2008 Ridley Noah

For some Ridley is an enigma; the name suggests the USA, whilst in fact it’s
a company that is firmly rooted in Belgian cycling. Ridley was formed in 1990 by Jochim
Aerts, who raced as an amateur in the hardest arena of them all, Belgium.

Jochim may not have made a pro bike racer, but he hit the mark when he formed
Ridley, initially as a frame painting business in his father’s garage. Withing six years the company was building its own frames and supporting grass roots teams and riders in
Belgium, including Tom Boonen when he won the Belgian U23 championship in 2001.

Click to enlarge

Erwin Verceken’s 2006 World Cross Championship winning bike

The 2008 Noah

The frames arrive naked and plain

One of a number of paint booths

So why a Belgium company with a USA sounding name? Jochim named his bike company
after film director Ridley Scott. The name appealed to him because it sounded right and added an
international tone in a region featuring a number of cycle manufacturers. Since Scott was already taken, Aerts went for Ridley.

In just over 17 years, Ridley has grown to be the most famous of Belgium brands.
Merckx fans may shout ‘foul’ at this point, but with Robbie McEwen, Cadel Evans
and the Davitamon-Lotto pro-race team starring in the Tour de France and across
the race calendar, the company’s light undoubtedly shines brightly.

The winning exploits of World Cyclo Cross Champions Erwin Vervecken
and Bart Wellens provided a driving factor as Ridley moved into number one
spot in the Benelux countries. Jan Guesdon of Ridley told us that the company’s
success in the Tour de France has now made it a player across the world.

Ridley are based east of Antwerp on an industrial estate in Tessenderlo. Beware;
you have to cross a teeth crunching sleeping policeman to reach the
factory. That’s if you survive the motorway turn-off!

On entering the factory you are welcomed by a wall of pictures of McEwen and
Vervecken, and graffiti left by Evans thanking the company. Another sense is
tickled as you sniff the air and smell paint and machinery, instantly you realise
this is a working place and once across the threshold and into the factory proper
you are amidst workers and the sound of power tools whistles through the air.

Ridley design the carbon moulds and framesets ‘in house’, although manufacture now
takes place in the Far East. Framesets arrive at the factory to be quality
checked, prepared, painted and built up.

We watched each of the processes conducted at the factory and the attention
to detail and to quality was impressive to witness. Current employees include
Tom Boonen’s mum and dad. You can also find many Ridley employees riding each Tuesday and Thursday evenings at the nearby Zolder motor racing circuit at twice-weekly cycle-only sessions.

In 2003 Ridley released its first full carbon road frame, the ‘Damocles’, and
it was this model that launched the company onto the world stage at the Tour
de France. The bike’s signature sharp angled lines and oversized head tube have
continued through to the latest bikes, including the ‘Noah’ which was introduced
in 2006 with an integrated seat post (featured above), the latest of
the top end range.

The monocoque frames are made from high modulus carbon, on which Ridley pay
high regard to the direction in which the carbon fibers are arranged. The Noah
features high modulus carbon fibre with
a 3K twill carbon-fibre finish and has replaceable CNC-machined dropouts plus a straight-blade full carbon monocoque fork.

Ridley’s top end cross
bike is the the X-Night, a full carbon bike with an integrated seat post and
follows on from the World Championship winner Cross Fire.

Huge thanks to Jan Guesdon and all at Ridley for their kindness.

Website
More Ridley informantion at – http://www.ridley-bikes.com/

Click to enlarge
Almost ready for paint	Frames are painted after careful preparation	Ridley offer a number of finish options
A large paint booth	Undercoat on the headtube	Ridley design all their decals in their own graphic design studio
A Fidea Cross Team frame awaits shipment	Ridley’s integrated seat post features on the Noah	More stiffness at the front of the 2008 Noah