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.

Marin San Quentin 24

Marin San Quentin 24

Marin San Quentin 24

Marin San Quentin 24

Get your little riding buddy on a fast and capable bike and you’ll get to ride faster yourself.

The Marin San Quentin is a premium quality off-road rig with better features than every other kids’ hardtail mountain bike out there. To start with, you get quick-release levers on the rear wheel and seatpost, and a thru-axle for the front wheel. You get a 1x drivetrain with 11 gears (shifting with a trigger-shifter instead of a twist-grip). Parts that are often constructed out of heavy steel on other kids’ bikes are made from light aluminum on this one. There’s a cartridge bottom bracket that’ll keep the water out of the crank area, and the control cables are fully shielded from the levers to the derailleurs which will protect the wires from rust and grit.

...And a 20” version for kids 5 to 8

…And a 20” version for kids 5 to 8

This Marin has an air-sprung Rockshox suspension fork with aluminum (not heavy chromed steel) sliders and an adjustable spring rate and a lock-out switch.
Oh wait, the brakes! Did we mention that you get Shimano hydraulic disc brakes on this bike? Yep. That’s right. A kids’ bike that actually stops when they want it to stop. How about that?

Get your little buddy this Marin and she’ll be leading you down the trail instead of lagging behind.

By paul|2021-07-31T00:05:16+00:00December 31st, 2020|bmx/kids, Marin|Comments Off