TI Cycles powers into the high-end segment

A row of uniformed workers stands along an assembly line working on freshly painted, gleaming bicycle frames – the bold decals emblazoned Montra catch the eye. A machine fine tunes the tension on wheel spokes while in a parallel line cycles are being packed in cardboard cartons for exports. Elsewhere cartons are stacked with labels of international brands, for which TI Cycles is making the bicycles. This is Murugappa group-owned TI Cycle’s export line marking a new milestone in a traditional product that is fast evolving – bicycle manufacture.

In the coming year the company will launch the first ever domestic brand of fully carbon, road bike in the super-premium segment.

After a gap of nearly two decades TI Cycles has started manufacturing bicycles for exports from a dedicated assembly line with an annual capacity of about 1 lakh cycles, said Arun Alagappan, Managing Director of the company.

The bicycles are being exported to Europe, West Asia and neighbouring countries.

These are not the staid, steel workhorses that once dominated the city’s roads but high-tech, aluminium alloy frames, with imported components such as tyres, cranks and gear sets built to international specifications.

The price of a Montra can match some of the top-end performance motorcycles: anywhere from about ₹12,000 to over ₹80,000. Other international brands can cost as much as a car or a house with prices going up to a few lakh rupees.

The changes in the bicycle market coupled with the growing demand for high-end and performance machines have contributed to the company restarting exports.

In the domestic market TI Cycles is targeting a dominant market share of about 40 per cent in bicycles across the premium segment. These cycles are priced ₹15,000 onwards. At an estimated market size of about 30,000 units a year, Alagappan expects this set to grow to 1 lakh in two-three years.

The company also has a 40 per cent market share in the super-premium segments comprising international brands which it markets in India. These include brands such as Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose and the Bianchi. The market size is estimated at about 40,000 a year, he said.

TI cycles is also a major player in the mass premium segment with the Hercules and Rodea (starting from about ₹7,000). The market is estimated to grow 20 per cent to 5 lakh units in the coming year, he said.

The company is exploiting the revival in the cycle market, particularly to expand its production in the high-end segments. Over the last two years, with an addition of about 6.5 lakh units a year in production capacity, its total output is now about 50 lakh cycles.

By 2016, the company hopes to set up a ₹100-crore unit with a capacity of about 30 lakh cycles a year, in North India.

This includes the 20-lakh-unit factory in Noida which will be shifted to the new location, Alagappan said.