Bike demand high during pandemic

Feb. 26—Since the pandemic started, the demand for bicycles has skyrocketed across the country and the same can be said for local shop Peyton's Bikes.

The store, which has locations in Midland and San Angelo recently opened up a new shop right here in Odessa back in December.

"It's been really good," Peyton's Bikes owner Jason Haislip said. "We've been looking to be in Odessa for a while. We've been serving the area for about 70 years now. It's definitely something that we want to keep doing."

The new store is located on 3600 Billy Hext Road, Suite 102, just next to the Mountain Bike Park which has been a big reason for the success in Peyton's Bikes.

"Mountain Bike Park and in turn they support us, providing a venue for mountain bikes," Haislip said. "For a long time we went without mountain bike trails. Then, 12 to 13 years ago, we opened the Odessa mountain bike park. It's about 86 acres and we have 10 and-a-half miles of trails which we continue to invest in and develop. The mountain bike park is a strong enough venue to go out and train and be able to compete at a national level in several races."

Haislip has been the owner of Peyton's Bikes for over three years now.

The history of Peyton's Bikes goes back to the 50s. Haislip claims it is the oldest standing bicycle shop in Texas.

Peyton's originally started out as a toy store in 1951 by the Peyton brothers Bob and Dick before being spun off into a full bike shop in 1956 called Peyton's Cycles and Hobbies in Midland.

David Ham bought the store from Bob Peyton (who recently passed away in December) in the 90s before Haislip purchased the store in Oct. 2017.

"We're primarily in Midland but during the 70s and 80s, there were locations all over to Texas," Haislip said. "They then started to dwindle as toy stores started going away and the bike shop here in Midland was the last remaining entity in the business."

There was another Peyton's Bikes that used to exist in Odessa that was located on the corner on University and Grandview before closing in the early 80s.

With not many other bike shops in the area, Haislip says Peyton's Bikes has been in an interesting position in being able to provide the four major brands.

"We're the only bike shop in the US that carries your top four major brands which are Giant, Trek Specialized and Cannondale," Haislip said. "We're in a unique position to do that. Most of those don't work well together but that allows us to compare and give our customers the best value.

In addition, Haislip claims they're the only shop that knows how to work on older bikes.

"We do antique stuff like Schwinn and things like that," Haislip said. "We're the only ones that know how that stuff works. Because we're such an old bike shop, we have piles of old parts. If you have an old bike, I have antique stuff like stuff from as far back as the 50s still floating around in the store."

One of the primary reasons for the store's success has been the ability to evolve over time, according to Haislip.

"If you were to ask 15 years ago what the primary top riding in Midland, people would say road riding," Haislip said. "Now we sell maybe one road bike to every 15 mountain bikes. Mountain bike part is huge and a major source of business. BMX bikes have taken off and we're a big supporter of BMX and skate parks. All of our skate parks allow bikes. Bikes have been a huge component."

Since the pandemic reached the U.S. last year, the bicycle industry has seen growth that's been unprecedented.

With people trying to social distance and gyms closing last year, retail sales of bikes began to surge as Americans turned to cycling for exercise.

According to Haislip, the demand increased by 300 percent last year when the pandemic started.

"During that time, the demand just skyrocketed," Haislip said. "The demand on repairs skyrocketed. It wasn't just bikes that were taking off. It was also bicycle parts and repairs. We were really the only big bike shop around out here."

John Beane who manages the Peyton's Bikes store in Odessa, says that during the pandemic, people have been tired of being locked up and are wanting to go outside and ride their bicycles more.

"A lot more people are wanting to get out and their kids are wanting to get out as well," Beane said. "You see moms and dads and kids at the park riding. We're getting to where it's better for people to get around but they're still riding and still coming in and getting bikes."

Haislip said their store in Midland last year was overwhelmed with repairs to the point where they didn't have the capacity to store bikes.

"We were having to accept repairs on certain days of the week," Haislip said. "We've never been at a point to turn customers away but at that point, we had to finish these repairs so that we could take some more and that went on from March until this past summer until we were able to restore back to normal operating procedures."

The new shop in Odessa has been a big relief for them, filling in a void in town that was left when Bicycles Etc closed last year.

"They were taking in some of the repair traffic and when they closed, it put a huge demand on us," Haislip said. "We had bikes where we couldn't get parts for. It was like a six month wait to get basic easy stuff. But it was a 100 percent industry wide increase and the increase on the demand was 300 percent. Every element was oversold."

While business has been decent since opening up in December, Beane and his staff of two mechanics at the Odessa location are prepared for another surge in sales as the temperatures gradually get warmer with spring and summer approaching.

"Historically, bike businesses are good starting around March and on through October and November," Beane said. "But it's getting warmer and it's a bonus with the Mountain Bike Park right behind us. We're going to get more and more traffic. Hopefully we'll have a few sales. With the weather getting nicer, it will make it better for us."