History

It all starts back in the early 70s. Jim and Scott Flanders, along with their grandfather, James Karusis, were cutting their teeth in the bicycle business while working at Wheel Goods Corporation of Minneapolis.. At the time, Wheel Goods was one of the largest retail and wholesale bicycle operations in the US. It was also quite probably the largest Gitane bicycle dealer in the US. Fortunately for the Flanders brothers (as it turned out), in 1973 the Gitane/ Wheel Goods relationship came to an end. Seeing a ripe opportunity, the Brothers and their grandfather decided to open their own bicycle store. So they opened a small bicycle shop just a few blocks east of Wheel Goods and became Minneapolis’ newest Gitane-only dealership.

In 1972 the Brothers had been introduced to bike racing by a friend and co-worker at Wheel Goods. They entered their first race and enjoyed immediate success, which was all it took to get them hooked. For the first 5-6 years of the business, shop ownership and bicycle racing divided their time. Their grandfather minded the store on weekends while they traveled to races. Their racing careers really took off in 1977 when both Jim and Scott were US National “B” team members and were traveling to races outside the US. Things were looking up.

All that changed in the winter of 1978 when their grandfather passed away. It was now time for the Brothers to make a decision about their investment in racing. In the early spring of 1979, Jim was invited to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado for team selection. It was decided at that time that Scott would mind the store while Jim would give national caliber cycling one more year. That one more year was a series close-but-no-cigar events. So in 1980 Jim joined Scott at the store and they decided to focus on regional races-it's a bit easier to plan for the Tour of Minnesota than for the Vuelta a Guatemala (in which Jim finished 12th).

Jim retired from racing in 1986 but continues to ride and train with the Minneapolis Bicycle Racing Club. Scott has continued racing non-stop since 1972 and is still competitive in the Cat 1 &2s even at the age of 50.

For over 35 years now, Flanders Brothers Cycle has been specializing in high quality, high performance bikes and products. Whether it’s racing, commuting, touring, or casual cycling, Flanders Cycles has the gear and over forty year's worth of knowledge to make your cycling experience enjoyable.