type private industry bicycle parts and accessories distribution founded 1981 headquarters bloomington mn united states key people steve flagg founder products surly bikes revenue 200 million usd 2014 1 number of employees 690 2015 website www.qbp.com quality bicycle products is the largest distributor of bicycle parts and accessories in the bicycle industry 2 with revenues of 150 million in 2008 . 3 4 in addition to wholesaling bicycles and components from other manufacturers qbp owns and manufactures several brands of its own . qbp also participates in activities which support its community through cycling advocacy 2 and green building . 2 contents 1 history 2 brands 3 employee programs 4 references 5 external links history edit founded by steve flagg and mary henrickson in 1981 qbp operated from a small office in st. paul mn . 5 the company did 100 000 of sales during its first year . 6 in the second year sales reached 250 000 6 and in 1983 the company received half a million dollars in sales . 6 early on the company s main product was its mountain bikes and qbp also specialized in importing hard to find mountain bike parts from suppliers in japan . 6 in 1984 qbp hired its first employee and sold 1 million in parts . 6 in 1996 qbp purchased a 67 000 square foot 6 200 m2 warehouse on its current site in west bloomington . 7 qbp purchased salsa cycles in 1997 a california based mountain bike manufacturer . the following year qbp entered the emerging single speed bike market with its in house designed singleator chain tensioner . later in 1998 this product and the new rat ride single speed frame soon renamed the 1x1 helped launch the company s new start up surly bikes . 8 after that the company continued developing brands for under served markets adding specialty parts with problem solvers value parts and accessories with dimension and high end components with winwood . qbp also became the exclusive u.s. distributor for jagwire a taiwan based manufacturer of bicycle brake and derailleur components including pads cables and cable housing . citation needed responding to the growing trend of bike commuting and transportation oriented cycling qbp created the civia bike brand in 2007 . the following year qbp transformed wheelhouse its dealer oriented wheel building service into handspun a consumer oriented manufacturer of hand trued and custom built wheels . qbp also founded all city which offers single speed and fixed gear bikes parts and accessories for urban bicycling . 9 in 2007 qbp received the first annual carbon buster award from u.s. senator amy klobuchar . 10 in 2009 the company achieved platinum level status the lab s highest designation . 9 qbp has opened a second distribution center in ogden utah in the spring of 2010 that has also been awarded leed gold certification by the u.s. green building council 11 for its use of energy saving techniques like smart lighting . 12 qbp was named one of america s top work places by outside magazine in 2011 . 13 later that year qbp opened a third distribution center in middletown pa 14 and then moved to new facility in lancaster pa in january 2015 . 15 in 2015 flagg retired from his position as ceo and was replaced with rich tauer who previously served as vice president of marketing and sales . flagg continued on as the company s chairman . that year the company opened offices in taiwan bringing the company to 690 employees . 5 16 in 2016 the company opened a fourth facility in reno nevada . 17 brands edit the company owns nineteen brands including salsa surly all city 45north handspun foundry civia whisky msw problem solvers dimension mechanical threads rever r12 q tubes cogburn buzzy s and issi . qbp is also the exclusive u.s. distributor of lazer helmets a belgian manufacturer of high performance bicycle and snow helmets and through its q active division the company distributes products to independent ski run and outdoor retailers . qbp entered a distribution agreement with fyxation in 2011 . 18 19 20 21 the company distributes both bicycles themselves and bicycle parts in addition to outdoor gear . 22 employee programs edit each february qbp hosts frostbike an industry tradeshow and educational forum for bicycle vendors and retailers . frostbike also offers numerous business and technical seminars . 2 the company provides environmental and efficiency oriented innovation for its employees as well including its great results improving processes grip program which combines principles from six sigma lean kaizen and total quality management which the company claims saved it approximately 2.2 million in 2008 . 23 the company also hosts service summits for its employees where seminars are given on bicycle service issues and trends . 24 the qbp commuter program provides employees that bike or use alternative transportation with credits they can use to purchase company products or redeem for lunches from local restaurants . 23 the company also has on site showers lockers a free towel service a fully stocked workshop for repairs and plentiful indoor and outdoor bike parking . 9 the company also runs greenlightride.com an interactive website developed to support its competitive public commuter bike league where cyclists record their miles create teams track statistics and network with other riders . 25 in 2008 15 percent of the company s 453 employees biked to work averaging a one way commute of 12 miles 19 km and logging a collective 325 000 miles . in 2009 the bicycle league of america awarded the company platinum level status as a bicycle friendly business . 9 references edit https www.internetretailer.com 2015 04 27 how quality bicycle products wheels orders faster and more ac a b c d zinn lennard may 2009 . putting the quality in your bicycles pdf . velonews . competitor group inc. pp. 91 92 . retrieved 2009 12 28 . st. anthony neal september 20 2008 . parts come together . star tribune . minneapolis mn star tribune . retrieved 2009 12 28 . d ambrosio dan august september 2010 . industry profile qbp pdf . adventure cyclist . adventure cycling association . retrieved 2011 01 24 . a b steve flagg steps down as qbp president . bicycle retailer and industry news . a b c d e gee david december 2007 . pedal power . minnesota business 48 55 . on the horizon quality bicycle products . minnesota company keeps winter biking rolling . twin cities . a b c d bicycle friendly business quality bicycle products platinum level . league of american bicyclists . retrieved 2010 11 07 . senator klobuchar s carbon buster awards of excellence . senator klobuchar . retrieved 2010 11 07 . staff brain 2012 07 05 . qbp earns leed certification for utah center . bicycle retailer and industry news . retrieved 2012 12 08 . more companies are outfitting warehouses with smart lights . wall street journal . the editors august 15 2011 . 49 . quality bicycle products . outside magazine . retrieved 2013 03 04 . staff brain 2011 12 05 . qbp s east coast warehouse up and running . bicycle retailer and industry news . retrieved 2011 12 05 . tim stuhldreher december 24 2014 . quality bicycle products to open lancaster distribution center jan. 5 . lancasteronline . retrieved 2015 06 25 . nobody shifts like they do at quality bicycle products . tim mekeel staff writer 25 january 2016 . quality bicycle products opens 4th distribution center in reno . lancasteronline . brain staff january 5 2011 . qbp to distribute fyxation . bicycle retailer and industry news . retrieved 2015 03 15 . stephen regenold 15 january 2016 . expert panel 20 hacks for better wintertime biking . gear junkie . guy on a bike with qbp it makes sense to ride to work . qbp forbids sale of its brands through third party online vendors . thisisreno staff . quality bicycle products opens distribution center creating 50 jobs . this is reno . a b lahouze andrea august 2009 . re cycling revolution . enterprise minnesota magazine . retrieved 2010 11 07 . qbp plans service summit for central region retailers . bicycle retailer and industry news . civia challenges industry to a showdown . bicycle retailer & industry news . 2009 05 26 . retrieved 2010 11 07 . external links edit official website template qbp in signal processing v t e american bicycle manufacturers current american star bike friday bilenky cycle works bohemian brooklyn bicycle co. bontrager calfee design cannondale catrike centurion chumba racing co motion columbia cortina cruzbike cycle force group dahon diamondback dynacraft bsc electra ellsworth handcrafted fantasy toys lowrider bicycle & hobby felt fuji fyxation gendron inc. gt haro huffy ibis independent fabrication international surrey company iron horse italvega jamis k2 sports kent international kestrel litespeed magna marin masi melon milwaukee mongoose moots next nishiki novara pacific pope priority pure cycles quality quintana roo r e rans designs razorusa redline rhoades car ritchey design rivendell roadmaster richard sachs santa cruz santana schwinn seven shelby shinola soma fabrications specialized surly terracycle terrible one tommaso torker transition trek turner suspension univega valdora van dessel sports villy custom volagi waterford precision wilderness trail worksman yamaguchi yeti zigo defunct american american machine and foundry chicago clark kent e. c. stearns eagle fat city fleetwing gary fisher gormully & jeffery jmc klein kogswell lemond lotus merlin murray overman pocket rambler ross serotta sol stelber sterling wright components bell sports bicycle technologies international coker tire fox racing shox fyxation giro hayes brake burley design rockshox slidepad speedplay sram l.h. thomson zipp rolf prima retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title quality bicycle products & oldid 740908109 categories companies based in bloomington minnesotacompanies established in 1981wholesalers of the united statesleadership in energy and environmental design certified buildingsleadership in energy and environmental design gold certified buildingscycle manufacturers of the united stateshidden categories all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from january 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 24 september 2016 at 02 55 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a 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