THERE has been a bit of a chain reaction to Britain's recent cycle success on the international stage.

With Bradley Wiggins' triumphs in last year's Tour de France and gold in the time trial at the London Olympics 2012 followed by another Tour de France win by Chris Froome it is no wonder cycling is becoming more of a popular sport these days.

Darren Bostock, who has owned Okehampton Cycles, said: 'The appeal of cycling has certainly broadened over the years and brought it to a wider audience. The technology has increased tremendously and the bikes are lighter and are more attractive. Certainly there has been a sudden demand for mountain bikes and a huge increase for electric bikes.

'With electric bikes the more pressure you put on the pedal the greater the surge of electricity and the faster you go. It acts like a turbo charge.'

Darren explained that one man in his sixties, who had been cycling for many more years and was extremely fit, loved the challenge of overtaking any other cyclists in front of him. Over the past year he had to try harder and harder to catch up and couldn't realise why he was getting 'slower.' Then it dawned on him — more cyclists he was chasing after were using electric bikes!