Promoting cycling and bike-sharing
Company plans to roll out service at three stations in Sunsuria City by end of this month
PETALING JAYA: Malaysians wanting to join the inaugural Ride for Malaysia need not worry if they have no bicycles as the two-wheelers are up for hire at the event venue in Sunsuria City, Sepang, later this month.
Oride (M) Sdn Bhd will be offering bicycles for rent to both adults and children at RM60 (including GST) per bike, which comes with a helmet.
Ride for Malaysia, which will be flagged off at 6.30am on July 30, is hosted by Star Media Group and property developer Sunsuria Bhd.
The organisers will arrange for the rental bicycles to be made available to participants on the day.
Oride, whose pioneer project is in Sunsuria City, started out selling electric bicycles in 2015. It expanded to provide bike-sharing services when the activity began to gain popularity in the Klang Valley.
Its CEO Harry Wong said they first brought electric bikes into the market to encourage people of all ages to cycle.
“Cycling can get tiring sometimes, especially for the elderly, but with electric bicycles, the strain on the legs is reduced.
“In countries like China, bicycles are widely used by the people as a form of daily transport, and bike-sharing is an established service. It is a convenient mode of transportation,” he explained.
Two years ago, Wong found through a market study that Malaysians were not yet ready for bike-sharing, so he focused on selling electric bicycles.
“But I think now is the right time to venture into bike-sharing as there are more awareness and demand.”
He said there are presently three stations in Sunsuria City – at Sunsuria Celebration Centre, Xiamen University Malaysia and ERL Salak Tinggi.
Plans are afoot to build four more stations. “Those interested need to apply for a bicycle card, much like a ‘top-up’ card, using their personal identification document.
“Once successful, they can tap the card on the reader of the selected bicycle at the station, unlock it and ride,” he said, adding that he hopes the bike-sharing operation will start by the end of the month.
Wong said he is renovating a 2,002 sq ft bicycle gallery in Sunsuria City.
Apart from showcasing some of Oride’s products, the gallery can also be used as an event space for a fee.
“We want to encourage cycling as a more sustainable lifestyle choice. There will be food and drinks for sale too,” he said.
He also felt that the venue would be popular with the student crowd.
Ride for Malaysia is part of the Raise the Flag initiative leading up to the National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations. Also part of this initiative is the Anak-Anak Malaysia Walk which follows later this year.
For details, visit sites.thestar.com.my/ rideformalaysia
For more on Oride, go to oride.com.my