The Bike Hitches A Hike

The classic hub-and-spoke is surging ahead. A marked increase in awareness about the environment and fitness, has given a fillip to the bicycle industry. As Indian consumers pedal ahead, the industry is looking forward to a highly profitable future. The arrival of Covid and the resultant lockdowns has prompted people to ride more. The country, which manufactures 18 million cycles per annum, is the world’s second-largest producer and is seeking a ramp-up in production figures. “When I had started cycling as a hobby (12 years back), I would see very few people cycling. Now, it has picked up a lot and there are many cycling communities. Also, earlier, the events were organised in a few fixed destinations like Himachal Pradesh. Now you will find many cycling groups active in many pockets of our cities,” says Shankar Singh Bisht, a 43-year-old, who is head of training and...