Ridley

Ridley was founded in 1997 by Jochim Aerts, who started out as a frame builder and painter for other Belgian bike companies from 1990 before launching his own brand from his parents’ garage in Balen, Belgium. The name is a nod to film director Ridley Scott — and the bikes themselves are named with the same personal touch: the Noah, one of Ridley’s best-known road models, is named after Aerts’ own son.

Ridley’s early reputation was built in cyclocross, a discipline taken seriously in Belgium: Mario De Clercq won the brand’s first UCI Cyclocross World Championship in 2002, the first of more than twenty world titles the brand has gone on to collect off-road. On the road, Ridley became bike sponsor to the Lotto team in 2005, and Robbie McEwen won the points jersey at the Tour de France the following year. Every Ridley is still developed and tested on the roads and cobbles of Flanders, with bikes painted and assembled at the brand’s own factory in Belgium.