Innovative bicycles made by 74 year old cycling enthusiast from Vadodara

June 03, 2023
Gujarat Vadodara

Vadodara: 74-year-old Sudhir Bhave, a retired Mechanical engineer from Vadodara make eight elliptical bicycles out of his sheer passion for cycling since his younger days. Even at this age he walks and cycles at least 10 km every day and gives free cycles to people for ride. All the cycles are purely for exercise and their innovative designs can mesmerize anyone.

Sudhir Bhave completed Mechanical engineering in 1973 from MSU and worked for 40 years in the steel industry. After retirement he travelled to America in 2015-16 to visit his daughter and there he saw and rode an elliptical bicycle for the first time. However he found the price tag to be very high and decided to make in India with less cost. “An elliptical bicycle is purely for exercise and a price tag of 1400 dollar was too high for me. So I thought to make such an elliptical bicycle in India and started working on it after back in India. After around four months of work the first bicycle was ready made for $300 (Rs. 25,000/) a much lesser cost in comparison to the one in USA. Later I started making elliptical cycles and three orthopedic doctors purchased from me and using it,” said Sudhir Bhave.
Using his Mechanical engineering expertise, Sudhir Bhave designed eight such elliptical bicycles of different shapes and sizes purely for exercise. He named them after his family members and friends and use them regularly to be fit. “With some reference from YouTube and using my experience I made different cycles with locally available parts and designed the rest which are unavailable. My friend helps in making these unavailable parts and helps me complete the bicycle which is purely Made in India. It takes about 3 to 4 months to make one cycle and all are of exercise purpose only. Some target the upper body, some lower and rest the whole body of the user,” said Bhave.
Sudhir Bhave is a passionate cyclist and ride everyday for around 10 kilometers every day. He also gives bicycles to citizens for free ride as per their requirement.
Following are the details of the bicycles manufactured by Sudhir Bhave:
1. Shloki – A very light bicycle to ride and useful for leg exercise as it don’t have chains. This bicycle is especially suitable for people with prosthetic knees.
2. Arjun: In this bicycle the pedal does not have a chain which is between the two wheels. The pedal is on the rear wheel and the rider have to lean forward while cycling. This is specially designed to exercise the waist and pelvic organs.
3. Tail Bike: We have seen this type of bicycle in movies. This bicycle can be attached under the seat of your regular bicycle and two people can ride a bicycle connected in this way at the same time.
4. Sia Go: This cycle gives a lot of exercise to the whole body. ‘Elliptical bike’ is also its name. 3 to 5 km of daily riding of this cycle can help those complaining of back pain.
5. Hamrahi: This cycle is specially designed for small sellers. They can place their saleable goods on the platform placed on the basket in the center of the bicycle. Since the mass (weight) is at the center of the wheel, the center of gravity is maintained and bicycle can be safely ridden with luggage. The rear wheel of the bicycle can be slid under the basket when there is no luggage.
6. Dost: It is designed keeping in mind the needs of people whose legs are not working. The user can keep both feet on the side support and pull the handle towards him to move the cycle forward. Since the rear wheels have supporting wheels, there is no danger of falling for the bicycle or the rider.
7. Half Wheel Cycle: Suddenly thought that one wheel is two half wheels. Can two half wheels act as one wheel and accelerate the cycle? An idea came, from which this bicycle was created.
8. Spokeless Bicycle: The specialty of this bicycle is that it has no spokes. If this on road, people will check the bicycle repeatedly to know the idea and why there are no spokes.

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