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.

1985 Schwinn Cimarron touring bike

1985 Schwinn Cimarron touring bike

1985 Schwinn Cimarron

Schwinn was ahead of their time. Way back in 1985 they advertised this bike not as a “Mountain Bike” or an “ATB” (All-Terrain Bike), but as a touring bike. Thirty-Five years later the bicycle world became awash once again with bike-packing-gravel-adventure bikes. So in 2020 we figured that the moment was just right to update the machine and describe it as the latest and greatest touring bike!

In 1985 Schwinn’s ad copy called their Cimarron model an “Outstanding touring bike outfitted with the world’s finest components.” This bike was out of style for a few decades, but it caught up with the times and was outfitted with the finest parts once again.

Original equipment dating back to the 1980’s include the Suntour XC Pro seatpost and pedals, the Nitto “Bullmoose” handlebar, Shimano Deore XT front derailleur, crank arms and brakes (the red brake pads are modern ones from Kool-Stop). The frame featured sweet riding butted cromoly steel which was made in America, and the whole package rolled around on vintage Araya rims which we re-laced in 2020 with fresh spokes.

Bull moose ‘Jones” bar

Front rack

Leather touring saddle

2 x 10 Deore XT drivetrain

Velo-Orange fenders

The drivetrain was modernized to a new Deore XT 2 x 10 system and we treated the bike to retro-styled (but modern) 10-speed thumbshifters, chain and bottom bracket. An expanded gear range was possible thanks to a 12-36 cassette along with new Velo Orange “Drillium” chainrings.

The Aluminum fenders and slick luggage racks seemed like natural updates (they were also made by Velo Orange), and since tires don’t last longer than twenty years, the wheels were updated with new ones from WTB. The leather touring saddle only looked old.

This bike has gone on to a new rider, but it was just too much fun to hide away the photos…

By paul|2025-02-22T16:59:34+00:00January 12th, 2020|Museum bikes 1966 to 1985, schwinn|Comments Off