FireFox to unveil Trek's Rs 1.68 lakh bicycle

The world may have fixed its gaze on Tata Motors' Rs 1 lakh car at the upcoming Auto Expo, but a bicycle with a fancier price tag is set to create a flutter at the fair.

Noida-based FireFox Bikes will launch the Madone-5.2 bicycle, priced at Rs 1.68 lakh at the expo.

"We feel the Auto Expo is a mobility exhibition. It will have e-bikes, cars, trucks. As the concept is mobility, why not bicycles?" FireFox Managing Director Shiv Inder Singh said.

He said the company's participation at the expo was aimed at creating brand awareness and target up-market customers who like to take bicycles on holidays to hill stations.

"The target audience is people who are going to spend their holidays at hill stations such as Shimla and Manali and may travel short distances of 4-5 kms with bicycles," Singh said.

The company is sourcing the bike from its US-based partner, Trek.

"This bike is not for mountaineering. It is a road bike, a kind of speed bike made of ultra light weight OCLV carbon fibre frame with about 20 speed options."

"We expect to increase sales to 60,000 bikes a year by 2011 from 12,000 initially," Singh said.

The company has already launched the Fuel Ex 8 bicycle priced at Rs 1,06,000.

"The latest bikes are for urban kids. This (sizeable) population has the tendency to imitate the West, especially in their lifestyles. Since such bikes are a hit in the West, we expect a good response from the Indian buyers, too," he said.