Good rides to everyone !

May 6, 2010.

Even if I am not so old, I have now worked in the bicycle industry for the last 21 year, mainly on mid-term projects, so, normally, after 3-4 years, I used to move to another company. It's now almost 7 years that I have been working at Ridley and the goals and consequently my motivation to keep working hard here is always there.

It's true that the company changed completely, from 7 years ago, when our boss decided to "go international". Those who could see the company 7-8 years ago and now, they would think it is a different company (and, in fact, we also just moved to our new building, which is 3 times bigger the previous one), but there's more. What I could see in these 7 years, is the will to understand the markets worldwide, the attempt to approach them in a different way, than usual and the consequent huge efforts to try to satisfy the needs of cyclists worldwide.

It's is not rethorical, to say that we immediately understood that the success of Ridley could only come, in years, through the satisfaction of our customers and partners. Anybody, with some investments, can make himself known fast : you fill magazines with tons of publicities, telling most of the time bull-shit stories about this and that and you can get an immediate feed-back, but how long will it last ?

We have immediately understood that the best publicity is the publicity made by users of our bikes, possibly cyclists that have already used other famous bikes and they get to try a Ridley. It definitively takes longer to come out, but it also lasts longer. Much longer.

We started all this, when the bicicyle market was not in need of any new brand. It was already full of famous, established brands and, as a demonstration of what I wrote before, we have seen several brands appear and disappear, in short periods of time. There have always been many good bikes in the market, why should anyone choose a Ridley, especially 7 years ago, when nobody outside Belgium and Holland knew it ? I remember the first years, visiting bike dealers around the world and receiving always the same questions : "Ridley ? What is it ? Is it American ?"

It seems like centuries ago, now, but it was only 5-6 years ago and this is the big result we have achieved, not the figures of turnovers and pieces sold every year. We have been able to establish the brand and make it well known as a brand that stands out, for the hi-tech of its exclusive models and the unicity of its designs and paint-jobs. Ridley is now compared only to the most famous bicycle brands worldwide. We are trusted.

This is a new starting point. We are fully aware that we still have a lot to do, but the base is solid and we can build on and around it. This is basically why I am here, after 7 years and, if I am not kicked out before........, I hope to keep working with this bunch of friends, until I keep seeing this satisfaction from the people I see and I talk to.

You can be confident that we will always be the same. Our philosophy will not change. It will be good to share with you our successes and inevitable mistakes (we hope few) and this new section of our web site is to get even more in contact with the world outside.

Good rides to everyone !