It speeds up to 100 km an hour without guzzling a drop of oil. When green warriors weep for earth, it does not release a whiff of carbon. With 27 gears, it can manoeuvre any kind of terrain, and effortlessly wiggle its way through traffic jams, making tracks where none exists. It is the bicycle 2.0. As high-end bicycles, costing Rs 8,000 upward, reach the Indian market, many are pedalling to office with laptops slung across their shoulders.

When software professional Purvesh Sharma’s colleagues are busy looking for parking space for their hatchbacks and sedans, the 30-year-old nonchalantly folds his mode of conveyance and carries it inside the office. It is his Trek 4300 D, a bicycle that costs Rs 35,000.

Sharma, chief marketing officer of Whizlabs.com, a company he started in Dwarka seven years ago, used to drive to his office, just 6 km from his home. Two months ago, a television programme changed his routine. “I was watching a cycle race and the bikers touched 100 km/hr. The next day I went to a showroom and bought the Trek,” he says. The bicycle ride to the office, he says, just takes five minutes more than the car took.

These bicycles are no ordinary machines. They have disc brakes and aerobars, and stress on increasing the riders’ comfort and performance. “The chains won’t rust and pedals won’t creak. Thanks to the technology, the rider has to make minimal exertion to get maximum results,” says Shiv Inder Singh, managing director of Firefox Bikes, the Indian company that brings out high-end bikes, like the American Trek and the South Korean Tascano.

Gaurav Suri, 28, an architect with TERI, cycles daily from his house in South Extension to his office at the India Habitat Centre in just seven minutes, something that would take him 20 minutes by car. “It is easy to make your own tracks while cycling,” says Suri, who has TREK X01, a cyclo cross (a cross between a mountain and racing bike) that is customised for Indian roads with 32-mm MTB (multi-terrain bike) tyres, aluminium frame, aerobars and 20 gears and costs Rs 70,000. “I could have bought a car but I preferred a cycle since the performance of the bike is excellent. I was also conscious of the environmental impact of a car,” he says. But why go in for such an expensive bike? “This bike offers the option of being a good off-roader and also a speed monster.”

While Suri wants to turn a semi-professional biker, 25-year-old Amar Gujral has once represented Delhi in the national cycling championship. He now carries his passion to his job as a teacher at a coaching centre, cycling from his Malviya Nagar home to South Extension daily. “I thoroughly enjoy it. It is good for health also,” says Gujral, who has a Firefox Target mountain bike with 18 gears that costs Rs 10,000.

Ashish Namdeo, 28, founder of Eddytools.com, a software solutions company, has just purchased a Tascano cycle with 18 gears and disc brakes for the throwaway price of Rs 6,000 at a sale. “My house is 10 km from office and it takes 40 minutes to travel. It is a pleasure to ride,” says Namdeo, who earlier commuted on his Bajaj Discover.