Moto-Naute was a company founded by M. Clement Veilleux in 1971 and located in Saint-Georges de Bauce, Québec. Moto-Naute manufactured water craft and was making sales in Quebec and the United States.

But this story is not about water craft, so we must digress.

Bike-Boom in North America

In the early 1970s the bicycle business in Canada and the United States is in the midst of the so called “Bicycle Boom”.

There is a large demand for all types of bicycles but of most note is the “10-speed”.
North American manufacturers were in general set up to produce children’s bicycles and utility bicycles, not 10-speed bicycles. Starting in the mid-1960s many 10-speed bicycles were being imported from Europe and Japan. Even the large manufacturer Schwinn in Chicago, begins in 1972 to have Schwinn branded bicycles imported from Japan.

To meet the new and increasing “Bike-Boom” demand, manufacturers began to create new manufacturing facilities. Here are a few examples:

• TI Raleigh, in 1972 began set up a manufacturing facility in Waterloo, Quebec.
• Cycles Peugeot, in 1972 began to set up a new facility at Romilly-sur-Seine, France.
• Cycles Gitane of France, arranged for a bicycle assembly facility in Quebec.
• Sekine Cycles of Japan, began in 1973 to set up a facility in Rivers, Manitoba.
• Ataka Sangyo Co. trading company and Mori Bicycle Co. of Japan, arrange for bicycle assembly in Saint-Georges de Beauce, Quebec.

Part one of the Velo Sport story is not about Velo Sport, but about the last entry on the above list.

Royal Knights Bicycle Company

Ataka Sangyo was one of the ten largest trading companies of Japan in 1970. The large Japanese trading companies had a great amount of control of Japanese exports. Mori Bicycle of Osaka, Japan is involved in import/export and domestic sales of bicycles and bicycle parts.

These two companies planned to assemble bicycles in Canada. The plan was to produce 360,000 bicycles a year. Very ambitious.

These two companies create a Canadian subsidiary with an office in Montreal called Royal Knights Bicycle Co.. Royal Knights Bicycles arranged bicycle assembly at the Moto-Naute factory in Saint-Georges de Bauce, Quebec starting in 1972.

For Moto-Naute sales of water craft were not spectacular and to keep the factory open for more months of the year, bicycle assembly was added. Bicycle production was 50,000 bicycles assembled in 1974.

One report from Ataka says that most of the production went to Sears. Presumably this is Simpsons-Sears department stores in Canada, but it may also include Sears and Roebuck of Chicago.

Simpsons-Sears was usually good about naming the country of origin on bicycles. Prior to 1972, when Moto-Naute began assembling bicycles, Simpsons-Sears was importing some bicycles from Japan, some of which were manufactured by Miyata. It would be interesting to know if Ataka Sangyo was the trading company in Japan that Sears was working with.

Here is a Sears 27 ten speed that does not have a country designation. Possibly this model was made at the Moto-Naute factory.

Some of the bicycles were sold at local bicycle shops in Quebec. Moto-Naute appears to be managing the distribution to the local bicycle shops.

At one time I had Royal Knight bicycle and I am in Western Canada. I have no idea how it got here.

So this is the story of how the manufacture of bicycles began in Saint-Georges de Beauce, Quebec.

In the concluding page about Velo Sport Inc I will talk about what happened to these Japanese companies.

The source for much of this information is newspaper stories and advertising of that day and government incorporation records.

Moto-Naute_Le soleil_ Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean_ 22 janvier 1973 page 8.

Special thanks to Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. As part of their archive are local newspapers going back for several decades. This is a wonderful preservation of local history and culture.

All pages on this topic of Velo Sport

Introduction to Velo Sport Inc.

Part 1: The Moto-Naute Factory (this page)

Part 2: Beginning of Velo Sport Inc.

Part 3: Velo Sport Inc. is sold

Part 4: Beginning of Groupe Procycle Inc.

Conclusion: What happened to all the companies.