RIH is a Dutch bicycle manufacturer. The company is one of the last private bicycle builders in the Netherlands. RIH has its origins in three companies: ''RIH Sport'' in Amsterdam, ''Fongers'' from

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

and ''Cové'' from Limburg.

History

RIH was founded in 1921 by Willem (Wim) and Joop Bustraan at Westerstraat 150 situated in the working-class neighborhood

Jordaan The Jordaan is a neighbourhood of the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is part of the borough of Amsterdam-Centrum. The area is bordered by the Singelgracht canal and the neighbourhood of Frederik Hendrikbuurt to the west; the Prinsengracht to ...

, Amsterdam. In 1928, Willem Bustraan Jr. joined the business with his father and his uncle. The two brothers handed over the business to Willem Jr. in 1948. He then teamed up with Wim van der Kaaij who had learned the trade from an early age always helping in the shop as an apprentice. He was the sole owner of the business and still built frames until into his 70s, mostly

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

(racing) bikes. He died in 2014. Through the 1960s ''Fongers'' built lightweights in series under the RIH name, but this cooperation ended when Batavus-Intercycle acquired ''Fongers'' in 1970. About that time, in 1972, RIH started a collaboration with the ''Cové Fietsfabriek'' from Venlo. Later, Cové acquired the right to sell normal bicycles under the brand name RIH on the market. The company was the first Dutch frame builder that could build lightweight frames. In 2014, the firm moved to ''Gedempt Hamerkanaal 77, 1021KP HL Amsterdam (NH)'' (nowadays RIH Sport Amsterdam).

Championships

RIH's first championship was in 1924 when

Jan Hijzelendoorn Jan Hijzelendoorn (20 March 1929 – 22 October 2008) was a Dutch track cyclist who was active between 1948 and 1959. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics in sprint events with the best achievement of eights place in the 1 k ...

rode a Bustraan brothers' frame to the sprint and 1 kilometer titles in the Dutch National Championship. When during the 1950s large sponsored cycling teams entered the stage, RIH's successes deteriorated because henceforth the sponsors decided which material was used. This was a major change because until that time the individual riders took that decision. However, when RIH became material sponsor for the Dutch national cycling federation Royal Dutch Cycling Union (KNWU) between 1989 and 1996, the company was able to build on past successes. In 1990 Leontien van Moorsel won her first world title in the individual pursuit. Ingrid Haringa was world champion 1991 in sprint and 1991, 1993 and 1994 world champion in the points race. It is estimated that RIH frames have been ridden to over and 63 world and Olympic titles. All in all, RIH bikes were ridden 350 national championships and 63 world championships and Olympic gold medals in both road and track events. Among RIH's customers was

Gerrit Schulte Gerrit Schulte (7 January 1916 – 26 February 1992) was a Dutch professional track bicycle racer. Between 1940 and 1960 he won 19 six-day races out of 73 starts and was one of the dominant Six days racers of his time. Schulte was as well ...

, pursuit world champion in 1948 (beating the great Fausto Coppi), Arie van Vliet,

Jan Derksen Jan Derksen (23 January 1919 – 22 May 2011) was a Dutch professional cyclist. He was world professional track sprint champion in 1946 and 1957. He was the only rider to win a gold medal at Milan, Italy, in 1939 – in the world amateur sprint � ...

and Jan Pronk. During his professional career, Peter Post only rode on frames built by Willem Bustraan (both on the track and road). Even when riding for Willem II–Gazelle and Flandria, the RIH-built frames were painted in the team colors of his sponsor, and rebranded into Flandria or Gazelle.

Trivia

It has been suggested that RIH stands for nl, Rijwiel Industrie Holland ( en, Bicycle Industry Holland). However, one of the founders noted in an interview that RIH was named after Kara Ben Nemsi's horse (from Arabic: ''fast as the wind''), a character from the books of Karl May. The intertwined "GB" in the company's logo stands for "Brothers Bustraan" ( nl, Gebroeders Bustraan).

Videos

RIH Sport Amsterdam

Building a RIH Bike - Part 1

Building a RIH Bike - Part 2

References

External links