Flanders bicycles??

the_villain said:

Hello. That would be my first thread:-))
Anyway I recently stumbled upon an old
apparently race bike with the name Flanders
on the frame. I assume this is the name of
the frame manufacturer. The bike looks quite old -
atleast 15 - 20 years. The gear change levers are on the
frame - the old style. The components are various -
Gipiemme rear derailleur, Tommasini fork, some
Campagnolo parts etc. The gearing looks in good shape
notwithstanding the age of the bicycle. Also in
comparison to my current bicycle (taiwanese hybrid) it
is quite lightweight. The frame looks in good shape.
It uses some clinchers.
My questions to the experts on the forum are:
How well are the Flanders bicycles known?
Is it worth for me to purchase the bicycle and
restore it with more modern parts - I can purchase it
for a petty sum.
I am also worried for the gear change levers on the frame -
is it easy to change the gears this way. I've never used such gear change on the frame.

I would be grateful for anybody to chime in with some opinion.

Thanks.

Vasil Pavlov

If it said "FLANDRIA" I'd say you've got some history, but "FLANDERS" sounds fake... or maybe a model of some larger line.

No. It says exactly Flanders - the frame is vintage - as
I said atleast 10-15 years old. My search returned Belgian bicycles named Flanders, but the web site is only in Belgian.
Thanks anyway.

i live in belgium, wann give me more details and i can find out for you!? oh and website will be in either french or flemisch, either way let me know.

atb meffs

First of all thanks very much for it.
The problem is I went to see the bicycle yesterday and
didn't have the chance to properly investigate it or even ride it. The name Flanders appears on the top horizontal tube of the frame and the bottom horizontal tube also. The bicycle is all red and apparently made of some light steel as there was chipping on the frame with rust protruding(not serious). The tubing of the frame is of small diameter and apparently the walls of the tubes are thin - the bicycle is light. The components are various Italian - Campagnolo, Tommasini, Gipiemme etc. Some indication of the bicycle's age is that it uses Gipiemme rear derailleur and apparently Gipiemme is out of the derailleur bussiness - on their site they list only wheels and seats. My main concern is with the gear change on the tubing of the frame - difficult to change ????

Anyway the site for the Flanders bicycle I found is http://www.flandersfietsen.be/ and it is apparently in Flemish. The lettering on these bicycles isn't the same as on the bicycle I am talking about though (they might have changed it)
Any information would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Thanks.

meffs said:

i live in belgium, wann give me more details and i can find out for you!? oh and website will be in either french or flemisch, either way let me know.

atb meffs

the_villain said:

First of all thanks very much for it.
The problem is I went to see the bicycle yesterday and
didn't have the chance to properly investigate it or even ride it. The name Flanders appears on the top horizontal tube of the frame and the bottom horizontal tube also. The bicycle is all red and apparently made of some light steel as there was chipping on the frame with rust protruding(not serious). The tubing of the frame is of small diameter and apparently the walls of the tubes are thin - the bicycle is light. The components are various Italian - Campagnolo, Tommasini, Gipiemme etc. Some indication of the bicycle's age is that it uses Gipiemme rear derailleur and apparently Gipiemme is out of the derailleur bussiness - on their site they list only wheels and seats. My main concern is with the gear change on the tubing of the frame - difficult to change ????

Anyway the site for the Flanders bicycle I found is flandersfietsen.beflandersfietsen.beOpen ↗ and it is apparently in Flemish. The lettering on these bicycles isn't the same as on the bicycle I am talking about though (they might have changed it)
Any information would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Thanks.

hi. even though the website is in flemisch you can email them and ask questions regarding the bike. (left hand side of the menu under info) Depending on where you are in the world you could also phone them as they more often than not speak perfect English!

Sounds like the bike is double or tripple butted reynolds steel, hence the lightness. I am away for a week tomorrow but if you have no luck then i could try and find out something for you when i get back. obviously a picture would be useful. best of luck Meffs

I don't really know the history, but there is indeed a Flanders bike company in .. Flanders (i.e., northern Belgium to oversimplify it). They've been around for quite a while, started by two brothers as i understand it. Who subsequently had a falling out, and divided the company by putting a wall down the middle of the factory. You might be able to find more info if you sniff around the net a bit.

There are a lot of Flanders bikes here in Belgium .. they're not held in the same light as Merckx or Ridley, but are well-regarded and popular nonetheless. As suggested, if you contact the company in English, perhaps with a photo, they might/shoudl be able to help

B

PS, the site isn't in Belgian, there's no such language. It's in Flemish which is .. Dutch. No difference in the written language from what's written/spoken in Holland.

Thanks very much Meffs and bing181. I will ask them directly.
Unfortunately haven't got a camera.
Thanks anyway.

bing181 said:

I don't really know the history, but there is indeed a Flanders bike company in .. Flanders (i.e., northern Belgium to oversimplify it). They've been around for quite a while, started by two brothers as i understand it. Who subsequently had a falling out, and divided the company by putting a wall down the middle of the factory.

Nope - that's FLANDRIA bikes, not FLANDERS bikes, I already checked with Vasil and he says his bike is not a Flandria (the bike of De Vlaeminck et al)

Flandria bikes was resurrected recently by a British company and they have this on their website:
It was Aimé and Remi who began the association with the bicycle industry when they left their brothers and formed the Flandria Bicycle Manufacturing Company in the early 1950s. This thrived in post-war Belgium, as bicycles were just about the only means of individual transportation. However, the brothers were always looking for ways in which to expand the business, and noticed that the newly introduced French made Solex and Mobylette mopeds were beginning to sell in numbers as they were very reasonably priced. Seeing an opportunity, the brothers quickly introduced a state of the art moped for two, powered by their own Claeys 49cc two-speed engine.

Unfortunately, Aimé and Remi often disagreed about the direction of the business, and after many arguments decided to separate, becoming each other’s competitor. They divided the Flandria factory between them, literally - a brick wall was built right down the centre!

Aimé kept the Flandria name and Remi created a new brand, Superior. Both brothers continued with the production of bicycles and mopeds - two separate businesses under the same roof.

Ah yes, that's the story.

There is, however, a Flanders bike company in Flanders .. must be something completely different, but they do make bikes and have done for some time.

http://users.skynet.be/flanders/images/race/IMG_3237-carve.jpg

.. for example.

Interesting about the resurrection of Flandria bikes .. same thing has happened with a number of the famous old makers .. Willier, MBK etc. etc.

bing181 said:

Ah yes, that's the story.

There is, however, a Flanders bike company in Flanders .. must be something completely different, but they do make bikes and have done for some time.

users.skynet.beIMG 3237 carve.jpgOpen ↗

.. for example.

Interesting about the resurrection of Flandria bikes .. same thing has happened with a number of the famous old makers .. Willier, MBK etc. etc.

hmm...my missus has just seen this thread and tells me she has a Flandria bike in the office!:eek: