The Belgian Boys Club (aka The Belgian Crew) is a bespoke brand born out of Belgium in 2013, showcasing our passion for cycling and its Belgian history. It was never meant to be just another cycling brand, instead a tangible representation of the intangibles, the passion for cycling that runs through our blood. Born for no reason, over a chat between friends to create a Cycling Crew that shared the same passions on and off the bike, created by passionate cyclists for cyclists. Our aspirations were never driven by grandeur, instead we measured our success by the enthusiasm in which cyclists would talk about cycling in Belgium.
We’ve refrained from creating colorful kits or new designs each season, because we expected our garments to out live any fashion trend. We also predominantly used darker tones, a function of necessity if you know the roads we ride!
Over time, many things have changed, many many (and many) cycling brands were born, but we never changed our principles! We have a simple strategy, we do this for love and passion, for what we believe is the best sport in the world. We have adopted 5 key principles:
- Only manufacture in Europe, always.
- Love beer and cycling
- Quality over quantity
- Do not overprice
- Have passion or stop
As strange as it sounds, you can look at us like a Non-Profit Organization, the profit we make, we re-invest in more and better garments, events and group rides. We started the brand with one single cycling cap, 20 pieces, that was our full season production! They sold-out in less than 3 weeks, but we still had no money, so we only made another 30. That was the yearly production. The following year we invested big, as big as we could, and we made one full kit to sell amongst friends. We were broke, but guess what, the kit sold and people wanted more, so we finally sold 50 jerseys and began continuous production. 5 years later, the challenges still exist, but our passion remains and love being involved in the cycling community.
Many times we are asked: Who is your typical clientele? Who are you targeting?
Our customers are those that believe in what we do and what we stand for. They are the type of cyclist that come Spring time, they can feel the hairs on their arms stand up. Those that ride for passion, and their palmarès include arriving first at the café or the pub. Those that know Eddy Merckx better than the Pope, have tears in their eyes if they see Tom Boonen or could quite happily sleep on cobbles!
The Belgian Crew is an addiction to Belgian cycling and its surroundings. Full Stop.
We have grown a good following and we like to do ‘authentic’ posts, most importantly, never take us too seriously, you got to have fun and a laugh, life on the bike is hard as it is.
OTHER FACTS ABOUT US
Belgian Crew vs Belgian Boys Club
We could talk for hours but essentially, it is the same thing. You can call us Crew/Club/Group/Peloton, whatever you like, it is not about the name, it is about our beliefs and commitment.
Initially we created the Crew to represent our Casual Collection, which includes pre/after rides or rest day clothing. If you live, breath and watch cycling like us, you should be part of our crew, on or off the bike. We also soon realized that our group was a bit biased, and while we have been accused several times of being sexist, it is completely the opposite! We love women, and we love them so much that we think they should be able to join us (please do! we praise you) and feel part of our cycling crew! We organized cycling event/rides and the ladies felt a somewhat excluded by our name, the Belgian Boys Club. This was not a marketing strategy to sell more gear, in fact, we are yet to make any women’s gear. Still, we wanted to show our support for women’s cycling and we knew we wanted to be more inclusive.
Why we do not discount often? Or can I get a discount?
Yes, that’s right and we have a few reasons:
- We do not play the set your prices to the top, then discount game
- We do not care that everybody else does it
- We do not follow the trends
- We believe in the quality of our products and our commitment to deliver the best customer service experience. Does Apple discount their products?
- We do not overprice, but rather try to price right for the quality and service you are receiving.
- Our discounts generally involve old or very limited stock, and hardly go over 20%, simply because we make minimum margin as it is.
Why is shipping so much?
We agree, we hate shipping charges too and we would love to have free shipping for all, really! But again, we want to give you, the best customer experience, and only ship express by courier. Recently, we have adopted a flat rate of 10eu within EU and 15eu worldwide and believe us, it costs us more, regardless if you live around the corner or in another country. We are always trying to bring the price down, but we are not yet Amazon with the power to negotiate. At the moment we offer free shipping over 125eu and that is already 10/15eu less we make on your purchase. Isn’t that a discount already?