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.

1989 Ritchey Ultra

1989 Ritchey Ultra

1989 Ritchey Ultra

Since Ritchey just decided to reuse the model name “Ultra” for their newest mountain bike, we decided to update this 1989 Ultra mountain bike into a modern touring/gravel rig.

Originally you would have seen a lot of Shimano’s Deore XT (m730) stuff on here. There would have been 21 speeds, knobby tires and pedals with toe clips.

This version features a brand new (for 2019) 2 x 10 Deore XT drivetrain with thumbshifters and a Velo-Orange Drillium compact crankset, wavey aluminum fenders, stainless steel racks, a new Selle Italia “Bonnie” Turbo saddle, new Ritchey WCS foam grips, WTB All terrain tires and Deore XT platform/clipless pedals.

It also features 30 year old Tange prestige frame tubing that gives the bike an absolutely sublime ride quality. The bike is still rolling on original Araya RM-20 rims, aluminum Nitto Bullmoose handlebars, Control Stix bar-ends (remember those?), Deore XT 4-finger brake levers and cantilever brakes.

Ready for adventure

Velo Orange Drillium crankset

Ready for luggage

One of the big draws for buying a vintage bike in the Pacific Northwest is the idea that it came from someplace else (someplace that’s dry). This Ritchey spent most of its life in Santa Fe New Mexico.

Funny enough, Upon arriving here on Bainbridge Island, the bike got the overhaul you see here with the fenders and racks installed. It didn’t remain in the Northwest for very long, though. We ended up selling it to a rider in Arkansas. One wonders if the fenders still remain?

By paul|2024-10-02T03:37:02+00:00August 3rd, 2020|Museum Bikes 1986 to 2000|Comments Off