After the ruckus of Frostbike another important national bike event took place in Bloomington this week, the Park Tool Tech Summit.  This event is for true wrenches, digging into the internals of forks, derailleurs and getting to play with some pretty cool “new” stuff.

The two-day event is hosted by Park Tool, the major supplier of bike tools to much of the cycling industry.  What you might not know is that Park Tool started right here in the Twin Cities in the back of a bike shop as Hazel Park Schwinn in St. Paul on White Bear Avenue. There, the owners of the shop were looking for a better way to work on bikes, rather than having to flip them upside down, with that they invented a bike stand.  Park Tool has been innovating ever since.

On Monday night the factory and warehouse (which is still in St. Paul) was up and running for those attending the Tech Summit and we managed to snap some pictures and a short video.

You can read a lot more about the history of Park Tool and take a virtual tour at their website.