Originally Posted by
PeakFreak
It was in fact the Joe Gardin family. Joe Senior ran a store on Bloor Street West and later set his son(Joe Junior) up with another down the street. The name was Veneto Cycle. I am pretty sure it was Joe(Jr) Gardin who sold me the Montello. He was a promising cyclist as well and a really nice guy.
I wonder if there is a way to get a copy of the store records from the family? I think I shall give it a try...
Thanks so much for helping out T-Mar!!
I checked my old Canadian literature and found several late 1980s advertisements for Venoto Cycle. They list 10 to 13 bicycles brands, depending on the exact year, but Pinarello isn't one of them. I also found the advertisement announcing the opening of La Bicicletta's Toronto store. It opened in March 1989 and mentions Pinarello as one of their brands. Another store that carried Pinarello in the late 1980s was Bicyclesport. A grade school friend of mine grew up to become their wheel builder during the 1980s and got his Pinarello when he worked for them.