Ask David Johnson a simple question and you won’t receive a 30-second soundbite answer. What you will receive from the loquacious North Carolina native is a wide-ranging explanation filled with humorous anecdotes, intensive technical knowledge, and, in Johnson’s own words, experience borne from “forty years of pain and suffering.”
For Johnson, proprietor and framebuilder at Dogwood Cycleworx, the simplicity of pedal-powered motion belies the complex skein of creative, artistic and scientific decisions underpinning a custom bicycle that embodies something sublime. As he writes at Dogwood’s website: “As a frame builder, I feel my job is to give the rider the best possible way to see the world around them, the beautiful and graceful bicycle.”
A bicycle may be deceptively simple, but framebuilding has involved the use of increasingly complex and exotic materials, metallic or otherwise. Johnson’s foray into the art and science of welding came as a certified aviation welder. The honing of these metallurgic skills came with great responsibility – the consequences of a construction error for aircraft can be catastrophic. Johnson has carried forward this careful deliberation as a bicycle framebuilder, and he is quick to give credit to those friends and early customers who put their trust in his abilities.
“There came a point I wanted to be the hand that controlled my future and I hung that proverbial shingle out and started building frames. I had the help of friends willing to let me learn and build frames for them. I still thank these folks with their faith in my skills,” writes Johnson.
The skills that Johnson has honed to perfection include all aspects of bicycle frame fabrication. His favorite paradigm is the Neo-Classic Road Bike – steel is Dogwood’s medium of choice – but he’ll also custom build forks, stems and racks. Johnson also does his own paintwork – and brilliant paintwork it is, by turns retro and cutting edge, but always striking. He paints his frames because, as he says, “I know what I’m going to get.” The brass tacks of Dogwood’s custom artistry extend to the hand-made head badges that adorn every frame that leaves their Hendersonville, North Carolina shop.
For David Johnson, as for many custom builders, the customer is king, and he’ll build you what you want – up to a point anyway. He’s a bit skeptical of the utility of hydraulic disc brakes (“they are a pain in the ass to adjust, and I can get a replacement brake cable for rim brakes at a Walmart at 11 pm,” he admits), even though they were on several of the models on display at Philly Bike Expo. Sometimes market forces influence customer’s desires to places Johnson would rather not go naturally. A few traditionalist builders like Richard Sachs are immune to these forces (“No Richard Sachs bike will ever have disc brakes,” he’s said.), but without a seven-year long wait list for his frames, Johnson will gently try to steer his clients to features and design elements that have worked successfully for others in the past.
Some requests are so out there that a subtle approach won’t work. “Yeah, I’ve had to fire customers in the past,” Johnson admits. “Most of the time, I’ll just suggest another builder who may take on a novel, or even a weird request. I guess I’m just making that client someone else’s problem,” he laughs.
The mark of quality that is embodied in Dogwood’s handmade frame head badges can’t be applied to B+ level frames, and sometimes trying something that hasn’t been done before can damage more than a brand’s reputation. It held true for Johnson when he was an aircraft welder, and his accession to reality extends to bicycle building as well. “When you’re in the creative process, there are times when you’re going to screw up,” he admits.
Experience and repetition have produced the consistent brilliance that have earned Dogwood Cycleworx many devoted fans and customers, and for Johnson, the true mark of excellence will come when he passes his knowledge along to a new generation of framebuilders. “Each day I strive to keep learning about this craft, there is always more to learn and I hope to be able to give what I have learned to others,” he writes.
More info at: www.dogwoodcycleworx.com
Photos: Brad Quartuccio, Paul Skilbeck
