Singletrack Cycle Shop relocated from Naples to Raymond in mid-June, in part to expand its offerings and meet a growing demand.

Also this summer, New Gloucester-based Norumbega Green Rentals, on the same property as Norumbega Cidery, has started renting electric bikes for day trips.

All this means that access to an efficient mode of transportation – the bicycle – is now greater than ever in the Lakes Region.

Scott Kilton has operated Singletrack Cycle Shop for seven years. When the lease was up at his former shop, he decided to relocate to a larger facility. He went from a 1,400-square-foot building in Naples to 2,100 square feet in the Raymond Shopping Center.

“We needed room to grow,” Kilton said.

As do the bikes. Kilton said he’s selling an increasing number of “fat bikes” – bikes with 4- to 6-inch tires.

This relatively new trend in the cycling world started in Alaska, where hearty residents ride bikes through snow. In the past few years, the demand for fat bikes has grown and Kilton can barely keep them in the store, he said.

Kilton grew up racing mountain bikes competitively, but now rides “for the benefit of health and fun,” he said.

He also enjoys being part of the biking community in the region, including a group that meets regularly to ride on trails in Windham, Gorham and Falmouth.

“It’s a great community of people who are all about exercise and having fun,” he said.

The shop sells bikes, helmets and other related gear. They also offer repairs and tune-ups for old clunkers.

In New Gloucester, Norumbega Green Rental is a twofold business – offering rentals of a “double yurt” for camping and four electric-assist bikes.

The bikes, made by Stromer, are worth $7,000 apiece and are available for rent for four-hour or nine-hour time slots.

Cyclists pedal as normal on the electric bikes, but receive an extra “boost” from the lithium battery to help climb a tough hill.

Julie Fralich, whose son operates Norumbega Cider, began renting the bikes earlier this month. She and her husband purchased electric bikes for themselves because “the hills of New Gloucester are hard to ride if you’re not a super-biker,” she said.

While electric-assist bikes are popular in urban areas, Fralich said, there’s less awareness about the bikes in rural towns.

Fralich wants to change that, because hilly, rural areas are the places that need the power boost the most.

“We love them because it means you can ride around New Gloucester and see all the wonderful places,” she said, “so we thought they’d be a great thing to offer to the community.”

The couple is also renting two yurts on their property: one with four futons and another with a kitchenette. They hope the yurt and bike rentals will go hand and hand, and people staying in the yurts will want to rent the bikes for getting around town.

Fralich said as part of the bike rental, they are promoting New Gloucester attractions. Their website provides maps to destinations in biking distance, such as Outlet Beach and local restaurant Bresca and the Honeybee.

Scott Kilton speaks with a customer at the new Raymond location of Singletrack Cycle Shop. Kilton has been selling and repairing bikes in the Lakes Region for seven years.

A “fat bike” on display at Singletrack Cycle Shop in Raymond. Kilton said the bikes, popular in Alaska for riding on snow, have recently caught fire in New England.

Norumbega Green Rentals has four electric-assist bikes for rent in New Gloucester this summer.