Our History
Back in 1957, Leo Amstutz rekindled the interest and passion he had
as a boy for tinkering on bicycles and began refurbishing old bicycles
for resale. Also at that time he ordered five new Schwinns from a distributer
in Columbus, Ohio to include in the inventory of his new store, Kidron
Cycle & Toy, which was located on his 80 acre farm just south of
Kidron Ohio. As the name reflects, Leo also carried numerous other
non-bicycle products as well. While those other products eventually
faded away over time his passion for bicycles did not.
After selling the farm in 1965, Leo moved his fledgling business
to Orrville. He primarily focused his attention on bicycle sales/service
and at that time changed the store’s name to Orrville Schwinn
Cyclery. It was located between Buehler’s and Bennett’s
Appliances. (That location is currently the fresh produce section
of Buehler’s.)
After his five year lease expired in 1970, Leo moved his business
to its current location (about 1.5 miles west of Buehler's). He remodeled
the existing building that stood next to his home and transformed
it into his bicycle shop.
Leo continued in the bicycle business until his retirement in 1974,
at which time sons Earl and Roger assumed ownership. Having both
grown up in the family business they were equipped to successfully
carry on the tradition started by their father. For the next 11 years,
Earl and Roger saw the business grow and eventually needed to hire
extra help in order to keep pace with the growing market.
Earl retired from the bicycle industry in 1985 leaving Roger to
run the family business. (Roger is still the present day owner.)
About that same time Roger expanded the size of the shop to include
a new service and storage area. In 1996 he again remodeled and increased
the size of the showroom. That year the store’s name was also
changed to Orrville Cycling & Fitness in order to better reflect
the broad scope of bicycle brands that were in the store’s
inventory.. (Many locals and longtime customers still refer to us
as “the Schwinn shop on the hill”.)
Even though the building and staff have changed over the
years, one thing has remained the same – the passion that Roger
and his staff have for cycling and the dedication and commitment
that Orrville Cycling & Fitness has to provide the best service
possible to its customers.
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