 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2011) |
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Founded | June 1963 |
| Founders | Howard C. Hawkins Art Engstrom |
| Headquarters | Oakdale, Minnesota, U.S. |
Key people | Eric Hawkins Sara Carlson |
| Products | Bicycle tools |
| Website | www |
Park Tool Company is an American designer, manufacturer and marketer of bicycle tools and equipment for both professional and home bicycle mechanics. It manufactures about 4000 products. [1]
In 1963, Howard C. Hawkins and Art Engstrom were the owners of Park Schwinn, a bicycle shop in the Hazel Park area of Saint Paul, Minnesota. They noticed that there were no tools available to repair the increasingly complex bicycles of the 1960s, so they began creating their own tools. The first was a stand that held the bike off the ground allowing convenient access to any part of the bike. Other area bike shops and Schwinn Bicycle Company liked the stands and requested a production model. Soon after, the company expanded to include wheel truing stands, then expanded further into consumer wrenches and gauges. By the early 1980s, Hawkins and Engstrom were a perennial top ten Schwinn dealer with three stores but sold their bicycle shops to focus their efforts on the tool business. Today, both Art Engstrom and Howard Hawkins are retired. Howard died in 2015. Park Tool is owned and operated by Eric Hawkins, Howard Hawkins' son, and now offers more than 500 bicycle repair tools in its line. [2]
The founders of Park Tool along with James E. Johnson developed a clamping device on their original bike repair stand, for which they received a United States Patent in 1976. [3] The company has applied for and has been granted many patents since then, including a pizza cutter shaped like a penny-farthing. [4] and several patents for bicycle specific repair tools.
Park Tool products typically incorporate blue into their design. Handles are frequently colored blue but some tools are colored differently so as to avoid confusion between different tools of otherwise similar appearance. This is the case with the square-taper crank puller (CCP-22, blue) and the splined crank puller (CCP-44, black). Similarly the AWS-10 folding hex wrench set has a traditional Park blue handle, while the visually very similar TWS-2 folding Torx wrench set is supplied in bright green. The color blue is a registered trademark of the company. [5]
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
A tandem bicycle or twin is a form of bicycle designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement, not the number of riders. Patents related to tandem bicycles date from the mid 1880s. Tandems can reach higher speeds than the same riders on single bicycles, and tandem bicycle racing exists. As with bicycles for single riders, there are many variations that have been developed over the years.
The pedal is the part of a bicycle that the rider pushes with their foot to propel the vehicle. It provides the connection between the cyclist's foot or shoe and the crank allowing the leg to turn the bottom bracket spindle and propel the bicycle's wheels. A pedal usually consists of a spindle that threads into the end of the crank, and a body on which the foot rest is attached, that is free to rotate on bearings with respect to the spindle.
A Bowden cable is a type of flexible cable used to transmit mechanical force or energy by the movement of an inner cable relative to a hollow outer cable housing. The housing is generally of composite construction, consisting of an inner lining, a longitudinally incompressible layer such as a helical winding or a sheaf of steel wire, and a protective outer covering.
The bottom bracket on a bicycle connects the crankset (chainset) to the bicycle and allows the crankset to rotate freely. It contains a spindle to which the crankset attaches, and the bearings that allow the spindle and crankset to rotate. The chainrings and pedals attach to the cranks. Bottom bracket bearings fit inside the bottom bracket shell, which connects the seat tube, down tube and chain stays as part of the bicycle frame.
The Schwinn Bicycle Company is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets bicycles under the eponymous brand name. The company was originally founded by Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1948) in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century. After declaring bankruptcy in 1992, Schwinn has since been a sub-brand of Pacific Cycle, owned by the Dutch conglomerate, Pon Holdings.
A bicycle lock is a security device used to deter bicycle theft, either by simply locking one of the wheels or by fastening the bicycle to a fixed object, e.g., a bike rack.
The term bicycle tools usually refers to specialty tools only used on bicycles, as opposed to general purpose mechanical tools such as spanners and hex wrenches. Various bicycle tools' have evolved over the years into specialized tools for working on a bicycle. Modern bicycle shops will stock a large number of tools for working on different bicycle parts. This work can be performed by a trained bicycle mechanic, or for simple tasks, by the bicycle owner.
A kickstand is a device on a bicycle or motorcycle that allows the bike to be kept upright without leaning against another object or the aid of a person. A kickstand is usually a piece of metal that flips down from the frame and makes contact with the ground. It is generally located in the middle of the bike or towards the rear. Some touring bicycles have two: one at the rear, and a second in the front.
A cruiser bicycle, also known as a beach cruiser or (formerly) motobike, is a bicycle that usually combines balloon tires, an upright seating posture, a single-speed drivetrain, and straightforward steel construction with expressive styling. Cruisers are popular among casual bicyclists and vacationers because they are very stable and easy to ride, but their heavy weight and balloon tires tend to make them rather slow. Another common feature is their ability to be customized with accessories including fenders, lights and saddle bags. They are designed for use primarily on paved roads, low speeds/distances, and are included in the non-racing/non-touring class and heavyweight or middleweight styles of the road bicycle type.
A bicycle mechanic or bike mechanic is a mechanic who can perform a wide range of repairs on bicycles. Bicycle mechanics can be employed in various types of stores, ranging from large department stores to small local bike shops; cycling teams, or bicycle manufacturers.
A wheel truing stand is a specialized tool for "truing" (straightening) bicycle wheels. Individual models differ slightly, but all consist of an axle stand on which the wheel can rotate and calipers, to measure slight deviations of the wheel's rim from ideal alignment. Proper wheel alignment includes lateral, radial and dish/centering trues which keep the wheel straight and strong. The stand is used in conjunction with an appropriately sized spoke wrench to loosen or tighten the spokes that connect the wheel's hub to the rim.
Luther William Grigs is an American "Old School/Mid School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1985 to 1996.
Ross Bicycles Inc. manufactured over 15 million bicycles under the Ross brand between 1946 and 1988. The company began in Williamsburg, New York, United States, later moving its headquarters and manufacturing to Rockaway Beach, Queens. The headquarters remained in Rockaway when manufacturing was later moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania where Sherwood could focus on designing his high end Gran Eurosport model which featured synthetic grease, polished bearings, and 26 skip tooth front sprocket for friction reduction. Sherwood Ross, against the advice of his vice president Randy Ross, retooled the Allentown factory and experimented in unrelated bicycle endeavors involving government contracts. Randy Ross moved Ross bicycles manufacturing to Taiwan to keep margins competitive and bicycle manufacturing profitable, but Sherwood Ross's decision to keep the Allentown factory working on government contracts ultimately led to the company having to file for bankruptcy protection in 1988 Ross Bicycles was re-established on July 31, 2017 by Shaun Ross, the current CEO of Ross Bicycles.
The stem is the component on a bicycle that connects the handlebars to the steerer tube of the bicycle fork. Sometimes called a goose neck, a stem's design belongs to either a quill or threadless system, and each system is compatible with respective headset and fork designs:
Montague Corporation is an American company that designs, manufactures, and sells full-size folding bicycles. It is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to bicycles:
Howard Carl Hawkins was an American businessman and bicycle tools maker, co-founder of Park Tool in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is considered one of the pioneers in the bicycle industry. He died of a heart attack in Arizona on January 26, 2015.
A hex key is a simple driver for bolts or screws that have heads with internal hexagonal recesses (sockets).