Wise Words | John Lawlor.

Wise Words is our new interview series talking to some of mountain biking’s most switched on people.

We’ll ask our short list of questions to a heap of influential, inspiring and outspoken people that we feel are driving the direction of mountain biking today. Some will make you think, some will make you laugh, some will be plain dumb, some will inspire you to better yourself and your riding. We hope!

Wise Words this week comes to you from none other than John Lawlor.

A legend of the Irish downhill scene and you’ll no doubt have seen his face pop up in various Sprung and Earthed segments over the years, John Lawlor was part of the first wave of pinned folk from the Emerald Isle. Now, he’s still at the World Cups, but mostly bagging lots of moving images for your enjoyment in VitalRAW.

Photos by Victor Lucas.

How would your closest riding buddies describe you to someone who has never met you?

I reckon a lot of them would consider be to still be quite fast on a bike. I’ve known a lot of them from when I used to race bikes and maybe they still see me as being quite competitive but I’d like to think I’m easy to get along with and someone who loves the simplicity of an enjoyable day out on the bikes having the craic.

What thing or things have you bought in the last year that had the biggest effect on your life as a mountain biker / cyclist / person that works in the bike industry?

I generally don’t buy that much new gear or kit and try to reuse what I have as much as possible. I would have to say that the biggest thing for me would be the switch to 29er wheels that I made about 8 years ago. Being a tall rider, in hindsight I can’t believe it has taken this long to catch on as it’s a game changer, for me anyway.

What unusual habits do you have as a bike rider?

I’ve been told that I run my tyre pressures pretty high by today’s standards but that could be because I grew up riding with zero suspension and and running higher pressures was done to stop pinch flats. I still tend to hit stuff pretty hard and I’m always aware of my tyres rolling or dinging my rims on rocks. Its actually funny because I would have no issues putting 30psi front and rear and leaving it unchecked for a month or so, only to check it after a ride to find out they’ve leaked and I’ve been running closer to 20psi.

What piece of advice do you think every mountain bike rider should hear? And what piece should they ignore?

Advice they should listen to… Just try to keep things fun and not to stress about owning the newest or best piece of kit. Run what you brung.

Advice they should ignore, newer is better

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If you could go back and re-ride one day from your life so far, where/what/when/who would it be? Would you change anything?

I would really love to go back and ride some if the World Cup tracks from the mid 90s early 00s on modern machinery. I remember how much of a struggle it was in those early days when the equipment just wasn’t up to scratch. Squaw Valley from 1999 springs to mind.

Myself, Glyn O’Brien, Andy Yoong and Paul Gilsenan went there for the World Cup and thought the track was absolutely mental, which at the time unlike anything I’d ever ridden before. It was dry, dusty with sections that were so steep and shaley. That was one of the most fun trips of my life.

What have you wasted the most time on in your life as a rider or bike industry career that you wished you’d given up years ago?

That’s a very tough question but there are a lot of technologies from the very early days that were terrible. Cantilever brakes, narrow bars, static seat posts, narrow tyres. The list is endless. These are all things we’ve all given up on and I’m glad that they’ve all been phased out and replaced with things that just work.

How do you motivate yourself when you’re struggling or lacking inspiration?

Apart from doing about 500 laps of my local country roads when we were in a 5km circumference restriction, most of the first lockdown I passed the time by doing loads of home improvement projects like building stuff around the house and garden, like a little decking area and more recently I built a man cave for my wife Wendy. I find doing something completely different from biking or filming is a good reset button, plus it’s good for my mind to set little projects for myself that are a little out of my comfort zone

What single and specific thing about riding bicycles do you gain the most happiness from?

I love the satisfaction from a good long day out on the bike over the mountains with a great group of lads who love doing the same thing. I’m still riding a lot of the same trails I rode when I first started riding back in the early 90s and while a lot of them have changed and gotten gnarlier, I still get the same feeling riding then now that I got when I first started.

What single thing would you like to erase from cycling history from the last year?

That would have to be the arrival of COVID and the mess it’s made of not just our industry but the lives of people all around the World. I’ll be glad to see the back of it, whenever that may be.

What single thing would you like to make happen in the cycling world in the next year?

Apart from COVID f—king off, quite simply, I would love to see bike events and racing get back there it was 18 months ago with people being able to socialise, meet up and have fun that we used to be able to do. It seems like a long time ago that it was completely normal to go for a bike ride and head out afterwards for a few pints and have the banter. I can’t wait for that to be normal again.

Who else should we ask these questions to?

I would love to hear what Oisin O’Callaghan would have to say about his history in racing and where he sees the sport heading in the future. The young guns are our future champions.

Keep tabs on John’s adventures on his Instagram feed here.


You can catch all our previous Wise Words interviews with the likes of Sven Martin, Manon Carpenter, Ric McLaughlin and plenty more here.


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