Made in Belgium
When you talk about cycling most foreigners immediately think about The Netherlands. That's just because the Dutch are better at marketing. Belgium has a great history with the bicycle too. That brings us to Dija-Oostcolor, a Belgian family company that builds and sells bicycles since 1946. They produce a handmade bicycle line called 'Achielle'.
Sex and the City fame
Thanks to the 'Sex and the City' star Sarah Jessica Parker, the 'Achielle Craighton Pure Oma' bike became popular worldwide. Nothing special except for the fact that they are completely handmade. Unlike other 'Belgian' bicycles that import parts and assemble them here with parts that are manufactured mostly in Asia, the steel frame and bolts of an Achielle are 100% made in Belgium.
Custom tailored
Every Achielle is created when an order has been received. This means it really is a custom tailored bicyle with all the options you opted for. In essence you design your own bike. All models are retro styled. Classic looks combined with new technologies.
An Achielle bike starts at €500, excluding options.
Images by: Kemizzdotcom, gbecommunicatie, Fietsje Groningen and ubrayj02
Comments
1 Wolf 06 Sep 2011
They sure do look nice. However, I’m not entirely convinced that hand-made in Belgium equals quality. I own an Achielle bike and I have to bring it in to repair every 3-4 months because something broke down. Maybe the bike paths in Ghent have something to do with it, but otherwise I treat the bike kindly.
2 Veerle Pieters 06 Sep 2011
@Wolf
That doesn’t sound normal. You should contact them since they take customer satisfaction & quality seriously from what I’ve seen while I was researching Achielle.
3 Peter (Achielle) 07 Sep 2011
@Wolf
That is indeed not as we want it, please send us an email and we can see what we can do. If we can make improvements, please let us know! We would like to hear your experiences and learn!
4 sven 07 Sep 2011
well, since two months my 7 yr old daughter rides a junior nostalgic custom painted in her favorite colors (yellow and bright blue). I must say it takes learning to ride a bike back to what it should be. No gears, decent breaks and boy… A more than decent ‘flow’. Kids these days get too many options to use and look at iso getting familiar with traffic and road conditions. I’m an Achielle fan and not only by design, but also on decency.
5 Mark Smith 13 Sep 2011
Amazing shots of some lovely bicycles. Brings back Nostalgic Memories of when I was younger. Thank you for the Memories.
6 Simon 13 Sep 2011
The photos are very sharp and have depth, in some you can almost touch the bikes. Far better than the modern, souless mountain bikes.