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2013 Canadian Vintage Bicycle Show
'Bumper crop' of vintage bikes
By Michael-Allan Marion, Brantford Expositor
Jamie McGregor, organizer of the annual Vintage Bicycle Show on Sunday at Heritage View Farm on Tutela Heights Road, shows a 1904 Brantford Red Bird 57 Special shaft-drive bicycle. The shaft-drive design had women in mind, so their long dresses would not get caught or soiled in a chain. They were made for only a few years, mainly because the bicycle had no brakes. (Brian Thompson, The Expositor)
Or maybe even their parents' youth.
"You'll find what you're looking for right over there," McGregor quickly said Sunday under the bright hot sunshine over Heritage View Farm on Tutela Heights Road across from the Bell Homestead.
He was talking to a man who was looking for CCM model children's bikes.
McGregor simultaneously held in handshake the extended hand of a man who had greeted him warmly, directed him to a group of bikes, where he was sure to find what he was looking for, then patted him on the shoulder.
It was probably the 20th questioning visitor to grip his hand in the last 10 minutes.
"This is a bumper year and we have a bumper crop," McGregor said as the man headed on his way.
"It's nice seeing the diversity we have today," he said of the mix of Canadian and American bicycles, and the enduring popularity of the CCM ( Canadian Cycle and Motor Ltd.) brands.
What was his best vintage model to show?
We walked over to a Brantford Red Bird 57 Special from 1904. It was parked on a bike display ramp bearing all the merchandising display emblems from the time.
The bicycle had a shaft rather than a chain for pedalling.
"That makes it rare," said McGregor.
Among the multitude of wheels were Victorian Penny Farthings, as well as "muscle" bikes and banana bikes from the 1960s, and racing models from most decades.
McGregor pointed to a group of BMX bikes.
The event also had displays that showed the impact of its own age over time.
The BMX brand name was introduced in the early 1970s when kids began racing their bicycles on dirt tracks in southern California. It was their way of aping motocross stars.
"You wouldn't notice it, but they're starting to get old," McGregor mused.
"I guess it means we're getting older, too."
Veteran attendees have identified the show as a place where they're likely to find the parts they need for their handyman projects.
Admittance to the show was a $5 donation to the Stedman Community Hospice and donations for food and drink.
For years, McGregor has used the show as a hospice fundraiser after the facility provided end-of-life care to his father, John, who died there six years ago.