If you like to warm up the saddle and pedal it out, love the fact that there are clothes out there that will up the performance and reflect UV rays while absorbing the sweaty mess as a result, this one is for you. Bengaluru lads Akshat Khanna and Vinesh Chawla unanimously agree that they are cyclists first.
It was this passion that saw them address one common pain point – apparel for cyclists. The city-based duo has now launched Ministri, a performance line that was field tested by some of India’s pro cyclists who consider it their second skin! Only a month old, they are already customising orders for racing teams and racing clubs all over India!
Their venture was rooted in the belief that cycling apparel in India didn’t have the finish or quality to match their international counterparts. “We decided to dig into the prospect of making something that would put India on the global map,” says 24-year-old Akshat.
For what’s a first in India, their research had them using five different types of polyester-lycra blend fabrics that are manufactured in Italy to fashion jerseys. And voila! What they believe is a world-class product was thus born. “Basically, having graduated from riders on basic bikes wearing cotton tees, shorts and a sling bag, to now, riding road bikes while being fully kitted, we have first hand experience on what to and what not to wear, in order to be comfortable and optimise performance on a ride,” adds 25-year-old Vinesh, a graduate from NIFT, having worked as a buyer earlier, brings his fashion expertise to what they are calling Ministri.
Understanding the intricacies of what cyclists want, since they are from the community themselves, they kicked it up a notch by getting pro cyclists like Naveen John, India’s first international pro-cyclist, Pavan Muthanna, Venkateshwara Rao Navanasi and multiple time Bangalore Bicycle Championship Races winner Craig Raynes to test it out on the field. “The best part about Naveen was that he was brutally honest with constructive feedback. This meant that we had to run multiple iterations of our products with him and test apparel extensively on his training rides to put them through different intensities of riding and different weather conditions,” explains Akshat, who now doubles as the CEO and cofounder.
They are now suiting up for they have big plans ahead. While they are busy catering to India’s premier amateur cycling teams like Spectrum Racing, they can boast of a sold out inventory too. They’ve also tied up with India’s accessories and spares distributors. “Our end goal is to foray into the triathlon space and we’ve been interacting with the running community for which we took up to the track too,” says Akshat.
