As bored Pakistanis turn to cycling, bicycle sales and crime runs rife

In 1855, 12 small ingots of aluminium were displayed at the ‘Exposition Universelle,’ a ‘World Fair’ organised in Paris at the bequest of French emperor Napoleon III. The wondrous, shiny, and most importantly rare new metal wowed the global audience, and its demand soon skyrocketed. Aluminium’s almost ghostly lightness and the excitement of its discovery made it an ideal metal for jewellery, and it wasn’t long until the French elite were wearing brooches and buttons made of the material.

The original purpose of the lightweight, malleable metal were its significant practical applications, but the stupendous cost of refining it ended up turning it into little more than a passing fad for the French court. The story goes that emperor Napoleon III would eat off aluminium plates while his guests would have to slum it out with old fashioned gold cutlery. 

All this changed in 1886, with the discovery that aluminium could be obtained through the process of double electrolysis. In a few short years, aluminum went from being the most expensive metal in the world to being the cheapest. Sold at more than $1200 per kilo in the 1850s, a kilo of the metal cost less than a dollar by the beginning of the 20th century.     

Today, aluminum is the cheapest metal in the world, and used widely in products from cans and bicycles to aeroplanes. It is ironic, perhaps, that a lot of modern bicycles are made of aluminium. Because by the time aluminium had fallen from its short stint as the most expensive metal in the world, bicycles were the new passing fad among the European elite.    

Cycling was considered an easy substitute for horse-riding. Unlike early motor cars, it was not loud or dangerous and still a hallmark of the modern flaneur. Bicycling became popular among the elite, but similar to the case of aluminium, the practical benefits of the self-powered vehicle meant an increase in demand. Innovation resulted in cheap bicycles becoming the ride of the masses, especially in places like China, where the two wheeled contraptions were the most common form of transportation, leading the country to be known as ‘the kingdom of bicycles.’ 

Today, bicycle riding is divided among those who must bike and those who bike for leisure, with environmental bikers making up a small intersection. A great place to see this divide in biking is Pakistan, where on the one hand you have sturdy double-bar and thin tyred Sohrabs stereotypically ridden by security guards and gardners, and on the other you have imported mountain bikes strapped to the back of four-wheelers to be taken into parks and hills for exercise and fresh air. 

Except now, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in Pakistan, riding high-tech bikes is no longer just for the fitness conscious elite. Locked at home, away from school and working from home, people with the money to spare on tricked out bicycles have taken to the streets in forming biking groups all over major cities in the country. 

Originally, it was a result of the empty streets brought about by the lockdown, but even after it was lifted, the biking trend has continued. According to bicycle manufacturers and importers, this new fad among elite circles has directly resulted in the unpredictable rise in bicycle sales. 

However, with this spike in bicycle sales have come other things, such as smuggling operations to bring in these in-demand bicycles, as well as criminals turning to looting these bikers on the streets. Will the fad last, and more importantly, is it making money? Profit, takes a look.

Where to get a bicycle

One thing must be set straight, those jumping onto the biking bandwagon these days do not want locally made economical bicycles. They want the best, branded luxury products that money can buy. One top company in this regard is Giant Bicycles, a Taiwanese company that is the world’s largest manufacturer of bicycles.

In Pakistan, their official distributors are the SK Business Corporation, which has its head office and display center in Lahore. Giant provides high quality products that are unmatched in the market, but come at a hefty price tag. Speaking to Profit, the company’s director, Khalid Hashmi, said that a Giant Bicycle in Pakistan could cost anywhere between Rs 50,000 to Rs 500,000. 

“The difference between other bicycles and Giant Bicycles is huge. Firstly, our bicycles have aluminum frames and are lighter in weight and the ride of cycles with less weight are enjoyable. Other local or Chinese cycles have heavier frames of almost 30 to 40 kg and anyone riding those cycles gets exhausted in a short time.”

“The trend to bike has started all over the world, especially with people becoming more environmentally conscious, but the new trend in Pakistan is something different. This was an unpredictable sale because no one saw it coming,” he says. “The sale increased to a level that a shortage was seen for these Giant Bicycles because the manufacturers were also closed and till now the demand could not be met with. Pakistan has good markets in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad and the trend is also in these same cities.” 

However, bicycles in Pakistan, at least high-end mountain bikes and streamlined roadsters, are not produced locally. According to annual international trade statistics, the value of imports of bicycles to Pakistan totaled $6.1 million in 2019. During 2019, Pakistan imported about 1.7 million bicycles and bicycle parts, and exported only about 12,000.

Because of this, while distributors of companies like Giant Bicycles clearly saw an unexpected boom at a time when a slowdown was expected, they were also unable to keep up with the demand. “There is no industry in Pakistan. These heavy cycles are imported. Pakistan manufactures cycles like Sohrab which are not export quality. However, people still want these fancier and more reliable imported options. This is where we come in,” Hashmi tells us.

More importantly, the price range on the bikes that official distributors were selling was hefty, even by the standards of the ‘elite’ that were the progenitors of this trend, especially considering this may be a passing fancy for many. Which is people turned to more traditional markets to find the same kind of product, which delivered in typical fashion.  

Let us take Lahore as a microcosm of how bicycles come to the marketplace, where they come from and how they are sold. The City’s most iconic market for bicycles is Neela Gumbad in the historical Anarkali Bazar. It is also a center from where bicycles are sent to other cities all across the country. 

Most of the bicycles sold in this market are imported from China, since local bicycles are usually considered ugly and have certain class connotations behind them. But the market has the entire range available, from the most expensive imported bikes to cheap knock-offs, the price range of the product starts from Rs2,500 and can go up to as pricey as Rs50,000 for a single set of wheels. 

According to Haji Tariq, a shopkeeper at Neela Gumbad, despite their concerns regarding the lockdown, even when shops were closed, people kept finding ways to get to bicycles. A lot of the operations shifted to online, with internet savvy middle-men helping many shopkeepers get higher sales sitting at home than they did during regular pre-pandemic days.   

There are also markets in Lahore where second-hand imported, luxury bikes are also available. The flea market near Lahore’s railway station is becoming famous as a bicycle markt. Many of the containers that arrive from Europe and America with all kinds of goods also have imported bicycles in them. According to an area shopkeeper, Zia Butt, in Flea Market says that when an imported bicycle comes out from a container, it gets sold out immediately, even before any refurbishment work is done on them, because they are in such high demand. 

“On average there are around 300 imported bicycles for adults and children in the market,” he told us. “There is no fixed price for the goods coming out from the container, so we fix the price by looking at the customer and bicycles are sold from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000.”

Similar container markets in Lahore can be found near the Harbanspura area, and an area shopkeeper, Sajid Bajwa, says that people from posh areas have been coming to try and make a good bargain. “We import bicycles from China and sell them here. The price of a bicycle ranges from Rs20,000 to Rs50,000, and while most of them are slightly used, the quality of the bicycles is very good.”

Rawalpindi’s Raja Bazar is also famous for the buying and selling of imported and local bicycles. Farrukh Ali, a shopkeeper in Raja Bazaar, told Profit a similar story to the one in Neela Gumbad in Lahore – that most of the bicycles in the market are Chinese and their prices are not high. “In the days of the lockdown, since the shops were closed, we did most of the work online and are selling about twenty to thirty bicycles a month.” 

Meanwhile, more sub-standard bicycles are also sold in the Rawalpindi market as many bicycles are imported from China without any brand name written on them. The shopkeepers here also sell them under their own names, or simply pasted the stickers of brand names such as Giant on these bikes from China.

The situation in Islamabad was different, where according to shop owners, most of the people use expensive and imported bicycles which cost from Rs50,000 to Rs200,000. Dealers of these bicycles only import bicycles on the demand of their customers. Because these bicycles are expensive, not every shopkeeper can afford them.

Karachi’s Jackson Market is also a major market for the sale and purchase of imported and local bicycles. Rashid Burney, a shopkeeper here, told Profit that the market sells all kinds of imported bicycles. Bicycles ranging from Rs3,000 to Rs500,000 are available in this market. “Apart from Chinese bicycles, you can find bicycles of every brand in the world.”

Are bikes being smuggled? 

Similarly, Quetta’s bicycle market is very important in terms of buying and selling imported bicycles. Niaz Khan, a shopkeeper here, says that all the bicycles sold in their market were imported. However, the ‘imports’ he mentions happen through shady channels. 

“As the Chaman border is close by, most of the bicycles that come here are also smuggled. Many bicycles also come to Pakistan as scrap through the Chaman border from Japan and China and are repaired here and sold in the market. The price of a bicycle is very low here. Imported bicycles are available in our market for Rs5,000 to Rs20,000.”

Atta Khan, a professional cyclist said that bicycles were priced so far apart for a whole range of reasons. And since this was a passing fad, a lot of people that wanted high end bikes were willing to buy refurbished second-hand bikes either brought in through containers or smuggled into the country. “If Giant’s SCR2 is for 125,000 aluminum bikes, whereas if you go for Propel type it is up to 550,000. The difference is in the body and material. Tyres of bicycles are also very expensive. Similarly, there is a huge difference between a $1,000 and a $10,000 bike,” he tells us. 

“Before corona, there were buyers who were actually enthusiasts of riding. There had been serious riding groups like Critical Mass Karachi, Critical Mass Lahore, and separate groups were also formed in Lahore and Karachi. When the lockdown started, people imported bicycles and the prices of bicycles increased to twice the price. The price of the bicycles of Rs100,000 increased to Rs125,000. People had nothing to do in Pakistan and thus this trend picked up pace during the lockdown days.”

Khalid Hashmi, was quick to dismiss these claims of smuggled branded bicycles, container lots and knock offs, despite his earlier acknowledgement that his company had a hard time meeting demand. 

“Cycle smuggling is being overstated here. People that want to ride an imported cycle prefer to purchase a new one. There are used cycles which come to Pakistan but they are a part of scrap,” he tells us.  “Every year the models of bicycles are changed.  If the cycle is 10 to 15 years old, then definitely its price would be less and will be in scrap. Those cycles are modified and fixed here and then sold on.”

However, everything shopkeepers say is against this, and if this cycling is just a passing fad, those partaking would want to go for cheaper options to start off rather than going for big investments in bikes. They just need a good looking machine for now that works. Atta Khan also disagreed, saying smuggled brands of bicycles come to Pakistan from Quetta via Chaman. 

“The bicycles worth Rs1 million is sold in half the price after being smuggled, which we also find in Karachi whereas the official distributor of imported bicycles are fewer. The vast majority buy these from Karachi’s Jackson Market, which are smuggled from Quetta and Chaman,” he said.

 Crime wave

As the  cycle riding fad began, there came with it social media trends.Bloggers and other new bikers started sharing cycling videos on social media. This, of course, led to posts detailing the makes, models, and prices of the high-end bicycles. With information flowing on social media and different websites, bikers soon enough became bunnies for robbers. 

A senior cyclist from Karachi, Omer Ehtesham, said that he had been cycling since 2006, and this was the first time he had been subjected to a crime and felt threatened. “I have hardly heard of one bike being stolen, but since the posts and videos started making the rounds on the internet, there have been 5 to 6 gunpoint bicycle snatching in my area of DHA,” he said.

“This is only the beginning, now that people are realising how valuable these bicycles can be, such crime will spread like wildfire. The value of bicycles over 150,000 have been highlighted in videos and posts on the internet, especially on PakWheels. So miscreants are now actively looking for these bicycles, which are a much better business than taking mobile phones or wallets. What I am afraid of now, unless law enforcement takes action, is the day a cyclist is shot in the process of such a crime.”

The video on PakWheels being hinted at was an informational video discussing the price and make of the bikes, which some bikers seem to resent, since they claim it has put them on the map and made the vulnerable to crime. Oher bikers find the argument ‘funny’. The CEO of PakWheels, Raza Saeed, also said PakWheels could not be blamed for putting up a bike review video. “You cannot say that crime is taking place because of the video on PakWheels. The trend of cycling has picked up in the last three months in this country, and previously, we have not seen such a surge. So if you remember, back when there were no mobile phones, there was no interest in them and they were not snatched. This is simply a result of increased use.”

“The ones who are blaming us, do they have any factual data that this day the video was uploaded on PakWheels and the same day FIRs were registered. If it was not on PakWheels, it would have been on any other website, and there are many other sites where such information is available on Youtube as well,” he said. “Our video is just a bike review, and we are only a drop in the ocean of information on the internet. This is more about the general law and order situation.”