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.

Shimano components

Shimano bike components

Shimano GRX Di2

Shimano makes the parts that you really want on your bike. Shimano’s stuff works reliably for decades. They offer great value, and they make most of their parts backwards-compatible with older Shimano parts that you may already have on your bike. Unlike Sram and certainly unlike Campagnolo, Shimano cares that entry-level bikes work well and can be maintained for years. They produce great parts for your $700 beginner-level mountain bike and they make great parts for the $7000 dream machine.

We stock most of the Shimano components needed to keep you on the road (or in some cases, off the road).

Shimano’s mountain bike and gravel bike equipment is in stock. If you bust a derailleur mountain biking at Port Gamble, or wore out your brake pads riding down to the ferry from Capitol Hill, we have replacements on hand.

Building up your dream bike? Give us a list of the parts you need, and we’ll shoot you a price (with or without us doing the installation). We can also attack a bike build from the other direction. Give us a dollar amount, and we’ll give you a list of the best Shimano components that we can get you for your budget.

By paul|2024-11-11T17:06:00+00:00May 16th, 2021|Components|0 Comments

Leave A Comment