The End of An Era: Park Tool Icon Calvin Jones Retires

If you’ve ever had to cut a new chain, fix a finicky derailleur, or a bleed a hydraulic disc brake, there’s a good chance Calvin Jones was there with you. From the most basic to the outright trigonomic, the man in the apron would get you rolling again. After 28 years as Director of Education at Park Tool, Jones is officially retiring, closing the book on one of the most influential teaching careers in modern cycling.

Park Tool, the Minnesota-based company known for its unmistakable blue tools, did more than just sell tools. Through thousands of hours of instructional content, Jones became the trusted translator between complicated mechanical systems and riders who wanted their bikes running smooth. For decades, he was the face of Park Tool’s repair videos, guiding everyone from first-time home mechanics to veteran shop techs through jobs that once felt intimidating or out of reach.

Over nearly three decades, Jones helped build a comprehensive guide to bike repair, including a collection of nearly 200 detailed how-to guides that can be heard in garages and shops worldwide. He played a major role in developing the Park Tool School classroom curriculum, multiple editions of The Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair, and the Park Tool Tech Summit, a professional-level training series that helped standardize best practices across the industry.

Having wrenched in bike shops for years before coming to TGR, I can confidently say that Calvin Jones's videos have saved my skin more than once.

Long before his Park Tool videos became world famous, Jones was a presence in the cycling community. His résumé includes time as a team mechanic for USA Cycling squads, an instructor at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and chief instructor at the Barnett Bicycle Institute.

And while he’s stepping away from his formal role at Park Tool, Jones isn’t disappearing from cycling. He’ll remain involved with the Minnesota Cycling Association’s Stillwater chapter, continue serving on the board of Project Bike Tech, and is expected to make occasional appearances in future Park Tool videos. The mustache, it seems, will still surface from time to time.

For an entire generation of riders, Calvin Jones became synonymous with competence in the garage. His videos helped instill confidence in burgeoning mechanics, saving them expensive trips to the bike shop and getting them riding again more quickly. That confidence, passed from screen to workbench to trailhead, may be his most enduring contribution.