Freewheelin' Foundations
QBP founder Steve Flagg was only a teenager when he took his first ride on a 10-speed Peugeot and fell in love with cycling. Little did he know how far those wheels would take him. A dedicated bike commuter during college, he pedaled his way to a degree in economics from the University of Minnesota. After graduating in 1974 he helped found Freewheel, the first bicycle co-op in the Twin Cities. Though he enjoyed serving the community’s passionate cyclists, Flagg realized independent bike dealers also needed a knowledgeable, go-to source for acquiring hard-to-find parts and resolving sticky technical issues. And so the inspiration for Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) was born.
Climbing the Mountain
When QBP opened for business in 1981, it was a one-man, one-dog operation crammed into a tiny office in St. Paul. Although the phone didn’t ring more than twice a day, Steve had big dreams, a relentless work ethic and just enough treats to keep his faithful companion Bungie going.
Working with a Japanese supplier of rare bike parts, Steve and his wife Mary nurtured their small business, taking orders from local shops and picking, packing and shipping the products themselves. Recognizing an emerging trend with the popularity of mountain bikes, QBP specialized in stocking small parts and components for the exotic all-terrain machines. Orders surged and staff expanded as the company gained a national reputation for solving problems and finding “un-findable” things. Eventually, QBP moved to more spacious quarters in Bloomington, MN, fifteen miles from downtown Minneapolis.
Pedaling into the Future
Today, QBP employs a few hundred more people than in the beginning and is the largest parts and accessories distributor in the bicycle industry. We serve over 5,000 dealers and handle more than 250,000 calls a year from our state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable distribution center. Though QBP has grown enormously, our commitment to our customers has never diminished. In fact, it grows as we grow. We offer a suite of products, programs and services that help bike dealers profit and serve their customers better. From state-of-the-art technology to discount and rebate programs, we constantly strive to bring greater value to dealers. And by engaging in advocacy efforts with local and national bike organizations, we advance biking as a viable form of alternative transportation, make the planet a little greener and expand opportunities for our entire industry.