PARKTOOL is an American tool company that designs, manufactures and sells bicycle tools and equipment for professional bicycle mechanics and home mechanics. In 1963 Howard C. Hawkins and Art Engstrom were owners of "Park Schwin", a bicycle store in the Hazel Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota. At that time, they realized they didn't have the tools to fix the increasingly complicated bikes, so they started making their own. One of the earliest hits was a stand that lifted the bike off the ground and allowed access to all parts of the bike. Other bike shops and Schwinn liked this stand and asked them to make a production model. After that, we developed a wheel truing stand and expanded our range of wrenches and gauges for general consumers. By the early 1980s, Hawkins and Engstrom, who were consistently among the top ten Schwinn dealers with three locations, sold the bike shop to focus on the tool business. Today, we manufacture about 4,000 products, from wheel tooling stands to hex wrenches.
