The history of Flandria bicycles

You cannot ignore cycling history in the 1960s and 1970s without mentioning the red brigade of the popular Flandria team who rode on the red and white bicycles. Flandria bicycles have been made since 1940 and after bankruptcy in 1981 the brand is back on the market.

All the more reason to provide an overview of the history of Flandria cycling.

Bicycle brand De Westvlaamsche Leeuw

The history of Flandria starts at the beginning of the 19th century when Alexander Claeys marries someone from the Dombrecht family, who had a blacksmith shop in Zedelgem. Louis Claeys was born in 1846, who started in his early twenties with the production of small rolling toys and prams, but also saw a great future in the bicycle industry, resulting in the launch of his first bicycle in 1896.

Deze fietsen krijgen de merknaam Westvlaamsche Leeuw en in 1910 is het aantal verkochte fietsen al opgelopen tot 150. Na WOI stijgt de vraag naar fietsen met als gevolg dat Aimé, zoon van Louis en de drijvende kracht achter de Westvlaamsche Leeuw samen met zijn broers Alidor, Rémi en Jerome, in 1924 de werkhuizen Gebroeders Claeys opricht die naast fietsen ook landbouwmachines produceren. In 1927 wordt het magische cijfer van 25.000 fietsen overschreden.

Origin of the Flandria brand

In 1940 besluit Aimé Claeys om zijn fabriek te moderniseren waarbij hij de naam Westvlaamsche Leeuw verandert in Flandria. Na WOII blijft de vraag naar fietsen stijgen en tegen 1952 worden jaarlijks zo’n 250.000 fietsen gemaakt. Er wordt ook een nieuwe fabriek gebouwd in Zwevezele en aan het gamma worden ook bromfietsen toegevoegd.

Alhoewel de zaken prima gaan botert het al jaren niet meer tussen Aimé en Remi en In 1957 escaleert dit in een serieuze ruzie waarbij letterlijk een muur wordt gebouwd in de fabriek van Zedelgem. Sommige zware, niet verplaatsbare machines staan op de plaats van de muur waardoor er op deze machines wordt gebouwd.

Aimé gaat vanaf dan verder met het merk Flandria wat nu A. Claeys – Flandria wordt en Remi richt het merk Remi Claeys – Superia op.

Both brothers continue to compete fiercely during this period, resulting in high production. In the 1970s, Flandria produced no fewer than 450,000 bicycles a year, in addition to mopeds, heating appliances and lawn mowers, in 4 factories: Zedelgem, Zwevegem, Agueda in Portugal and Warneton in northern France.

Both Flandria and Superia also sponsor a professional cycling team in which Flandria has the most success, winning no fewer than 70 classics, 2 Grand Tours and 2 World Championships between 1959 and 1979. In its 20th anniversary, the following clappers have been part of the Flandria team:

• Leon Vandaele,
• Briek Schotte,
• Walter Godefroot,
• Eric Leman,
• Jempi Monseré,
• Erik en Roger De Vlaeminck,
• Joop Zoetemelk,
• Michel Pollentier,
• Marc Demeyer,
• Joachim Agostinho,
• Freddy Maertens,
• Jan Janssen,
• Herman Van Springel
• Sean Kelly

 

 

 

 

 

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The best-known vintage racing bicycles made by Flandria in this period are the

• Flandria Professional
• Flandria Competition

It must be said that the Flandria racing bikes could not match the quality of, for example, the Italian brands. It was also not so unusual at the time for many riders of the Flandria team to ride with a different brand, spray the bicycle in the Flandria colors and stick Flandria decals on it. All this without the knowledge of Flandria's management.

There is, for example, the story of Freddy Maertens who rode on Gios, but Pol Claeys, the Flandria boss at the time, came up with it and had Freddy's Gios cut into pieces.

From the end of the 60s of the last century, the rise of the cars started, which caused the production of both mopeds and bicycles to gradually decline. In 1979 only 32,000 bicycles roll off the production line every year. In 1981 the Flandria factory finally went bankrupt and however ironic, Superia, which had not produced bicycles for years, bought up the A.Claeys – Flandria brand. The dividing wall in the factory will be demolished and the bicycles will from now on be made under the Superia – Flandria brand.

However, a few years later, in 1986, the production of the bicycles was definitively stopped and sold to Arizona, led by Paul Seynaeve, an ex-sales director of Superia. This is immediately the end of the glorious brand with the red – white colors.

After a number of changes of ownership, two nostalgic British brothers bought the Flandria brand in 2002 and dreamed of a revival that will come in 2010. They are launching their modern Flandria bicycle in collaboration with Freddy Maertens.

There is also a new steel model on the market, this time made with high-quality Columbus SL Niobium tubes. You can also buy the bike directly on the website Flandriabikes.com

More information about the Flandria cycling team and their successes can be found in the article de Flandria wielerploeg, opkomst en teloorgang