Hero Cycles was established in 1956 in LudhianaPunjab, manufacturing bicycle components. Today, Hero Cycles is one of the world's largest manufacturers of bicycles, producing 18390 cycles per day.[9][10] Hero Cycles Ltd. is part of Hero Motors Company.[11] In 2016 Hero cycles exported to over 70 countries world-wide.[12][13] The company is ISO9001 & ISO14001 certified.
The company acts in part as a white label manufacturer to various brands, in addition to selling motorcycles under the Hero and UT (formerly Urbantrail) brands.[14][15][16][17][18] Hero Cycles bought the Firefox bicycle brand in 2015.[19][20][21][22]
In 2015, Hero Cycles Lt. bought a majority stake in Avocet Sports Ltd., a UK distributor of bicycles, e-bikes, bicycle parts, and accessories.[23][24][25] Insync Bikes brand was launched by Avocet in November 2018.[26] In 2019, Hero bought a majority stake in German e-bike manufacturer HNF-Nicolai.[27][28][29] In 2016, Hero bought 60% of Sri Lankan bicycle manufacturer BSH Ventures.[30][31][32][33]
In 1986, the Guinness World Records called Hero Cycles the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world.[34] for being the single largest producer of bicycles.
The HMC family[36][37] is made up of organizations such as Hero Cycles Ltd., Avocet Sports (UK),[38] BSH (Sri Lanka), Firefox Bikes (not to be confused with the browser by Mozilla),[39] Spur,[40] HGD,[41] Hero Motors,[42] Munjal Hospitality,[43][44] Munjal Kiriu,[45] ZF Hero[46] and OMA.[47]
^"Hero Motors Group elevates Pankaj Munjal as CMD". www.thehindu.com. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
^"The cycle king". business-standard.com. 21 January 2013.
^"HMC revenue reaches to INR 2600 Cr". epaper.bhaskar.com. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
^"HMC revenue expected to reache INR 2600 Cr". dainiksaveratimes.epapr.in. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
^"The cycle king". business-standard.com. 21 January 2013.
^"Hero Cycles gets new identity – Hero Motors". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Hero Cycles Ltd". Herocycles.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
^"Hero Cycles & other group companies elevate Pankaj Munjal as new Chairman & MD". auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
^"Forbes India Magazine – Print". www.forbesindia.com.
^"India's Hero Cycles on the cusp of becoming world's largest bicycle manufacturer". Cycling Industry News. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
^"Hero Cycles gets new identity – Hero Motors". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Hero Cycles Breaks Record in Sales on Home Market". bike-eu.com. 7 January 2016.
^"Hero Motors to supply transmissions for electric truck in UK". auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com. 6 November 2017.
^"Hero launches 17 new Hero Sprint Pro cycles; priced up to Rs 15,000". indiatoday.intoday.in. 24 August 2016.
^"Hero Cycles to unveil 400 Sprint stores". auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com. 28 September 2017.
^"Hero Cycles Launches New Advertising Campaign "Choose Different" with Arjun Kapoor for 'Hero Sprint Bike RXR' Cycles". businesswireindia.com. 5 November 2015.
^"Hero Cycles launches new advertising campaign with Arjun Kapoor for 'Hero Sprint bike RXR' Cycles". indiablooms.com. 3 November 2015.
^"Hero Cycles acquires Firefox Bikes in all-cash transaction". thehindu.com. 17 September 2015.
^"Hero Cycles acquires Firefox Bikes in all-cash transaction". economictimes.indiatimes.com. 18 September 2015.