There's good demand for over Rs 1 lakh cycles in Mumbai: Pravin V Patil

Starkenn Sports, which launched its first Mumbai showroom recently in suburban Khar, holds distribution rights of Giant Bicycles in India & South Asia. Pravin V Patil, managing director and CEO, talks about the brand and the competition, in conversation with Shahkar Abidi.

How big is the cycling market in India and what is the scope of its growth?
According to an estimate, the overall cycling industry is around Rs 4,670 crore at present in the country, growing at a 1-2% plus /minus. The high-end cycle market, on the other hand, is over Rs 100 crore and is fast growing with CAGR rate of about 25-30%.

How competitive is the market and how do you plan to fight it out as the market gets tough?
I can say with conviction that our products don't have any competition in the market at present. Ours are the most premium products available in the market. We are expanding to several other cities in the country after Mumbai launch. Chandigarh and Delhi are next.

Last year, you launched Propel Advanced SL 0 bike, which, according to your company, is the fastest bicycle of any such brand. How fast can it travel and how many of such bikes have been sold so far?
Initially, when we launched it last year we thought that it may be just used as a show piece and will not sell in the India market. But to our surprise, so far we have been able to sell 19 such bikes. Performance wise, under set conditions the bike can travel up to 60 km per hour.

What kinds of bicycles do people in cities like Mumbai purchase?
People usually opt for mountaineering bikes in the beginning as these are light weight. However, later on a few may move to hybrid model and/or finally to road bikes. The road bikes provide speed. All three types of bike have different aerodynamics and design.

Mumbai seems to be the least likely place where cycling is encouraged as the city traffic remains congested and lanes/by-lanes clogged by squatters. What made you come and set up shop here?
The fact is Mumbai was never under our radar for the same reason. However, after opening up a showroom in Pune, we realised that there is a demand of 2-3 cyles per week and that too for costly ones over Rs 1 lakh of value. Also, since there was no service centres in Mumbai, we realised that people are spending Rs 4,000-5,000 for bring it to Pune for getting the cycle serviced. This gave as the confidence to start a full-fledged showroom in Mumbai complete with features like bike simulator, bike spa, bike fit, bike library, bike café apart from huge varieties of bikes and accessories.

What significance does cycling has for a city like Mumbai which is bursting with population explosion, pollution of all kinds, crumbling infrastructure, etc?
Let me put it this way. According to a report by transport ministry, about 50% of travel on motorised vehicles happens for within less than four kilometres. Just imagine the kind of pollution than can be contained, the amount of fuel and foreign exchange (used for importing fuel) that can be saved with use of cycle.

Despite the infrastructure handicap, do you think Mumbai can still be developed as a cycle-friendly destination like many of the major countries in West?
Mumbai is already cluttered, but I think the government can plan it well in the fast-growing extended suburbs. Interestingly, Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav too faced the same problem in developing cycling tracks in Lucknow. Now, it is learnt that his government is proposing to develop a cycling track in between the road divider, with plants on either sides. Paris has similar system on some of its busy roads.