{"id":2620,"date":"2020-07-16T13:36:16","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T13:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/doerlife.com\/?p=2620"},"modified":"2020-07-21T08:29:15","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T08:29:15","slug":"atlas-cycles-70-years-legacy-comes-endatlas-cycles-the-70-years-legacy-comes-to-an-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebglory.com\/doerlife.com\/atlas-cycles-70-years-legacy-comes-endatlas-cycles-the-70-years-legacy-comes-to-an-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlas Cycles, The 70 Years Legacy Comes To An End"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the post-independence era, Rai Bahadur Janki Das Kapur, seeing the demand for bicycles, started to assemble them from a modest shed in Sonipat (then in undivided Punjab, now Haryana) in the year 1950. By 1951, within the first 12 months in the business, Janki Das had sold 12,000 bikes and relocated into a 25-acre factory complex called ‘Atlas Cycle Industries Ltd’. Janki Das Kapur, would soon be known as the man behind Atlas Cycles, the largest bicycle maker in the world.<\/p>\n

\"Atlas
Image Credits: Campaign India<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Era of Bicycles<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Bicycles were introduced in Europe in the 19th<\/sup> century. The most verifiable version called \u2018The Running Machine\u2019 was invented by a German Baron, Karl Von Drais in 1817. In 1868, Europe started to mass produce them to serve as a principal means of transportation. Since then it took 40 years to be introduced by the British to India. In 1910s British manufacturers like BSA, Rudge, and Raleigh exported around 35,000 bicycles to India. The numbers rose to 70,000 in 1940s and 200,000 by 1950s. It was the right moment to supplement the movement of Swaraj and manufacture bicycles in the newly independent India. It was the birth of the Indian bicycle.<\/p>\n

Kinetic Engineering Limited, a part of the Kinetic group of companies, launched the moped \u2018Luna\u2019 in 1972. Since then transportation changed and bicycles became almost obsolete. From public transport to private cars and two-wheelers, India has seen a major shift in the means of transportation. Today, riding a bicycle continues as a means of transport and as a means for livelihood among newspaper vendors, milkmen, postmen, and dabbawalas. Many Indians perceive cycling as a low-status way of getting around. The only bicycle manufacturers who survived this change are those who re-invented products to offer fashionable bicycles for urban kids, sturdy bicycles for mountain sports, and trendy bicycles for outdoor fitness. Today the Netherlands has 1100 bicycles per thousand of population, Denmark 830, Germany 700, Japan 700, Sweden 670, China 360, and India a mere 90 only.<\/p>\n

\"Atlas
Dr. Amartya Sen\u2019s Atlas cycle hangs in the Nobel museum. Image Credits: Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Glory and the Achievements<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Sahibabad unit of Atlas Cycles exported cycles and cycle spares to over 12 countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Germany, Denmark, Holland, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar. In January 2019, Sahibabad introduced its latest and last product range.<\/p>\n

In addition, Atlas Cycles achievements include:<\/em><\/p>\n