The Malaysian Foldie issue 08, April 2014 | Page 10

Peeps

Meet your neighbourhood's friendly foldie

Vanessa's urban vision

The namesake of Van's Urban Bicycle Co. is becoming a household name in the Klang Valley and they have big plans to promote small wheeled bikes as the future of urban transportation..

Vanessa Cheah entered the bicycle business after a few short gigs with her cycling buddies.

She is the owner of Van's Urban Bicycle Co. in Kampung Tunku, Petaling Jaya and her bike shop is fast becoming a household name in the township.

Cheah attributes this to learning from the bicycling community which inspired her to start off a business to provide the needs

for cyclists wanting better products -- especially small two-wheelers.

"I came up with the idea of running an urban bicycle shop with my husband after we bought our folding bikes and rode with our

friends.

"Bicycling is a good way to socialise and build communities.

"That was where I got the idea to set up shop and stock up on small-wheeled bikes."

Cheah added that her first store was at the Three-Two square in Section 19, Petaling Jaya.

Van's Urban Bicycle Co. opened it's doors on July 2012 and subsequently moved to its present flagship store at No 26, Jalan

SS1/22 in Kg Tunku, Petaling Jaya.

"We were actually 'rushed' into the business and after six months, began changing the course of our business model.

"It was a real learning curve for me because I didn't know anybody from the bicycling industry.

"We took a lot of effort to learn and improvise our service and bring in good products and eventually became a distributor for

brands like Montague bikes and Nutcase helmets," she explained.

LEFT: Vanessa is a believer of small-wheeled bikes and her passion is to spread the joy of cycling with friends and customers.

RIGHT TOP: Staff and management of the store in Kg Tunku, Petaling Jaya.

RIGHT BOTTOM: Customers sharing stories at the flagship outlet on a Saturday afternoon.