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A tour of the Ridley bike factory, May 10, 2006Into the Aladdin's caveBikes from the Belgian Ridley marque have been front and centre in the European peloton recently as the Davitamon-Lotto team has notched up a series of late-Spring victories after a lean early season. Shane Stokes took a tour of Ridley's factory to see the bikes being prepared for the rest of us.
It's been a superb few weeks for Ridley, frame suppliers to Davitamon Lotto. Robbie McEwen took the team's first European win when he galloped to success on day one of the Tour of Romandie, and in the last few days followed it up with stage wins in the Giro d'Italia while the race was in the team's and bike maker's Belgian homeland. The day after McEwen's Romandie win, Chris Horner did the same, jumping away in the closing kilometres of the mountainous stage to Porrentruy. Best of all, Cadel Evans bounced back from indifferent Classics form to ride a stormer of a race, riding strongly in the mountains and then scooping overall victory with a win in the final day time trial. Forget all that talk of a slow spring Classics campaign; Davitamon-Lotto, and Ridley, are back on top just when attention is turning to the top stage races in the sport. The big Belgian company is supplying frames to two big road teams this year, Davitamon-Lotto in the ProTour and Unibet.com in the Continental Professional ranks. The latter has ambitions to step up a level, which could make Ridley one of very few companies supplying two ProTour squads. Ridley is also in partnership with the Fidea cyclo cross team of world champions Erwin Vervecken and Zdenek Stybar, plus several smaller teams in Europe and the US.
Although Ridley is a relatively new manufacturer, it has some impressive results to date; in the past five seasons road and cyclo cross riders have taken a total of 25 national and world championship titles. This list includes two world gold medals for cross competitor Bart Wellens, the 2001-2002 title for Mario De Clerq and victory for current champ Erwin Vervecken. Zdnek Stybar took the Espoir world title earlier this year on the bike, while national cross titles have been won by riders such as Roger Hammond and Niels Albert, who took both the Belgian Espoir and the European title in 2005. The road haul is similarly impressive, with Robbie McEwen, Leon Van Bon, Serge Baguet and Hammond collecting Australian, Dutch, Belgian and British titles. And while world champ Tom Boonen is currently supplied bikes by a different manufacturer, he won his 2001 Belgian Espoir crown on a Ridley. He remains on good terms with the company, which is just as well, as his father Andre currently works for them! That palmares reflects considerable success, and so too the history of the company itself. Back in 1990 Race Productions NV started out as a one-man frame building and bike painting company, with founder Jochim Aerts hiring his first employee a year later. In 1997 the 'Ridley' marque came into being and several new ranges were introduced. Two years later the company first sourced frames from Taiwan, and then in 2000 Ridley started the development of its first carbon frame, the Damocles becoming available in 2003. Simultaneously, the company was developing the 4ZA line of high-end carbon components. This new line plus the ongoing growth of the frame business saw the headquarters double in size in 2002, going from 2,500 to 5,000 m2. At the same time, plans were being made for an expansion into international markets, and in 2004 Ridley started targeting specific European countries. By this stage all of the frames were coming from Taiwan; Ridley's representatives say their new partners were more reliable in terms of quality and delivery time than the previous Italian suppliers. Last year, Ridley began supplying the ProTour team Davitamon-Lotto, and the association of the two helping to increase awareness of its frames while also giving feedback from the pro riders which would be used to tweak the Damocles frame. The company's headquarters increased in size by a further 50 percent in order to cater for the resulting growth; this jump was partly due to the expansion into the US market. Earlier this year, Ridley introduced a new flagship frame, the Noah, featuring an integrated seat-tube and aero geometry. In terms of figures, the company's growth has been impressive. Until 2003 its bikes were available in just five countries. This has now jumped to 35, extending as far afield as Australia, South African, the USA and Malaysia. Unsurprisingly sales have rocketed; in 1999 Ridley sold €1.815 million worth of bikes. By the end of 2005, sales had jumped to just under €fair 11.8 million, and now Ridley is planning to move to even bigger premises in the near future. What started as a one-man framebuilding and painting business really has changed beyond all recognition. The factory tourToward the end of April Ridley invited a group of journalists to an open day at their current headquarters in Belgium. Situated near the Zolder racecourse, site of the 2002 world road race championships, the area - and Belgium in general - is a hotbed of cycling, something which has played a big part in the success of the company. The tour began with an in-depth presentation about Ridley's history, current products and future direction. In a word, the strategy is about continued expansion, but Ridley's managers give the impression that this will not be done at the expense of quality. Careful planning and organisation is being employed to ensure that things continue to work well, and that the reputation which has been built up over time is preserved. That care was evident on numerous occasions during the visit. We were shown around the headquarters by company employee Jan Guedens and he drew our attention to Ridley's attention to detail that, Ridley says, helps ensure that there are no errors during the assembly of eighty bikes per day at the factory. As an example, one of the first things that is done when frames arrive is a small number card is attached to the dropout of each in order to ensure that precise tracking can be kept throughout each stage of the process. "This is done to make sure that they are all matched up to the order form," says Guedens. "Once this card is attached we can easily see what must be done to each frame, making sure that there are no errors. It also helps us to track them at any stage, as we can check our system to find out exactly where a frame is at any given point." While some of Ridley's frames are painted in the Far East, many are sprayed in Belgium, making it doubly important that the right colours, coatings and treatments are applied to each. Having seen some of the finished bikes during the initial presentation, we headed deep into the factory to see more. It was a mouthwatering display; walking through a door from the presentation area was like entering Aladdin's cave, as we strolled through large storage rooms filled with thousands of juicy bike bits, including shelf-loads of wheels, components and tyres. Resisting any kleptomaniacal urges, the pack moved on. The next storage area was more impressive again, with row upon row of bike frames waiting to be built up and/or shipped out. For the former, the assembly process was sped up through the use of a mechanised headset press, which put the cups in quickly and with precisely the correct force. It helped to keep things moving on quickly, and added to the overall impression of efficiency and smooth productivity in the factory. Further on in, the preparation of the frames was being done. Each stage of the process was seen, from the initial powder coating of frames to the mechanised cutting of transfers and screens, which will be used to block off different parts of the frame during the painting process. Up to three different paintjobs can be applied to each, helping to achieve the distinctive mix of colours and 'look' of a Ridley bike. In order to eliminate errors, the plastic transfer sheet is also inscribed with a number which corresponds with the metal card attached to the frame. Again, this is used to ensure the correct painting of the bike. After seeing the transfer production process, those present were taken into large area of the factory where the actual spraying is done. Each worker has their own separate workspace, above which a large extractor vent helps keep the paint fumes to a minimum while they work. For more demanding jobs, there is a large dust-free cabin to one side of the room. "This is used if dangerous substances are being used, to make sure fumes are kept to an absolute minimum," says Guedens. "It also ensures that there is no dust or hairs which could otherwise ruin the coating." Once each stage of the painting process is completed, frames are set aside to dry. Again, the barcode of each order is scanned to keep a record of where they are and what processes have been completed. If desired, large ovens can be used to speed up the drying process. However guidelines are clearly marked on the doors of each, ensuring that each Ridley is treated in the right way, depending on the materials used. After all, there's not much point in going through the whole painting process, only to make a mess of things by baking a carbon frame at too high a temperature! Aside from the coating of the bikes, the machining process are also seen. A worker called Angela is responsible for the first quality control, checking over each Ridley and also milling the headtube and putting the thread in the bottom bracket with specialised machines. Another woman takes off the screen transfers, wielding a scalpel with the kind of surgical precision borne out of countless hours of practice. Moving quickly and fluidly, she unveils the finished frames, which emerge from underneath the paint-coated coverings and are then dusted down with a compressed air hose. After that, all that remains to be done is to coat each of them with lacquer, protecting the finish and giving them even more of a shine. They are then readied to be built up as complete bikes or shipped out as frames to thousands of sure-to-be satisfied customers. This number includes the riders of Davitamon-Lotto and Unibet.com, who doubtlessly will be winning more big races as the season progresses. Evans and co. have started the ball rolling in Romandie and the Giro; expect to see Ridley bikes leading the peloton home in other events over the months and years ahead. PhotographyFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Shane Stokes
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