I was born in Paisley in the 80s and grew up riding bmx with my brother and friends from an early age. We were breaking bike parts a lot of the time and ended up putting together parts from our local dump and new parts from our local bike shop.
I really enjoyed this activity of riding bikes and fixing them very early on and this continued into my teens where i would be hanging out at the local shops. and funding my hobby with a 7 day paper round.
Getting to know the mechanics at these shops I was taught how to do a lot of the repair work properly and later being offered a chance to work in the bike shop.
I have worked in bicycle retail, bicycle workshops and a few bike projects and since then continually enjoying the work and learning. From racing bmx to mountain bikes, ebike and commuter bike shops, I have enjoyed it all and continue to do so.
While working at a small commuter bike shop in the mid 2000s I was made aware of Common Wheel by my then boss and now long term friend. I was building a bike from spare parts lying around in the workshop and he said “Have you ever been to commonwheel?, its like an Aladdins cave of old bikes and parts”
On my day off on a Tuesday after dropping some biscuits off at Bob Finays bike shop, i popped by and met Neil. He was kind enough to show me round and tell me about the project. That was that, I need to work here one day!
A few years later i was offered a Saturday job at the Maryhill workshop (The Saturday boy) and i loved it. What a super interesting bike shop that makes great one off bikes that will last the test of time.
In August 2017 I was given the keys to the Bridgeton workshop to become the workshop manager full time. Since then i have worked with great people , great clients and great volunteers. Common Wheel is very important to me and i still really enjoy the work we do and the bikes we fix and build.