Magic Dave and his dad Mike open Allen’s E-Bikes in Leighton Buzzard

A Linslade magician is proud to have opened a new e-bike shop with his father in Leighton Buzzard High Street.
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Dave Allen (aka Magic Dave), along with his dad, Mike Allen, 69, welcomed in their first customers on Wednesday, January 6, at Allen’s E-Bikes, as the much-loved entertainer explores a different venture.

With the pandemic putting a stop to his magic parties and shows, determined Dave had another trick up his sleeve, and his new shop offers a wide range of e-bikes and other personal electric transport solutions.

Dave, 45, said: “As I’m sure you can understand I lost all my business [for the magic shows], which is obviously upsetting. Last year I appeared on Crackerjack and off the back of that I was booked to appear at over 50 holiday parks - but every single one got cancelled. A lot of my friends in the industry got little jobs delivering, but I thought I don’t want to do that; I want to be happy. I never work to live, I live to work.

Mike and Dave outside their new shop.Mike and Dave outside their new shop.
Mike and Dave outside their new shop.

“Seeing that my business had all but gone, my father, Mike, suggested that we look at an alternative business.

“My other passion is gadgets, tech and cycling, so I thought wouldn’t it be fun to try something like that?”

As well as selling e-bikes and other electric transport solutions, the shop will offer accessories, bike servicing for pedal bikes, and a part-exchange facility so a customer can exchange a pedal bike for an e-bike. There will also be other items for sale which can enhance the e-bike experience.

Dave said: “We will be backing this up with expert knowledge not just from us (as we continue to immerse ourselves in everything e-bike) but also from our suppliers who from time to time will be dropping into our showroom for our meet the experts events.

“We are really excited to educate and impress our customers on why e-bikes are the future. Keep fit and healthy and fall in love with cycling again; this is one of our mission statements.

“We look forward to becoming the local experts on e-bikes, in fact we like to think we are e-motion experts!”

Dave was keen to keep his corporate identity, and the sign’s lime green logo is a nod to Magic Dave.

Speaking about his new business partner - his dad - Dave added: “Mike is a very keen cyclist and has completed the London to Brighton ride as well as many other cycling events. And he has recently become a qualified personal trainer at the age of 69 years old.

“I am also a lover of cycling, but I can’t do it as much as I used to because of bad knees.

“Mike had the idea and came up with opening a bicycle shop in Leighton Buzzard specialising in e-bikes. After many months of finding the right location and premises, as well as a lot of research, this will now be made a reality.”

Speaking about the opening day last Wednesday, Dave concluded: “Opening day was as expected - quiet - as we have opened in a national lockdown.

“But as an essential retailer we had some customers and a couple of people looking to get there bikes fixed.

“We know it’s going to be tough to start until the lockdown is lifted. But we are still selling online and taking in bikes for repair. We are still very much looking forward to a successful business.”

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