Park Tool
Encyclopedia
Park Tool Company is a leading American
designer, manufacturer and marketer of bicycle tools
and equipment for both professional and home bicycle mechanics. It manufactures over 300 products that range from wheel truing stand
s to hex wrenches.
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 had sold their bicycle shops to focus their efforts on the tool business.
.
of the company.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
designer, manufacturer and marketer of bicycle tools
Bicycle tools
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...
and equipment for both professional and home bicycle mechanics. It manufactures over 300 products that range from wheel truing stand
Wheel truing stand
A wheel truing stand is a specialized tool for straightening bicycle wheels. While individual models differ slightly, it consists of an axle stand on which the wheel can rotate and calipers, to measure slight deviations of the wheel's rim from ideal alignment...
s to hex wrenches.
History
In 1963, Howard Hawkins and Art Engstrom were the owners of three bicycle shops in the Twin Cities area. 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 CompanySchwinn Bicycle Company
The Schwinn Bicycle Company was founded by German-born mechanical engineer Ignaz Schwinn in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century and today it is a sub-brand of Pacific Cycle, owned by the multi-national conglomerate, Dorel...
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 had sold their bicycle shops to focus their efforts on the tool business.
Patents
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. The company has applied for and has been granted many patents since then, including a pizza cutter shaped like a penny-farthingPenny-farthing
Penny-farthing, high wheel, high wheeler, and ordinary are all terms used to describe a type of bicycle with a large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel that was popular after the boneshaker, until the development of the safety bicycle, in the 1880s...
.
Color
Park tools typically incorporate blue into their design. Handles are frequently colored blue although some tools are colored differently to avoid mechanics confusing different tools of otherwise similar appearance. The color blue is a registered trademark and trade dressTrade dress
Trade dress is a legal term of art that generally refers to characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging that signify the source of the product to consumers...
of the company.