Our History

I grew up down the road from here in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I first became interested in bicycling at a young age. During high school, I would regularly ride my bike from one side of town to the other. Some days, I just wanted to see how far I could go. During college, I embraced cycling as a way to keep in shape and rehabilitate several knee injuries. As I progressed, my love for cycling grew stronger and stronger.

I began to travel throughout the southeast to compete in different mountain bike race series. My success allowed me to secure a job as a bike mechanic for a couple of the local bike shops in the area. As college drew to a close, I began to look for a job in the industry. That is when I met Allan Hightower. He was the vice president of Sun Rims in Indiana. Sun Rims had just bought the iconic mountain biking company, Ringle’. Allan was looking for someone to travel the country and market the newly formed SunRingle brand. With about 48 hours' notice, I packed up and moved to Indiana that weekend.

For the next few years, I traveled the United States and Canada, promoting our brand to local shops, events, trade shows, and OEM accounts. I was able to meet some fantastic people and ride in some extraordinary places. As time went on, SunRingle’ was sold, and both Allan and I settled back into the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1999, Allan was working with the local bike shop here in Black Mountain. In 2001, he bought it, and Epic Cycles was born. He owned and operated Epic Cycles until 2021. During the pandemic, I started working for Allan again as a bike mechanic. I had gone back to school to obtain an advanced degree. Allan allowed me to be flexible with my schedule so I could attend classes.

Throughout the next couple of years, part-time became full-time. Then, in early 2021, COVID finally hit the market. Allan was out for three or four months during his recovery. I was thrust into the lead role and had to find a way to make sure all the parts were ordered, the bills were paid, and the shop maintained a profit. When Allan returned, he realized how much he enjoyed being at home with his wife. Allan decided to retire and offered to hand the reins over to me. After a soul-searching conversation with my wife and family, I bought Epic Cycles. This was absolutely a dream come true. I will be forever grateful to Allan for entrusting me with the shop. My family, my team, and I strive to continue to provide the excellent customer service that our customers have come to expect for over 20 years.

Since becoming the owners of Epic Cycles, we have made a few changes. We have added more lines, learned to provide new services, and made every attempt to raise the shop to the next level. This was accomplished while intentionally preserving the small-town bike shop atmosphere that Allan created so long ago. Now we can service your electronic shifting, repair your e-bike, build your wheels, and even service your suspension. We do all this from the historic Black Mountain Lumberyard building.

When you come in, you are going to see a variety of old-school mountain and road bikes on display. But you are also going to see such premium brands as Kona, Rocky Mountain, Intense, Jamis, Industry Nine, and Cane Creek Components. I still find it hard to believe this dream has come true. We are grateful for the shop's success, our amazing staff, our local customers, our visitors from other areas, and the loving support of family and the community. Each day when I come into the shop, I get to look out the picture window and see the sun reflecting off of the Blue Ridge Mountains that I call home. There isn’t a better view than that.

Keep riding, and we look forward to seeing you on the trails.

Michael Roberts