In Punjab’s manufacturing heartland, Ludhiana hums to the sound of varied works. Long known as the country's hosiery hub — and famed for shaping everything from winter woolens to auto parts—it is equally synonymous with bicycles. For decades, the city has kept India rolling on two wheels. It was inside this exact world — amidst stacks of spokes and wheels, and the hum of power tools — that 23-year-old Inderpreet Singh grew up.
While he could have gone after the stability of a 9-5, Inderpreet knew his destination lay back home, on a grease-stained, familiar, factory floor.
"Even as a child, I knew that I wanted to care for our factory and expand it. I never wanted to get a job," Inderpreet says, reflecting on his path. "My parents own their own cycle company, and they established a new unit for me. I'm in charge of Skyton Bikes. My mother has been coming to the factory for 10 years. It’s always been a family affair."
Lessons from the Factory Floor
The family’s deep roots in the industry were carved out through grit and hard pivots. Back in 2011, Inderpreet’s father laid the foundation of the family business from scratch, starting with simple tricycles for toddlers before market realities forced a change in strategy.
Inderpreet explains. "Initially, we were making tricycles for two- or two-and-a-half-year-old children. Then we began to make cycle frames. Slowly, tricycles started trickling in from Delhi at very low prices and it became difficult to compete. So my dad shifted to making proper bicycles. This was a natural progression for us, especially in Ludhiana, the heart of India’s bicycle industry."
That decisive shift saved the enterprise. Before long, the family was shipping full-sized bikes to offline wholesalers across the nation — from Maharashtra, Gujarat, and all the way to West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
The Art of the Bicycle
When Inderpreet took charge of his own unit, Skyton, he chose to focus on bikes for kids aged two to seven, in 14-, 16-, and 20-inch sizes. He approaches his work like an artist. For him, manufacturing combines bending metal tubes with creative craftsmanship. He spends hours hand-selecting vibrant paint combinations, imagining the moment a child sees their bright new bike at the doorstep.
"The colors are my favorite part," he says, eyes lighting up. "I design them myself, choosing the colors and contrasts that will make each bicycle stand out. A separate team handles the stickering."
Behind the bright blues and electric reds is a strict family rule about craftsmanship. "Quality matters to us as a family, and that will never change," Inderpreet stresses. "We make our own frames, source other parts from dealers in Ludhiana and assemble everything here. We buy only top-quality parts, so our bicycles are built to last. My team of seven fitters, three packers and a couple of others handles both our online and offline orders."
Taking the Family Legacy Online
Despite their established wholesale network, Inderpreet saw consumer habits shifting rapidly toward e-commerce. He pitched the idea of going digital to his father.
"More and more customers were going online to buy," Inderpreet notes. "I thought that our business should be there as well, and my father was all for it. There was a great demand for bicycles on Flipkart, so I joined and became a Flipkart seller. It was a straightforward procedure. I could log in and do everything myself, and my Flipkart manager guided me through it."
Having a healthy, operational offline factory gave him a major head start. "Our offline business gave me a strong base, so starting online was not a struggle," he says.
Midnight Oil and the Festival Surge
The online venture didn't transform overnight. In the beginning, the order dashboard was quiet — a trickling stream rather than a flood.
"I won’t lie – when we launched in 2025, the start to our online business was slow," Inderpreet recalls. "We got 1-2 orders some days, and 10 in a day was unusual. Gradually, that increased to 10-15 per day."
Then came his first Big Billion Days (BBD) sale, and the quiet shop floor erupted.
"This year, I took part in the Big Billion Days sale for the first time. My previous sales were modest, so my team was not ready for the next level," Inderpreet admits. "We received over 100 orders a day throughout the sale."
As festive demand surged, the fitters and packers operated at maximum capacity. The employees packed boxes, laced wheels, and slapped shipping labels onto shiny new frames late into the night.
"It was not easy to balance online and offline sales. My team and I were working round the clock during the sale, but it was worth it," Inderpreet smiles. The intense sprint paid off, generating significant increase in net sales over just 30 days. "Next BBD, I will be fully equipped with all the necessary staff and everything else in place."
A Family Cycling Forward
Today, the entire household is caught up in the excitement of Skyton's digital boom. Dinner table conversations naturally drift toward order numbers, marketing strategies, and customer reviews.
"My younger sister, now in her third year of college, handles our Instagram page and is doing a course to learn digital marketing to support us further," Inderpreet says proudly. "She is constantly asking me, 'Are the sales coming in? Are you learning to run ads?' We will continue to support her, whether she joins us or starts something of her own."
With a third manufacturing unit scheduled to open within two months, Inderpreet and his family are preparing to launch a new line of adult bicycles, expanding far beyond its kids' roots.
Every morning at 9:00 sharp, Inderpreet unlocks the doors to the factory. After a day of overseeing assembly lines and closing his orders online, he spends his evenings on Google Maps, hunting down bicycle dealers in new cities and calling them up directly to pitch his brand.
"I have visited a lot of cities, but Ludhiana is the best for me. There are so many opportunities here," he says. "One thing I've learned in my journey is the importance of planning. Without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today."
