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.

Vintage Equipment

Vintage and Rare Bicycle Components

Bjarne Riis’ wheels from the 1996 Tour de France

Little weights balanced the wheel perfectly

American components from the mountain bike boom

Truly handmade bike parts

Derailleur systems from the early days

Old brake designs – Lance Claudel 1929

Some newer designs

First editions of modern masterpieces

Ideas that took decades to catch on.

Powercam cranks from 1983

Early Magura hydraulic brake

On bikes, on shelves, original boxes and catalogues

Hydraulic brakes, 1986

Hydraulic brakes, 1986

Modolo shifters

Modolo shifters

Roller-cam brakes

Roller-cam brakes

Some of this stuff is hardly a day old, but that doesn’t diminish the museum-worthiness of these fantastic bits of bike hardware.

You can check out genuine advancements in bicycle technology over the years.

There are wacky designs that don’t work, but keep being tried over and over again (We’re talking about you, oval chainrings and no-nose saddles).

There are some solid old designs that sat waiting for new materials or even bike styles to turn them into products that could make it in the market.

We have some first generation innovations that have stood the test of time.

Notice the bikes and components, decades old, that would still work well today.

By paul|2015-01-24T20:34:07+00:00June 15th, 2011|museum memorabilia|0 Comments