We recently connected with David Johnson and have shared our conversation below.

David , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

I see the biggest challenge as making enough profit to keep the doors open and grow as needed while paying employees real wages and providing benefits to keep the good employees. The industry is trimming margins more and more, while larger brands are going to consumer-direct sales. This is cutting out the independent bicycle shops. There is an illusion that looks like money is being made when in the end, the business as a whole suffers. Mail order doesn’t do repairs, check-ups or any fitting for the customers. Rides and community are largely based around shops. If the shops can’t make ends meet, they disappear. If the shops aren’t there to foster the face-to-face relationships and the online sales can’t mend the issues after the sale. Where does the client go and what happens to the community? The online world of sales is part of modern life, this can’t be avoided. But working with the local shops and IBD (independent bicycle dealer) helps the big guys and the end user.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I believe that Bicycle Frame building is a craft, something learned over time. Each builder has a teacher and in turn, will have to teach, and it will go on again and again. There are frame building schools available, but most of the time, learning is simply putting your hands out and getting dirty. Some builders I have talked with don’t feel it’s a “craft,” but they are no longer in the craft; I think they had the wrong viewpoint. You need a passion for this two-wheeled, manually powered vehicle to want to get so deep into the world of bicycles and try to make a living doing something you love.

Dogwood Cycleworx (my business) is a source for custom tailored bicycles that are made one at a time, to order, and for a specific person to use. The best way to think of it is like a suit made from a roll of fabric by a tailor. That tailor measures you and designs the suit as your body is shaped, with the colors and stylings that are the tailor’s trademark. A bicycle is a machine that is grafted to a human being. That human is the engine, the navigator, the pilot, and the passenger all in one. If it doesn’t fit well, it will not be pleasant or efficient.

Each frame builder has their style and unique take on what makes a bicycle appealing for them and their clients. Some are about paint colors and visual effects. Others are about heritage and reflecting a vintage look with modern equipment. Some builders will focus on a specific material – steel, titanium, aluminum, carbon fiber or even wood. Builders will work with many different types of construction methods and ways to fabricate the frame itself. Some of this can be dictated by the chosen material, some by the builder’s style.

In my case, I use steel tubes that are made specifically for bicycle frames. These tubes are super thin but super strong to allow the bicycle to easily carry 10 times their own weight. Not many cars or trucks can boast that fact. I try to keep as much of the building process in-house as possible; this is a major reason for using steel tubing. Steel can be worked with hand tools and relatively simple processes, whereas titanium and aluminum can have higher costs due to special TIG welding systems needed.

I work with each client to gain a view of how they will use the bicycle – things like commuting, racing, touring cross country, off-road or just for the pleasure of the ride. All are well worth the time and the ride. I try to see what the desires of the client are to be able to incorporate all the right things to give the best outcome for that rider. Lots of equipment, contact points, wheels and tires, terrain to be covered. All of these needs are calculated into the process with each rider, no two are alike.

I do the fabrication of the frame, then turn to the paint work, which I also do in-house. This allows me to have the complete control of what happens. It’s more work and can be headaches or learning experiences, a true glass half-full/half-empty moment. Most of the time, it’s half full – I get to go through the process of how the color will be placed on the frame, what colors to use. Do I get to “play” in paint or does the client have a solid idea in the mind. The goal is a blend of the two ideas into the finished creation.

I am still hunting for the best product I can make. Each time I start a new build, it’s a chance to get it just that much closer to perfect. When something is built by hand, it will have little touches that make it a unique, one-of-a-kind item, and the person making will have an intimate relationship with that creation. Part of the person is now in there, sometimes it is more metaphysical; other times it’s more material and medical, type O+ for example.

For me, this is a passion and a craft. I work to hone my skill every time and provide someone with a magical vehicle that will take them anywhere they want to go. . . in the world.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My path to the present has been a learning experience to say the least. I did not know what I was jumping into at first. But each time I needed something to be done, I was the one that did it. I had to learn the hard way – by doing it. All the things that some may see as basic parts of starting and owning a business were not known to me. As someone that was always the employee, I now had to jump to the other side of the desk. Learning at a pace that kept me out of hot water was my main motivation. It’s taught me that I need to flexible to work with what happens as it come into my mailbox.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I collect tools and machines to help me do as much as I can in-house to create the finished bicycles that I build. I have collected skills and refine those skills every time I put my hand on a file, a torch, a tube, or a paint spray gun.

I was a teenage kid that read an article in a magazine about a shop that did frame building classes. I wanted, I mean I REALLY WANTED to do this class and learn this skill. As a teen, my world was more controlled by Mom and Dad than my wishes.

Eventually, after many years, I went to school to get a welding certificate and found myself working in the Aviation industry as a certified welder. Making and repairing aircraft parts. What a nice gig – getting paid to do something that might get me closer that bicycle frame building idea. When things in my life changed and the opportunity arose to hang out my own shingle, I took the jump and started. I am still indebted to friends that allowed me to build for them and get feedback on what was good or bad about what I had assembled.

The next hurdle I had – who do I get to paint these frames? Well, my first few tries gave me as many things to fix as it did get things off my plate, so I opted to learn the skill of painting with automotive finishes. Yes, I am still learning more and more of what to do with paint, and tubes and steel and torches.

It’s all a learning process. Life is a learning process, never stop.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dogwoodcycleworx.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dogwood_cycleworx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dogwoodcycleworx/