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.

Fuji Dynamite Elite kids mountain bike

Fuji Dynamite Elite

Fuji Dynamite Elite 24

Fuji Dynamite Elite 24

If you are looking for a high performance mountain bike for your 8 to 12 year-old, look no further.

There are a couple of full suspension 24″ bikes out there (we can get you a Kona or a Marin), but they run over $1500 and can hinder the acquisition of some finer off-road bike handling skills (by doing the work for the rider). A nicer hardtail like this Fuji will make junior faster and more capable without dumbing down the riding experience.

Fuji’s Dynamite Elite puts all of the off-road technology that you would find on an adult hardtail into this small package. The Elite comes with a 80mm travel suspension fork with a lockout. The brakes are Shimano Deore hydraulic discs. The Deore 2 x 9 drivetrain is smooth and precise. The lightweight double-wall wheels come with quick releases for easy maintenance and travel. Overall weight is reduced with high quality aluminum construction all around. The handlebars, stem, seatpost, crankset, derailleurs, brakes, and even spoke nipples utilize better materials to make the bike light and trouble free. Even the cheap plastic pedals typically found on kids bikes have been replaced by high quality Wellgo platform pedals.

By paul|2018-02-03T23:40:26+00:00March 6th, 2017|bmx/kids, Fuji|0 Comments