Renting through the Mountains and Rivulets
TONY BIKE CENTRE was established in 1986 by Rajesh Trehan, a commerce graduate from Hansraj College and a real bike lover with 2 bikes and 1 scooter..
Mala Trehan, a sociology graduate from Ventakeshwara College ,South Campus and a post graduate in Travel & Tourism from YWCA , joined Rajesh in his business in 2005.
Mala has pushed Tony Bike centre to be one of the most preferred bike rental provider in the country with customers range expanding across the seven oceans. This Interview captures the journey Tony Bike Centre covered since Mala Joined the business and also the challenges it faces during the COVID pandemic.
Routeatour(R) :- Hello Mala Ji. Thanks for Giving us an opportunity to interview you and publish it on our website
Mala Trehan (M) :- It’s my pleasure.
R:- So tell us something about Tony Bike Centre
M :- We are one of the oldest bike rental service provider in India. We have been in continuous operation since 1986. We have catered customer for more than 50 countries since our inception. We have catered to more than 10000 people since inception.
R:- Wow that is some amazing numbers. So Mala ji could you tell something about your business.
M:- Yeah Sure! We provide bikes on rental for few hours to few months. We cater with scooty to Royal Enfield Himalaya, based on the needs of customer. People avail bikes on rental from us for local commute to long ride to Himalayas or to Nepal or Bhutan.
R:- That’s Great . What else services do you provide?
M :- Apart from bike rentals we also provide packaged or curated tour to our customers. Across the year we run batches of tours with fixed itineraries. Our tour caters both the bikers who want to join us on their own bike or those who want to rent from us and be in the group.
R:- That’s great ? what if someone does not know riding bike?
M:- We have had people in group who want to have their friends, family , spouse join the trip but not on bike. For this our curated bike trips also have a 4X4 Suv that accompanies us with such travellers. These Vehicle also adds up as support vehicle to the travellers on bike.
R:- That is a really helpful information. How has been the support from government and local administration in such trips you carry.
M:- To be frank we have managed our Juggads. The lack of a National bike rental stragey by Ministry of Tourism is something which needs to see the light of the day.
R: What are the challenges you face in your business
M:- Oh! There are lot. You know since last two years the business has been almost shut, due to COVID. Apart the uncertainty in climate and the geopolitical condition have been a big hinderance in our guided tours as well as rental services.
R:- We can understand the problem. Travel and Tourism is probably the most hurt industry during the last 2 years. How did you cope?
M:- We evolved we tried to reach out to larger user by leveraging social media. We provided bike rentals to local customer base. We tried to be reseller of bike. We hope to take people back on bikes once the states open up.
R:- Yes , we saw few of your social media post. It was nice reaching out to people and trying to let them be a traveller with safety of social distancing on bikes. How is the feedback?
M: – We have got few enquires for sure , but unless we are clear about the situation ahead, and when the states open up, we are sceptical.
R:- We can understand this. It was really nice talking to you Malaji. We would wish the best for you.
( you can know more about them in https://tonybikecentre.com/)