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On Sunday morning, before the sun peeped out of the haze of Hyderabad on the Necklace Road, Lohit Mohanta cycled up to the spot before People's Plaza, fished out his camera and clicked a bunch of images. Images of people with fancy cycles with Shimano gears, disc brakes, shock absorbers and helmets and another set of people young and old people who paid Rs. 30 for cycles just for the joy of riding in a group. "Stand nikalke chalao bhai," says a bystander to a girl in cycling shorts who giggles and kicks up the stand.

In another part of the city, you can even hear the tringtring of the cycle bell. These cycles are dowdy without gears, uncomfortable seats, dodgy brakes but you are safe on the road. Altaf works in a firm where he has to go out for collecting money for eight days in a month. He does it on his cycle. So, how's the going?

"I have been doing it for nine years. Yes, I do get scared when there is lot of traffic but the fear factor is only 1 per cent, 99 per cent of the time I am confident that nothing will happen to me," he says sitting on his Hero cycle waiting for the traffic to move near Purana Pul. At Raj Cycle Taxi, an 80-year-old shop run by Ali Mohammed near Chatta Bazar, you can hire a cycle for Rs. 5 per hour. "We give only to people we know. Now we have only 3 dozen cycles. At one point of time we had more than hundred," he says going into a flashback mode where there were dozens of shops lending cycle for 15 paise an hour, smaller cycles for 2 paise per hour.

But things are changing as people discover the sheer exhilaration on wheels. And cycling is cool once more. Hyderabad may not have cycling tracks like European cities, it may not have cycles-on-hire like Hamburg, cyclists may still be seen as hopelessly poor folks who cannot move up in life but things are changing fast.

"The full range of cycles are now available in Hyderabad. It depends on your budget and what you want to do," says Lohit, who drives a Merida, adding that Hyderabadis are spoilt for choices as far as the availability of cycles is concerned. While BSA has tied up to sell Cannondale and Schwinn cycles, Firefox is selling them from its own outlets. An idea of interest in cycles can be gauged from the fact that Hyderabad Central mall has a small counter to sell Firefox cycles while Inorbit mall has a range of higher-end Raleigh cycles. But cycles without bells and whistles don't come cheap anymore. The most ordinary cycle now costs upwards of Rs. 2500. But do the expensive cycles make a difference?

"Yes. There is a smoothness of ride and you are assured of better quality which you can make out by just looking at them," says a shopkeeper in Koti. The shop has an assorted inventory of cycles with some from China that have a rough edge to the finish with the killer factor being the price: A full suspension bike with disc brakes costs Rs. 8,500 a comparative branded piece costs Rs. 35,000. Cycling cool is not when you pedal what your father drove ages ago, but it has to be an MTB aka ATB. They burst on the cycling scene with their balloon tyres, smaller wheels (26 inch rims), low centre of gravity, superb braking control letting you jump on and off the pedestrian pathways or even on dirt tracks. Now, they are the cycles of choice even in urban areas as cyclists prefer them over the road bikes.

Why cycles now

* Ride a cycle, and traffic rules don't apply to you.

* Traffic cops don't bother you.

* Wear bright clothing while on the road.

* Cycles keep you fit.

* Cyclists are cool not poor.