Canadian Tire 12-speed circa 1982

[rousseau]

My first bike, which I got in 1974, was what they now call a "cruiser," but back then was just the kind of bike that boys liked.
My second bike was a red Sekine 10-speed, and I rode that thing all over town.
I saved up my paper route money and bought my third bike at Canadian Tire in 1982. It was a brown 12-speed road bike. I rode it that summer with a friend from Hamilton to Leamington and back.

I've been wracking my brains, but I just cannot remember the make and model of that bike. Would anyone have any idea how to go about searching for bikes sold at Canadian Tire in the early 1980s? Google wasn't any help. Would there be a storehouse of Canadian Tire catalogues somewhere on the net?

[Treker]

Would anyone have any idea how to go about searching for bikes sold at Canadian Tire in the early 1980s? Google wasn't any help. Would there be a storehouse of Canadian Tire catalogues somewhere on the net?

I think we all got our bikes at Canadian Tire back then..

A couple of ideas. 1. Have you asked CT directly? 2. University library's archived periodical section. I mention this because when I studied at SMU in Halifax in the late 90's, I used to browse their archived issues of PC Magazine going back decades. Imagine seeing an advertisement for a PC at 25 Mhz with 640K ram selling for $2,500! Maybe an archived issue of some sporting magazine from that era might have an advertisement for your bike.

Good luck.

[rousseau]

Some good suggestions there. I like the idea of asking someone at the Tire directly. I think I'll try that!

Still, I might have thought there'd be an arcane hobbyist with a storehouse of this sort of information in an obscure corner of the intarwebs somewhere.

[jm01]

My first CTC bike was a Supercycle...I think they also sold Flyers and Gliders back then

[skyrider]

try posting in classic and vintage forums. They re up on that kind of stuff.

[Novakane]

I think most Canadian Tire bicycles have been Supercycle/CCM machines. Just for reference, take a peek at my red Sekine. Look familiar?

[gurry]

Yes I think I can help. I bought a new bike around that time, a 12 speed excalibur, light brown in colour.Does that ring a bell? It came with michelin tires, sand coloured handlebar tape, shifters were on the down tube. Oh and the seat was covered in a nice brown velour, which wore down as the miles racked up!

[gurry]

Sorry, I meant to say the seat was brown suede.

[rousseau]

Hey, whoa!! That's it!! Yeah, it was light brown, and the seat was this brown velour or suede type thing. Thanks for coming to this thread and mentioning this.

Got any more info? Any pictures, or anything?

[Sixty Fiver]

My friend has been riding an old Excalibur since it was new and has logged 10's of thousands of km on it... it was and is a fairly well made bike.

[Dan Burkhart]

My first CTC bike was a Supercycle...I think they also sold Flyers and Gliders back then

Glider was Eaton's store brand if I recall correctly.

[gurry]

Sorry, no pics. After I bought a hybrid at a local bike shop, I gave the bike to a buddy. He put it in his mouldy basement where it sat for years. He since bought a house and I believe he just left it there.
Maybe I should see if it is still around! Of course this all happened before I got the bike bug.

[cjhoyle]

The reason I came across this thread was because I just bought a Supercycle Excalibur through Craigslist. I wanted to know a little bit more about the bike. The one I have is actually mostly white in colour, and it doesn't have the brown seat and handlebars you described. Although I did find another white one which is currently for sale on Kijiji Mississauga with the brown seat and bars.

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s...AdIdZ111976560

I'm glad to hear that it is a well made bike and is capable of going 10's of thousands of kms

[Sixty Fiver]

cj - That bike is in great shape and probably was one of C-tire's better quality models back ion the day when the bikes they sold were often quite decent.

I would liken it to a middle of the road Schwinn or Raleigh and in that, it should be good for whatever you toss at it for a good amount of time.

[cjhoyle]

Yea, actually the first 4 pictures are just copied from the Kijiji ad which I provided a link to. The bike appears to still be available for purchase at $140 CAD. The 5th posted picture is the one that I bought (and only paid $30 for ). It looks to be in quite good shape as well.

[Sixty Fiver]

I liked the 5th picture... $30.00 was a great deal.

[nostromo]

I've been trying to remember what bike I got at age 10 (1973) that my dad bought me from Collegiate Sports. I remember it was blue, had white bar tape, and the downtube shifters (chrome) said 'Shimano'. I believe it was around $105.00 at that time. My dad wanted to get me the smaller version as it was cheaper, but I wanted the big one. I raced that thing against any kid in my area....

If anyone has info or pictures of it please pass it along.

[gurry]

Back in the day, it seems all the kids had a 10 speed Targa. Light blue with white handlebar tape. I know, because I wanted one. I think it was a CCM Targa.... back in the big bad bike BOOM.

[nostromo]

Back in the day, it seems all the kids had a 10 speed Targa. Light blue with white handlebar tape. I know, because I wanted one. I think it was a CCM Targa.... back in the big bad bike BOOM.

You're right, it was most likely a CCM. What I can't understand is why I opted for a road bike instead of a more 'off road' type of bike? I know at age 8 I really wanted that 3 speed with the shifter in the top tube, it had a smaller wheel up front and a fat slick tire out back, and a banana seat with U shaped handle bars.

There must have been quite a bit of buzz going around about road bikes for me to want one of those instead. All I remember is I loved going fast on it, and would race kid on any bike.

I also remember buying a front bike light (Canadian Tire?) that bolted to the front fender and had a gear that when you tilted it against the tire rim it charged the light. I did this so I could ride when it got later into the evening. Anyone remember those lights?

[gurry]

The bike with the banana seat your recalling could be the Mustang. I think Canadian Tire sold those. They came with a sissy bar as well. Lots of kids had those too.
As for the ten speed craze, I think about 80 percent of bikes sold in the bicycle boom were ten speed racers.
The bicycle generator light was a popular choice as well. I had the all in one system for many, many years until about 1996. Probably bought 3 or 4 of them, but they just slow you down too much.

[nostromo]

The bike with the banana seat your recalling could be the Mustang. I think Canadian Tire sold those. They came with a sissy bar as well. Lots of kids had those too.
As for the ten speed craze, I think about 80 percent of bikes sold in the bicycle boom were ten speed racers.
The bicycle generator light was a popular choice as well. I had the all in one system for many, many years until about 1996. Probably bought 3 or 4 of them, but they just slow you down too much.

This is all bringing back some memories. I remember being at middle school and watching kids at lunch pop wheelies the whole length of the street. One insane kid put forks on a 10 speed and could do wheelies with that.

[gurry]

Back in the day, it seemed like the guy around the block had a modified bike with two or even three forks welded together, chromed and everything. The other dude was popping wheelies like it was nothing!

[cjhoyle]

I just picked up my Excalibur on Friday. The year on the rims is 1984, so I'm assuming mine is either 84' or 85', although I'm still going to see if i can find a Supercycle serial number chart.

This morning was my first chance to take it for a serious ride. I was definitely impressed with my $30 purchase. I rode a full 31km loop through the country and was able to maintain and a beginning-of-season average speed of 25.1km/hr, and got it up to 54.1km/hr on a hill. Those numbers aren't particularly high, but I was just impressed that I was able to do it all without a single mechanical problem.

[gurry]

I recall getting mine around 1983? My brother was working at Canadian Tire at the time so I think I may have gotten a discount on it. In fact his job was assembling bicycles.
I wonder what components came on the bike?

[Sixty Fiver]

The bike with the banana seat your recalling could be the Mustang. I think Canadian Tire sold those. They came with a sissy bar as well. Lots of kids had those too.
As for the ten speed craze, I think about 80 percent of bikes sold in the bicycle boom were ten speed racers.
The bicycle generator light was a popular choice as well. I had the all in one system for many, many years until about 1996. Probably bought 3 or 4 of them, but they just slow you down too much.

The Mustang is a wheelie popping machine...