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The Stratford Bicycle Club,1886
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| photo courtesy of Tim Saunders |
The cycling spirit has long been a tradition in Stratford.Two wheels,human power and a quest for fun remains a constant means to have fun and travel around town.The penny farthings of yesteryear were relativly as expensive as todays $3-4 thousand full suspension mountain bikes.Following the penny farthing bikes,cyclists choose the safety bike that had a double diamond frame, two medium sized laced wheels,chain drive and later braking devices.It is this form of bike we accept as the norm.The time proven qualities of these design concepts remain today despite many attempts with space age materials.We have only been able to improve the design not re-invent it.
Over the years in Stratford two major bike brands were constant but unfortunatly they are not around today.The most common was the C.C.M. and ceased operation several years ago and now is only a brand name owned by the Canadian Tire Corporation.The Sunshine Bicycle Company from Waterloo,ON was quite common in this area,regarded by many as the preferred bike over a C.C.M.Stratford did have its own small bicycle company called Kalbfleisch Brothers(yes the car dealer).The family still has a couple of the bikes and are highly sought after by antique buffs collecting items about Stratford.
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