Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Be careful what you don't ask for...



I think most bicycle framebuilders are folks that felt a strong desire to pursue the craft , as if it was the thing they most wanted out of life. I wasn't one of those-maybe for the first few weeks but after the reality of how hard it would be to earn a living at it sunk in , I was pretty much a hobbyist for the next nine years. I even quit for a time when my girlfriend at the time broke up with me and ordered me and my torch out of the apartment forever. I moved to a place where there was no room for a shop so all of my tools went into storage for nearly two years . I had only built about eleven frames so I was still in the beginner stage and blundering my way through for the most part. Little did I know back then what would later be my daily duty for the bulk of my working life. I would like to think that my motivation to build bikes was steadfast and unwavering since the start but I admit that I got discouraged and it fell from the top of my list as a job I could endure. Now that I have been at it fulltime for over twenty-one years , I have come to the conclusion that I always had what it takes to be a framebuilder , not that I am proud of the fact. What I see as necessary components for a potential career framebuilder are the following : # 1, A love of bicycles and riding bicycles , even if you can't ride for one reason or another. # 2, an inability to work for anyone else in any capacity other than framebuilding.# 3, A healthy dose of low self-esteem and need to make folks happy with what you can build so you can get kudos and not feel so absolutely loathsome of yourself for a minute or two.#4 , Some not-so-buried wishes to prove to people in your past that you could indeed amount to something-essentially put it back in thier faces , all those doubters.....pretty much everyone in your highschool. #5 , A need to confront an inanimate pile of metal and turn it into an elegant machine-this comes from your inability to deal with society and social situations comfortably. #6, The desire to have a job that not only skirts the need to conform to adulthood, it literally prevents the transiton. So........what I am saying is that to be a framebuilder needs to be an outcast , a bit of a psychological sicko , incapeable of earning a living in a more conventional profession , and last but not least-immature,insecure and for the most part an emotional house of cards. With these traits it is no surprise why a lot of us do not see eye to eye on what we do and get in to stupid little arguments about details that most people wouldn't even waste a fart on. And so it is, my profession-not what I chose in the beginning but I choose it now , after all....I'm fully qualified.

8 comments:

  1. That's a pretty funny picture.

    In my experience, running a small business and avoiding adulthood are mutually exclusive, at least during working hours. Perhaps I'm decieving myself, though.

    Spencer Wright

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  2. low self-esteem, arrested development, and an innate desire to tell the man (and anyone else who gets in the way) to shove it are the key character traits needed to succeed. you also need to know what goes where and how to get it done efficiently too atmo.

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  3. I addressed that with the photo.......the tubes go in the lug-and so on......sort of.

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  4. Paul,

    Don't be co-opted!

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  5. Wow Paul, that is the most inspirational thing I have heard in like the last 2 years. I can't believe you were using an acetylene torch in your gf's apartment. I initially thought I would need to rent out some shop space to be able to build up my first frame, but maybe I'll just try to braze up a frame in my little 240 sq ft studio!

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  6. To be truthful, I was brazing in a nice two-car garage....it was roomy as we didn't have a car or much of anything else. I guess we didn't have staying power, either !

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  7. Hey Paul,
    I hate to be so rude as to contradict you on your own blog, but I'm just not convinced you're socially inept. You're actually great fun to talk to.
    Cheers

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