BENGALURU: With rumours of a fuel shortage gripping the state in the wake of the ongoing West Asia conflict, a rise in demand for the green mode of commute is being noticed at many cycle shops around the city.
“We definitely have had more enquiries about our bicycles since the crisis began. Not all of them have materialised into sales, since we mostly specialise in performance bicycles,” said a store in-charge at a bicycle outlet in Indiranagar. “But the rise in demand is undeniable. During January of this year, we had around 80 enquiries via our website. From March 4 till today (March 26), we have had 137 enquiries already,” he added.
A bicycle outlet in Koramangala, which has stores all over Bengaluru, noted a slight increase in adults purchasing bicycles over a period of around one month. “While usually around 20% of our sales comes from bicycles for adults (the rest being bicycles for children or teenagers), of late the number has risen to 30%,” the store owner said.
Bicycle sales are usually high during this time of the year, mostly owing to parents buying bicycles for their children during their summer vacations. A salesperson at a bicycle shop on Sarjapur Main Road said the store is seeing high footfalls, but the summer season being the peak season for sales is a major factor. “We do however expect a sudden surge in purchases if the situation (in West Asia) worsens,” he said.