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.

Ted Smith’s Claude Butler Olympic Sprint

Ted Smith’s Claude Butler Olympic Sprint

Ted Smith’s Claude Butler Olympic Sprint

In the bike shop we sometimes get questions about this old bike racer named Claude Butler who seemed to be so famous in the 1940’s and ’50’s. We’ll try to set the record straight with this example.

Claude Butler is the guy who built this bike and Ted Smith is the one who raced it.
Ted Smith was quite an accomplished track racer, winning the Omnium at the National Championships in 1945, ’47 and again in 1948. Additionally, Ted was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team at the 1948 London Games.

Ted was slated to ride the road race as well as the team pursuit at the London games. Politics and personal conflicts have derailed many Olympic plans over the years, and Ted’s experience in 1948 was no exception. National team coaches dropped Ted from the road race roster after he competed in local pre-Olympic British races against their instructions… Ted, primarily a track guy, complained that he merely needed some miles on his road bike to get used to operating a derailleur.

Butler head badge

Butler adjustable stem

Olympic Sprint front end

Claude Butler drivetrain

Ted did end up racing in the 4000 meter team pursuit event, with the U.S. Squad getting 9th place with a best time of 5:22.
To give you an idea of how aerodynamics, bicycle technology, training and even the technology involved with modern helmets and clothing has progressed in bike racing over the years, here is a comparison: The U.S. womens team did the 4000m team pursuit in Rio in a time of 4:14. That’s fast enough to lap the ’48 mens team 4 times on the 250 meter Rio velodrome.

By paul|2024-10-07T08:19:55+00:00December 18th, 2016|museum bikes|Comments Off