The Hindu : New Delhi News : Now a bike designed for women

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Thursday, Sep 11, 2008
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New Delhi

Now a bike designed for women

Sandeep Joshi

The ‘3700 WSD’ cycle model is priced at Rs.16,000

Photo: V.V. Krishnan

(From left) FireFox MD Shiv Inder Singh; Jay Moncel and Pete St. Onge, International Territory Manager and Head launching a special women bike on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: Aimed at popularising biking among women in India, the U.S.-based Trek on Wednesday introduced a “women specific design” (WSD) bike that has been specially designed keeping in the mind safety and comfort requirements of women.

Available through leading bicycle manufacturer Firefox Bikes Pvt. Ltd. in India, the ‘3700 WSD’ bike model has been priced at Rs.16,000. “But don’t go by its price, it is a perfect machine for any biking enthusiast. Biking in India, particularly leisure and professional biking, is gaining momentum. Though we are still far behind compared to any developed nation, the demand for such hi-end bikes in India will continue to grow fast,” said Firefox Bikes’ Managing Director Shiv Inder Singh.

“Our WSD models have been designed after thorough global research. It has been accepted internationally and we are sure Indians too would like it because of its driving pleasure with better control, more power and more comfort levels,” said Trek’s International Territory Manager J. Peter St. Onge.

Last year, around 2,500 Trek models were sold in India from around 12 models currently available. “This year we are looking at a figure of around 3,200-3,300, of which 30 per cent would come from the WSD category. We will soon launch new models in various categories, mostly focussing on mountain bikes and high-end road bikes” said Mr. Onge.

Talking about the Indian bike market, Mr. Singh said the market for hi-performance was growing fast. “We are selling around 1,500 bikes per month, of which around 15 per cent are hi-performance bikes. The demand for such bikes is especially high in Southern and Western India, with Bangalore and Pune being the two major centres. To cater to these demands, we are fast expanding our sales network from 35 outlets to 40 covering all major metros and mini-metros,” Mr. Singh added

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