John Lawrey, 22, has chosen a new-age sort of career. As part of his career, he travels everywhere that his bicycle will take him. John hitch-hikes, uses public transportation, skates, rides trains and walks. Not limited to Oakland, John has traveled to every state except Alaska and Hawaii, and as he travels he fixes bicycles. As a traveling bicycle mechanic, and an expert in his field, John is considered a journeyman mechanic for bicycles, even at his young age.
John likes the idea of being able to ride his bike anywhere, and it gives him a strong feeling of success and accomplishment knowing that he does this with his own physical kinetic, human-power. John was a bike messenger when he began his work in a bicycle shop, collecting tools. He then worked in bicycle co-ops, and after that, John owned his own bicycle shop. He learned to build bicycles from parts and he began to create custom bicycles. He now is interested in building and designing his own custom bikes, for touring and cargo uses.
John hopes to live on a farm one day and build frames to sell. When asked what his bicycle brand will be, he responds, "I have no idea. I couldn't even make one up now." However, John likes to ride a bike, get to know it, then pick and choose features about bikes he really likes. He believes a bike design will meet his criteria for excellence if it includes non-aluminum, as he prefers steel frames; He looks for quality of tubing, strength and stiffness to reduce shock, and comfort and flex that rides "like a cloud." John looks for craftsmanship and quality of weld, and creativity in frame design.
Currently, John is planning a trip to Europe. He is headed to Northern Italy to build bicycle frames as an apprentice to a European frame builder. John respects the European frame-builder's work, he is curious about how to build frames, and he wants to do work at this level.
Readers are encouraged to comment below.
Comments