CLEVELAND — A bike shop owner in northeast Ohio has always had the passion for cycling, and during the past two years, he’s seen an explosion of others picking up the hobby.

James Watson said sometimes, he needs to put a little force into working on bicycles. 

“It’s always nice to be able to stop. If your gears don’t work and you can’t pedal, you’re annoyed. If you can’t stop, it could be life and death," Watson said as he tinkered with the brakes on a children's bike. 

Watson owns Upcycles Bike Shop in Cleveland. He said new bikes are hard to find, so used bikes are the hot commodity right now.  

Watson said most of his business is working on used bikes by using spare parts.

He said there’s been a biking boom during the pandemic, which caused sales and service calls to nearly double during the last two years. 

Watson's owned the shop for a decade, but said that reaction from the customer receiving a bike never gets old. 

He said he gets fulfillment by sharing his passion for biking with others. 

“I hope we turn the young lady into a lifetime cyclist,” Watson said after a customer received her bike. “Because this is the best.”