THE UK’s fastest growing retailer of electric bikes is to open a new store in Altrincham this weekend.

50cycles says Altrincham is the ‘perfect location with the perfect audience’ for its latest store.

So far, the company has sold more than 25,000 electric bikes and has four other stores - London, Brighton, Bristol and Loughborough.

Turnover last year was £3.5m and is expected to top £5m by the end of next year.

The company is targeting five other major UK cities for new stores and has earmarked a £10m turnover within the next eighteen months.

The new Altrincham store, which has created five jobs, is located on Church Street. It offers all the major premium brands in the market including: Kalkhoff, Cube, Giant, Scott and Raleigh. In addition, the company has developed its own range of branded cycles called Beat Bikes.

Bikes retail between £1,000 up to £16,000. As well as selling the bikes, the shop also has a fully equipped service workshop.

Customers can book a free test ride to experience what it’s like to ‘go electric’. The company is also organising guided tours around Altrincham and the Trans Pennine Trail so customers can ‘try before they buy’.

The electric bike market is expected to grow at least 20 per cent during 2017.

Electric bikes are popular with people who want to ride further and faster. Sales are booming because of demand from commuters, couriers, recreational cyclists and people who want an alternative to traditional push bikes.

Scott Snaith, managing director of 50cycles, said: “We’re excited to launch our new store in Altrincham. We intend to make it the hub of the North West for our business. We’ve always had a large concentration of customers from Cheshire and Greater Manchester through our online sales and we felt that it was sensible to open a physical store so customers have easier access to ‘test ride’ the bikes. We firmly believe it takes a test ride to understand what an e-bike can do for you.

“Altrincham is a strategically important location for our business and our existing customer base. It’s has brilliant access to cycleways, a popular commuter location for people working in and around Manchester and the demographics surrounding the town are perfect.

“Electric bikes mean you can enjoy cycling whatever your age, ability or the local terrain. Electric bikes have the power to make cycling make sense for everybody.

“We’re really excited about bringing the experience of electric bikes to the North West from the heart of Altrincham.”

Electric bikes are revolutionising the cycling industry. Seventy-eight per cent of all bikes sold in the Netherlands, a country famous for its cycling culture, were electric. Major manufacturer of e-bikes Kalkhoff has sold more than 600,000 units and expects to sell more than a million by the end of the year.

To book a test ride of an electric bike in Altrincham visit www.50cycles.com/demonstrations