The Mustache Hides the Wrench: Goodbye to the man who taught the internet to fix bikes.
Calvin Jones, the legendary face of Park Tool’s education and the internet’s favorite bike mechanic, has announced his retirement. A look back at the man who taught us all how to wrench.
There is a very specific, visceral type of panic that every home mechanic knows. It usually hits around 9:00 PM on a Tuesday. You have a ride planned for the morning, your hands are covered in grease, and the derailleur you swore you were just going to "tune up" is now in three distinct pieces on the garage floor.
For the last 15 years, the antidote to that panic has been a calm voice, a blue apron, and a magnificent mustache.
Calvin Jones, the Director of Education at Park Tool and the undisputed patron saint of bicycle maintenance, announced his retirement today. After nearly 30 years with the brand—and countless hours spent guiding us through bottom bracket standards and headset presses on YouTube—he is hanging up the apron.
If you’ve ever searched "how to adjust rear derailleur" or "install tubeless tires" on YouTube, you’ve met Calvin. He didn’t just read the manual to us; he democratized the dark art of bicycle mechanics.
Reading through the news of his departure, I was struck by a detail about his pre-YouTube career that makes perfect sense. Before he was the face of Park Tool, he was working with Team USA in the 90s, where he pioneered the "Team Shop" concept. He saw elite athletes standing in lines at generic service tents and realized they needed a standardized, professional system. He didn’t just fix bikes; he fixed the process.
As a tinkerer who appreciates a well-organized workflow (and a well-organized shop), I deeply respect that. He took the intimidating, gatekept world of pro mechanics and broke it down into digestible, logical steps that anyone with an internet connection could follow.
His departure feels like the end of an era—the source material compares him to Bob Barker leaving The Price is Right, and honestly, that tracks. He had that same steady, reliable presence. No matter how much the industry tried to confuse us with new standards or proprietary bolts, Calvin was there to calmly explain which tool we needed and, more importantly, how to use it without stripping the threads.
In his statement, Calvin mentioned he’s looking forward to "figuring out when to use this dropper post," which is the kind of self-effacing humor that made him so watchable.
We collectively owe him a lot. Not just for the money we saved by doing it ourselves, but for the confidence we gained by realizing that with the right teacher, these machines aren't magic—they're just physics and bolts.
Happy trails, Calvin. Thanks for teaching us how to keep them rolling.
