History of FFB

1979:

In high school, a dad in Jeff Archer’s Boy Scout troop “donated” Jeff a large pile of bike parts. Out of those parts Jeff built several bikes and the dynasty was born. Soon he was fixing bikes for folks all over town.

1983:

Jeff started a job at a bike shop near his college campus in Columbus, Ohio. Here he purchased his first mountain bike, a Raleigh Seneca.

1987:

Jeff graduated from Ohio State University with a computer engineering degree. With no job prospects in that field, he and some friends spent a week traveling through NC, SC, and GA checking out bike shops. On the trip, he noted that Charlotte seemed to be an underserved market and decided to move to the area. Soon after moving, Jeff began working with Bruce, the owner of Cool Breeze Cyclery in Mooresville.

April 1989:

Jeff becomes an equal partner with Bruce in Cool Breeze Cyclery and they open a second store location at 1814 E. Broad St, Statesville.

April 1991:

The Statesville location outgrew its 1250 square foot building and moved across the street to 1811 E. Broad St. with 3000 square feet.

June 1992:

Jeff and Bruce bought out the owner of Pro Cyclery in Hickory and added it as their third location.

1994: 

Jeff and Bruce decided to split the business. Jeff became the owner of the Statesville and Hickory locations. Jeff determined a name change was in order and after much deliberation, decided on “First Flight Bicycles” for its parallels to the Wright Brothers story (who started in a bike shop in Ohio and later came to NC for the first flight). Bruce kept Cool Breeze in Mooresville.

1995:

The Statesville location moved to 216 S. Center St. with a 5000 square foot location and 2 stories for the growing bike collection. Both locations sold Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale.

1997:

Wesley Davidson was hired in December.

2000:

The Cannondale line was dropped from the store.

2001:

Construction began on the Itusi Trail at Lake Norman State Park. This was also the first year of the Crossroads Festival which held a vintage bike swap meet.

2003:

A Trek representative purchased the Hickory store in December. It reopened as Rock N’ Road under the new ownership on January 1, 2004.

2005:

The Crossroads Festival featured several vintage mountain bike “celebrities” including Ross Shafer, Jacquie Phelan, Paul Sadoff, Paul Thomasberg, Joe Murray, and Maurice Dirt Rag. The road ride was cancelled and the festival concentrated on mountain bike riding instead.

Around this time, people were calling into the store trying to upgrade their old bikes with newer components but having difficulty with compatibility.  After some discussion with folks from the festival, it was agreed that using an established name brand would be a good idea for making “old school” mountain bike frames that would accept modern components. First Flight acquired the Mountain Goat brand and started making bikes and parts under the brand.

The Specialized line was dropped from the store.

2007:

The Gary Fisher line was added to the bike lineup.

2010:

The store’s exterior was updated, including a paint effect where the previously white-painted brick was re-painted to look like brick.  The project was awarded the “Best Façade Improvement under $10,000” by the NC Main Street organization.

2011:

First Flight was awarded our first nationwide award of Top 100 shops in America by Bicycling magazine.

2012:

First Flight was chosen as one of the Top 100 shops in the US by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (out of around 4,200 shops in the US).

The Salsa line of bikes was also added to the store.

2013:

Awards this year included being voted the #7 shop in the country by The Active Times and a “Best Bike Shop” by the NBDA.

In April, the first Itusi Homecoming was held to celebrate those who were instrumental in making the trail.

The Hi-E line of bike components was added to the store.

2014:

Trek acquired the Electra and Townie lines, so those began to be sold in the store.

2016:
Jeff Archer was tragically killed on July 20 while walking across a crosswalk in Mooresville.

2017:
First Flight changed ownership with Wesley becoming an owner. FFB partnered with Spirited Cyclist. Bike lines from Specialized, Cannondale, Santa Cruz, GT, Schwinn, and Benno were added to the shop. Trek and Electra were dropped by the store.

Jeff Archer was elected posthumously into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

2019:

Construction changes the store layout significantly. The sales counter was moved to the front of the shop, beer taps were added, and sales of alcohol began in November.

30 year anniversary celebrated!

2020:

Construction continued by moving the service center into a larger area.

DiamondBack Bikes are added to the roster.

Major bike and part shortage all over the world.

First Flight Bicycles stayed open during Covid-19 with restrictions but continued focus on customer satisfaction.

2024:

35 year anniversary celebrated.

2025:

First Flight and Spirited Cyclist parted ways in search of different paths.