74-yr-old cycling enthusiast develops 8 elliptical bicycles

Vadodara: You might have come across many cycling enthusiasts. But this retired mechanical engineer from the city has taken his passion to newer heights.
At 74, Sudhir Bhave not only rides 10km a day to follow his passion, but has also developed eight elliptical bicycles which are offered to citizens for a free ride.
The World Bicycle Day was observed on June 3. In April 2018, the United Nations General Assembly had declared June 3 as World Bicycle Day.
After completing mechanical engineering from M S University in 1973, Bhave worked in the steel industry for nearly 40 years. But it was for the first time when he travelled to the United States (US) in 2015-16 that he came across an elliptical bicycle.
The price tag of the elliptical bicycle was too high. That’s when he decided to make it in India.
“An elliptical bicycle is purely for exercise. But its price tag of US $1,400 was too high for me. So I thought of making such an elliptical bicycle in India and started working on it,” he said.
“After around four months of work, my first bicycle was ready. I could make it in Rs 25,000 (US $300). Later, I started making elliptical cycles and three orthopaedic doctors purchased them from me,” said Bhave.
Since then, this mechanical graduate has developed eight such elliptical bicycles of different shapes and sizes purely for exercise. Interestingly, he has named all of them after his family members and friends.
“It takes 3-4 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.