New for 2009 is the Ridley range. Ridley Bicycles was started by the innovative spirit of one man, Jochim Aerts. A highly-skilled frame builder and painter, Jochim founded Ridley in 1996 and in a few short years, Ridley became a market leader in Belgium for racing bikes. It was Jochim's partnerships with racing clubs and a good eye for advanced racing technology that created Ridley's early success. In 1997 Ridley signed it's first professional team, Spar, and then went on to work with Palmans-Colstrop in 1999. After much race testing, Ridley released the first full-carbon version of the now famous Damocles.