Hospitality gets sporty makeover

The café, which was started with an aim to bring together members of the cycling community, increase awareness about the sport and foster a sense of pride in the community, already has a new branch set up in Hyderabad (last December). Apart from the sales and service of premium bicycles, the café also sells cycling merchandise and accessories, connects enthusiasts with regular rides and tours and even offers expert advice on cycling. 

Giving us an overview of the brand’s growth plans, Ashish Thadani, the promoter of Absolute Speciality, tells us, “We plan on setting up cafés in the top cities of India such as Mumbai, Pune, Kochi and Chandigarh. There is certainly a great opportunity for us to build this brand and create an entire lifestyle and ecosystem around cycling and sports. The response to the café from Chennai has been very encouraging, and in a way, it has been a driver for expanding into other cities.” 

Arun Alagappan, President, TI Cycles of India, says, “We want to open these cafés in at least 16 more cities. The investment planned for this venture over a period is about Rs 50 crore.” Of course, the demand for bicycles, and especially performance bicycles in this milieu, is something that the promoters of the café are trying to drive. 

Alagappan informs us, “When it comes to the market size of performance bikes, its actually quite minuscule. Volume-wise it’s just about 35,000 bikes annually across India. This might not seem like a large number, but about five years ago, this number was at zero. These bikes cost anywhere from Rs 30,000 onward and can go up to a few lakhs. The market for bikes priced upwards of Rs 10,000 is also growing at an encouraging rate. In 2008-09, this segment was non-existent, and now the market has touched close to 5,00,000 cycles.” 

TI Cycles has consolidated all its retail under Track and Trail which has two divisions – Urban and Sport. Eventually, the company is looking to have 125 stores across the country. TI Cycles has also started the Premium Cycling Group (PCG), which straddles brands such as Roadeo, Montra, Schwinn, Cannondale and Ridley. 

Alagappan says, “As the market leaders, we see that the premium range of cycles is outgrowing the regular range of bicycles. Personally, I think it is set for a 50 per cent growth over the next year. The reason for that is people are upgrading their cycles and taking the sport quite seriously. It’s the first time that we are seeing corporates starting their own cycle racing team. And we also have our own factory racing team.”