Cycles in huge demand

Bengaluru is buying cycles like never before, with stores reporting up to a 400 per cent increase in sales this quarter

Spurred by a fear of public transport, the demand for cycles has skyrocketed in the last two months.

Decathlon, sports goods chain with showrooms across Bengaluru, markets several brands of cycles, including B-Twin.

A salesman at its Whitefield store told Metrolife many people were ordering cycles on the website.

“Most customers prefer cycles priced between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000”, he says. Gautam Shah, CEO of Jayant Probikes and Fitness in Jayanagar, says his store has seen a 150 to 200 per cent increase in monthly sales since the lockdown began. “Where we used to sell 10 bikes a week, we now sell 25 to 30,” he says.

Adults over kids

The demand is spurred by people cycling to keep fit during the pandemic. Cycling is also seen as an alternative to taking the bus, where maintaining social distancing is not easy.

“Usually, between April and June, we find kids coming in to buy cycles. For 20 adults buying cycles, we would have 80 kids. This time, we saw 80 adults and 20 kids showing interest,” Shah says.

Many customers are also wheeling in their old cycles to get them repaired.

Indian and imported cycles enjoy equal demand, say shop owners.

Customers are not always looking for cheap buys; a good number spend on imported cycles, which are more expensive than Indian ones.

Home products

Abhijit Pavar, franchise development head of Cycle World, which has branches across the city, has seen good demand for Indian-made Hero cycles.

“About 40 to 50 per cent people are eager to buy made in India products, whereas the others aren’t too picky,” he says. With the demand increasing and manufacturing slowing down because of the pandemic, stocks may run out soon, he says.

Supply chain

Rohan Kini, owner of BumsOnTheSaddle, says he has never before seen such healthy sales figures.

“In 14 years of my working in the industry, this April to June has been the best quarter. We’ve had about a 400 per cent increase in sales, mostly in the last two months,” he says.

BumsOnTheSaddle sells only imported cycles, so Rohan is wondering how to keep things going when stocks run out.

About 15 to 20 people are buying cycles every week from the store in Jayanagar. “Our most popular bike is the Specialized. It is from a US-based company, but most of their manufacturing is done in Taiwan,” he says.

International flight restrictions have resulted in supply chain concerns. The demand for cycles has risen worldwide, and manufacturers are ramping up production, he says.

Welcome change

Sathya Sankaran, bicycle mayor of Bengaluru, is thrilled to hear of the rise in cycle sales.

“We have been working for long to encourage people to use sustainable modes of transport, but it took a lockdown for our city to finally move in that direction,” he says. Cycling groups have proposed to the government to close certain streets to motor vehicles, and reserve them for pedestrians and cyclists.

“It is the ideal way to maintain social distance. We’re also talking to the BBMP to create a cycle lane on Outer Ring Road. A 17 km lane on either side will soon come up,” he says.

Another idea is to have one crore cycles in Bengaluru. Sathya calls it ‘Vision One Crore.’

Busy on Saturday

Bicycles stores are the busiest on Saturdays, with Sundays being locked down. Most stores allow only two people at a time and give them five to 10 minutes. Trials aren’t encouraged. Cycles are sanitised after each customer has left.

Good year

Many industries have suffered terribly because of the lockdown. But cycle traders have met and exceeded their monthly and yearly targets in just two months.