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 Bolinas Ridge 1 & 2

Marin Bolinas Ridge 1 & 2

Bolinas Ridge 1

Bolinas Ridge 1

Here’s are some nice starter mountain bikes for teens and adults.

These are Marin’s Bolinas Ridge models. They’re nice entry-level hardtail mountain bikes equipped with disc brakes, Shimano drivetrains (Tourney and Acera), and Suntour suspension forks with 100mm of travel (the Bolinas Ridge 2 has a suspension lockout on it).

The Bolinas Ridge models happen to roll on top of 27.5 inch wheels. The 26” wheel size was the mountain bike standard for over 30 years but now most off-road rigs are now using 27.5” or 29” wheels for the improved traction and ability to roll over large obstacles.

Marin Bolinas Ridge 2

Marin Bolinas Ridge 2

With these bikes you get a broad size range. With the extra small 13″ frame size rolling around on top of 27.5″ wheels you‘ll get nimble handling, good comfort and decent standover clearance for folks in the 4’9″ to 5’1″ height range. The small to medium sizes are still easy to handle for people just over 5’ tall, and can provide some room to grow up to 5’7” or so.

Bigger sizes are also available (of course) in both versions. We generally advise larger adult riders to grab the Bolinas Ridge 2 or make the step up to more expensive bike models that will provide greater long-term durability.

By paul|2018-10-13T00:27:30+00:00August 7th, 2018|Marin, mountain|Comments Off