A pair of bicycling businessmen are hoping to take some of the pain out of pedaling after launching a specialist electric bike shop.

Despite a shared love of cycling, Ray Wookey and Jonathon Monk had both forged separate careers - one as chief executive of a building materials distributor and the other as an engineer with a property background.

But the keen bikers came up with the idea of running Cycling Made Easy after the previously sceptical Mr Monk was converted by Mr Wookey to the ease of electric cycles in late 2010.

He said: “Wow – what a revelation.

“It was a beautiful day for cycling, we travelled across a magnificent park and although there were hills and undulations our 23 mile journey was enjoyable and effortless.

“All I could think was that my wife, who is not as keen as cyclist as me, would love the experience and I could see the benefits of longer range, stress free journeys and leisure trips - something we could do really enjoy as a couple together.”

The pair say they picked Coulsdon for their new store because of its excellent transport links, citing the proximity to Coulsdon South and Coulsdon Town stations as well as the A23.

Cycling Made Easy, which stocks electric and folding bikes, is already open for orders but the owners are planning an official launch event on February 26.

The owners will be attempting to sell people the idea of switching to an electric bike by hosting a special accompanied ride session on February 5.

Mr Wookey said: “Electric bikes are the fastest growing sector in the worldwide bike market.

“As yet the UK lags behind many of our European neighbours and in America and the Far East the market is massive.

“We are set to focus on the need to reduce congestion, save money and give people more freedom and exercise for either their commuting or just to enable them to fully exploit their leisure time.”

More details about the new store are available at cyclingmadeeasy.co.uk.