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CyclistFlemish steel: Behind the scenes at JaegherYou can count the number of bike brands that are older than Jaegher and still making bikes today on one hand. Bianchi, Fuji, Raleigh, Orbea. Little finger not required. Despite having been in business almost as long as those names, building bikes in Ghent in the heart of Flanders, Jaegher remains decidedly lower profile.Its related to how the business has developed, says Emanuel Ramoudt, Jaeghers co-owner, but as much as anything, Flemish people are modest. We dont shout about our heritage as much as we could or perhaps should.Mores the pity, because the Belgian brand has quite the story to tell.Juan Trujillo AndradesSimpler timesOdiel Vaneenooghe was a pro rider in the early 1900s, says Ramoudt. He even won a stage of the Tour of Belgium in 1932 but, ironically, got into building frames because he couldnt find good enough ones to race on, which curtailed his racing career.Vaneenooghe set up as an atelier rather than a brand he would build to commission for whoever wanted to buy from him, and they could label the frames up however they wanted. This was 1934. In the years that followed his frames became popular, and in the 1950s his son Etienne came on to work with him, and their business shared a site with a cafe that sold coffee in the morning and beer from lunchtime. Life was good and stayed that way for decades.The company grew. Odiel and Etienne built big batches of utilitarian bikes for European brands and high-performance racers for the likes of Eddy Merckx, Sean Kelly and Roger De Vlaeminck. Again however, because other names ended up on the down tubes, the Vaneenooghes work flew under the radar. However, their reputation among those who knew was enough to carry the business through to Odiels grandson, Luc, and great-grandson, Diel, who was still with the company until the 2010s.Juan Trujillo AndradesThe steady increase in popularity of carbon fibre frames did the business no favours and it started to flounder as it lost a sense of direction, says Ramoudt. Though there was a long period of transition, Diel sold the business to the current team about 15 years ago. We thought we knew where we could take it; there was opportunity to blend the heritage of the company with the performance of modern steel, so we set about communicating that.A fresh startThe reset began by finally adopting a brand name: Jaegher. A new team, new direction and a new premises followed, away from a nondescript workshop and into a space with more character to fit Jaeghers more ambitious intentions.This whole site was once a railway service depot, but it also played host to the finish of the second ever Tour of Flanders as well, says Ramoudt. We think its pretty fitting to base ourselves here.Jaeghers bikes are built by a small but highly skilled team.Juan Trujillo AndradesRamoudt walks Cyclist along a row of towering brick buildings that all show signs of gentrification. Fashionable companies blend clean branding against the rustic brickwork, and Jaegher slots in nicely alongside a unit selling outdoor equipment and another given over to a new skatepark.Inside Jaeghers facility, futuristic-looking pods are used in different applications a bike-fitting studio in one, a consultation room in another. They have been created from timber and corrugated Perspex and dot the space, which is dominated by a projector showing Jaeghers promotional material on a blank wall above the main structure within the workshop.The original industrial building sits detached all around, its vaulted ceilings giving the space a church-like atmosphere. Jaegher bikes are everywhere, each one wildly different in use-case, geometry and looks, but each unmistakably related to its neighbour.Weve made building with Columbus XCr [stainless steel] tubing our speciality, says Ramoudt. We started with Columbus Spirit but thats only good for more traditional steel bikes, which were not concerned with anymore.Juan Trujillo AndradesXCr is a material that intimidates many builders because it is extremely challenging to work with. The tubes are incredibly thin, leaving no room for error. At the same time its astonishingly hard our machines wear out up to five times faster than when working with regular steel. You cant bend it, shape it or adjust it once welded; every frame must be perfect from the very first attempt. Its stronger than titanium but more comfortable than aluminium. In the oversize diameters we use it in, it transmits power so efficiently.The workshop itself is unassuming. There are none of the huge autoclaves or industrial freezers needed for carbon fabrication, just a couple of builders working with quiet efficiency. One of them is Jan, who before he moved to Jaegher worked in the pharmaceutical industry where every machine is made in stainless steel and has to be built to the most exacting standards. The customers of the Jaegher frames he now makes can rest easy.Juan Trujillo AndradesRamoudt stops by some drawers and opens a few to reveal tubing rolling and clanking in each one.Two drawer units are all we need to store the tubesets for a hundred frames, he says. We generally have about nine on the go at once.The lathes, sanders and grinders all look well used; there are steel filings on the floor and Post-its on the jigs. It all comes across as incredibly authentic.It might look humble but things like these Post-it notes are a goldmine of information, says Ramoudt. Things the builders have picked up, quirks during fabrication to make sure the frames come out perfectly. Say a seatstay needs to be mitred at 448mm, theres a note here to say go 0.2mm long on the mitre, as the steel pulls back 0.2mm during fabrication. Thats where our experience comes into play to set our bikes apart.Juan Trujillo AndradesMade to measureFabrication quality may be one aspect that Jaegher prides itself on, but another is customisation. Every bike is made entirely for the individual, and no feature, component or paint finish is off the table. Jaegher describes it as an experience more than a transaction. Theres a two-hour initial consultation, holistic fit assessment done on site by a former pro cyclist turned physiotherapist, and regular appointments to sort the finishing details throughout the four-to-six-month process of the bike being built. Customers almost unilaterally choose to collect their bike in person once ready.They can never believe that we can go and ride the Paterberg and Koppenberg from our front door. Were learning to lean into our Belgian-ness because it gives us such credibility. Everyone around here rides from about two years old and its a part of daily life, so we dont necessarily recognise how deeply significant what were doing and where were doing it is to other parts of the world, says Ramoudt.Jaeghers premises sit inside the one large hall of an old railway service depot. The tall ceilings give it a church-like atmosphere.Juan Trujillo AndradesCustom-fitting bikes to clients for decades as the brand has, we know our machines are every bit as high performing as carbon in real world riding conditions. For normal riders, its often an even better choice.Ramoudt uses the example of Formula 1 to illustrate his point.You can be a fan of Max Verstappen but that doesnt mean you should drive his car, he says. Cycling isnt that much different. The machines the guys use on the WorldTour are not suitable for normal riders.Columbus XCr stainless steel is so hard as a material and tough on tools that it intimidates many other builders. Jaegher has made the material its speciality.Juan Trujillo AndradesThat doesnt mean that Jaeghers machines are not suitable for pros, however. Soudal-QuickStep sprinter Tim Merlier bought a Jaegher Hurricane back in 2023 and even used it beach racing, where he became Belgian champion in the same year. Other pros have gone further than just becoming a customer. The most high-profile investor to come on board has been three-time Flanders winner and four-time Paris-Roubaix winner Tom Boonen.Juan Trujillo AndradesIts been a few years now but Im still in shock about that, says Ramoudt. Tom Boonen has been my idol as a racer for as long as I can remember, and then all of a sudden he makes contact and Im doing our build consultation with him. Hes bought several Jaeghers now and hes not only the most famous customer weve had but the most fastidious as well. He wanted to know everything about everything, and as hes a partner we get design feedback from him now as well, which is so valuable.Taking the past into the futureEven without notes from the big guy, Ramoudt says that Jaegher is continuing to push the boundaries of stainless construction techniques.Not resting on our laurels is the only way to build on the renewed momentum of our brand, he says. Were an old company, but the bikes we build are cutting edge. A good example of that is the Phoenix road bike weve just launched. Its one of the first stainless steel bikes to use 3D printed steel junctions, which have come out of a two-year collaboration with a university and the Belgian Institute for Welding Technology.Stainless steel is notoriously hard to work with and frames cant be adjusted once made, so every one has to be spot on from the get-go.Juan Trujillo AndradesRamoudt walks Cyclist over to an example, and its quite a thing to behold. The lines at the tube junctions look carbon-like in their flowing seamlessness.Well be making more widespread use of the technology as we move forward, says Ramoudt. It improves stiffness, increases design freedom and modernises the looks of the bikes as well.Its clear Jaegher is having some success in moving steel from its utilitarian roots into genuine superbike territory. Thats just as well because the brand has bold plans for the future.Jan is a cycling fanatic, so his professional expertise dovetails perfectly with his passion.Juan Trujillo AndradesWe now have the foundations in place to triple our output over the next two years, says Ramoudt. Our domestic recognition is solid, so now were working to expand internationally.The easy way to expand would be to make large numbers of stock bikes, but Ramoudt says Jaegher is determined to do things the right way.People who step into our workshop have had stock bikes before and come to us for something more. In stainless steel, bespoke fabrication is the way to do it best. For most of the last 90 years weve done it that way, and thats the way well carry on doing it in future.Juan Trujillo AndradesWhats in a name?Quite a lot, as it turns outJaegher is the Flemish spelling of jger, the German word for hunter, which we like for its associations with KoM hunting and the type of riding our bikes are best suited for, says Jaegher co-owner Emanuel Ramoudt. But we got to that from an American fighter pilot, Chuck Yeager, who was the first man to break the sound barrier. We worked from that to the naming system of our bikes as well. Phoenix, Ascender, Interceptor they are all named after fighter jets. Fighter jets arent made from composite, theyre made from metal, which I like to think says something.Etymology aside, Jaeghers other branding is beautifully considered as well. Ramoudt says the nested circles around the J on the bikes head badge nod to the crosshairs of a fighter pilots targeting system, as well as representing the different diameters of tubing it uses in its framesets. Then the font used for the Jaegher logo causes the tails of the J and the R to flick out in the curve of handlebar drops. Neat.The post Flemish steel: Behind the scenes at Jaegher appeared first on Cyclist.

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