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.

All City Space Horse

All-City Space Horse

All-City Space Horse

All-City Space Horse

You might be a rider who likes the idea of a steel touring bike.
You read Bicycle Quarterly and understand the appeal of wide road tires, generator lights and Brooks saddles. 400 kilometer long brevets with the Seattle Randonneuring club may be in your future, or you may just want a nice bike for commuting.
There are a few bike companies out there who understand what you want. Kona makes the Rove and Surly has the Long Haul Trucker, but you may want something a little more unique. It looks to you like a new Rivendell might be the way to go, if not for a few quirks about their design philosophy (old-fashioned cantilever brakes, quill-style handlebar stems).

All-City has it all figured out. This bike takes disc brakes and uses modern handlebar stems and headsets. The Space Horse frameset gives you the all-day comfort of the Kona Rove and comes in the versatile frame-only option like a Surly, without the goofy Rivendell quirks. The Space Horse is made from springy double-butted cromoly tubing. The fork has a fair amount of rake (so it will steer well with bags and other gear on the front end) and has a beautiful flat-plate crown.
Buy the Space Horse as a frameset or have us build it up with your favorite parts (the pictured bike came out for less than $1600).
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By paul|2018-07-01T16:52:27+00:00January 4th, 2018|cyclocross, road, specialty bikes|Comments Off