a lot of thirty year old bikes, this one has Look pedals (the pro model in black) and a Selle San Marco Regal saddle.

Jim wanted a pantographed stem, so we obliged with a 3TTT model with Pinarello etched on both sides. The tires are 25c Goodyear Eagles, a choice that seems like something a Ford guy might approve of, right?

By paul|2024-09-30T22:44:12+00:00November 8th, 2022|Museum Bikes 1986 to 2000|Comments Off