On Monday, January 15, there was a notable visit to the Ahooga premises in Anderlecht, Brussels. The Belgian company welcomed member of the federal Belgian government, State Secretary for Budget and Consumer Affairs, Alexia Bertrand. Mrs. Bertrand emphasizes her support for promising Brussels-based companies.
In the week running up to the annual bike fair Velofollies, starting in Kortrijk next Friday, Mrs Bertrand paid a visit to one of Belgium’s most innovative players in the sector.
The delegation was received by Mrs Gokce Dogru, CEO of Ahooga, surrounded by her team.
The agenda included a company presentation, a tour of the facilities with the warehouse, R&D prototyping room and the workshop including the inhouse assembly line. Naturally, a test ride on the brand-new Ahooga Max, Ahooga’s latest model, was also part of the program.
During the presentation, Gokce discussed the 20,000 bikes sold by the company since its founding in 2015, the diverse team representing 8 nationalities, and the company’s commitment to its home base, Brussels. Recently, with the support of Finance & Invest Brussels, the company invested in an inhouse production facility in its headquarters in Anderlecht to manufacture its new model, Max, in Belgium.
A significant portion of the discussion following the presentation focused on the new Max model.
During the Q&A session, Mrs. Bertrand had several questions delving into the uniqueness of the product and the patents of Ahooga. In particular, the discussion centered around the double triangle principle, unusual for a folding and unique to Ahooga folding bikes, which allows the bike to ride superiorly and not feel like a compromise, unlike most folding bikes.
“It’s amazing to see how a team of strong engineers, with a solid dose of creativity, can make a difference in the booming bicycle sector”, commented Mrs. Bertrand.
A tour was then conducted through the various departments of the company. The R&D department took a moment to showcase different prototypes of frames and components ,some built with inhouse 3D printer, to optimize the design iterations during development. It then moved on to the pre-assembly and assembly of the new Max. Technician Karrar explained the assembly process using the “one man one bike” principle, where one person builds a complete bike in 2 to 3 hours. The bike then undergoes a series of quality controls before being cleared for shipment.
Finally, Mrs Bertrand extensively tested the Max herself. After her ride in the rain, she exclaimed, “It rides even better than my large e-bike at home.” Better advertising is hard to imagine. Thomas Moreels, chief engineer at the Brussels-based company, was delighted with her response: “It’s great to see how Minister Bertrand immediately identified what we wanted to achieve with this bike on a short ride – a folding bike that simply rides better than one with large wheels.”
