ICYCLE- The Only Bicycle Solution Provider

ICYCLE Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a Bicycle Solutions Provider at Bangalore, under the brand name www.ICYCLE.in. This Company works towards creating a bicycle friendly infrastructure.  ICYCLE has been actively creating cyclists since 2011 through its ‘New bike friendly’ weekend rides through scenic trails around Bangalore. ICYCLE is the only company in India to own a fleet of MTBs and organize cycling events on a large scale.

Though started as a bicycle touring organization, ICYCLE evolved into a bigger entity, catering a variety of cycling requirements.  From weekend rides and corporate events to the annual All India MTB Challenge, the Great Malnad Challenge, ICYCLE is the leading bicycle tour operator in the City. The two variants of the MTBs, BETTA and PARVATH are designed in-house and are regularly used by cycling enthusiasts.

The evolution from a weekend tour operator to a bicycle solutions provider has passed through quite a few learning phases. Earlier, bicycles had to be rented from outside and their quality was not always reliable. Moreover, transporting the bikes to and fro was an exhausting and costly exercise. All this, coupled with the uncertainty of number of participants, drove improvisation. Currently, ICYCLE owns customized vehicles and a fleet of bikes that has reduced effort and cost.

The Eureka Moment

Inspired by the 2010 edition of the Great Malnad Challenge organized by Tandem Trails, a few friends started cycling.  Since they had access to a station wagon, transporting the cycles to ride in trails outside the city was advantageous.  Thus, able to overcome the challenge of cycling in the city to reach the trails in the outskirts and attracting others to the idea of cyclo-touring. Thus started the legacy of fully supported, weekend cycling events. Fortunately, Bangalore is blessed with beautiful cycling trails that perfectly suited their idea of leisure cycling.

The ICYCLE Team and their Adventures

The first team consisted of all those who had started cycling together. Over time the team currently is made up of

• Manjesh Chandrashekaran (39) an Alumni of St. Joseph’s College of Arts & Science, Bangalore who has a versatile experience in BPO, industrial certification, event management, etc.
• The attitude boy, Santhosh Anand (32) a leader by nature has captained various cricket tournaments and holds experience in the corporate field.
• Joseph Franklin (34), an active sportsperson and a ‘Friend-cum-Advisor’ has immense experience in People Management, Brand Building and Marketing.

The initial conceptualization and business idea was proposed by Manjesh, while Santhosh handles all the operations and Joseph takes care of business development.

The Cyclic Traction and Growth

Firstly it started with 2 weekend rides per month with about 8-10 cyclists per event.  Today ICYCLE organizes over 10 rides a month, apart from corporate cycling activities.  Initial revenues were only through weekend events.  Now the revenue streams include bicycle rentals, cycling themed events for companies, cycling solutions for cyclothons and annual events. Except for sales and service, ICYCLE caters to all other aspects of catering to cyclists. Apart from revenue from the events, a major portion of ICYCLE’s annual turnover include brand sponsorship of cycling events. ICYCLE used to cater to about 20-30 cycling enthusiasts in a month and it has now grown to about 1200-1500 enthusiasts.  Over 90% of them are first time cyclists and ICYCLE is their first foray into cyclo-touring. The Unique Selling Point of ICYCLE is to create cyclists and show people the fun side of cycling.

A Weekend Fun always

Though bootstrapped, ICYCLE is now a reputed brand offering various solutions for cyclists and non-cyclists.  A significant amount of business comes from customized bicycle events for companies and their employees.  The weekend events are an effective platform to promote ICYCLE rides.  A majority of the participants are employees in from the many big companies in Bangalore.

Cycling Path Ahead

By 2020, this startups aims to be no.1 in the Indian ‘Premium Bicycle’ segment, offering urban bicycle solutions and cyclo-touring options.  The future plans include, merchandizing of the ICYCLE brand, bicycle sharing services, competitions, building bicycle friendly infrastructure  and other bicycle related activities.