"The best tools are patience and persistence" – a saying that feels almost purpose-designed for the DIY bike mechanic. If you aren't willing to kiss goodbye to significant swathes of your life as you attempt to thread an internal cable, loosen an obstinate bottom bracket or perfecting your tubeless set-up, you're in the wrong business.
Patience and persistence are not, however, the only good tools at your disposal, and if you have ever fixed – or tried to fix – a bike, you'll probably also recognise the blue and white branding of US firm Park Tool. There's a good chance you will also have sought the counsel of Park Tool's own guru in chief, Calvin Jones.
Extravagant of moustache and brimming with mechanic-ing knowledge, Jones has been the face of Park Tool for nigh-on 29 years – a tenure at the Saint Paul, Minnesota company on which he has now called time with the announcement this week of his retirement.
Jones has been the presenter of almost 200 'How To' videos on Park Tool's popular YouTube channel, and the author of countless tech-based articles. We have probably all turned to him at some stage, and you can only imagine the number of people who, without his help, might have long given up and taken their machine to the shop to be fixed instead.
Those who'd come across Jones on their bike-fixing journeys reacted with warmth and well-wishes across social media.
"The GOAT of bike maintenance – you will be missed, king," said one, while another said, "Good for him. Dude shared a lifetime's worth of bike repair and maintenance knowledge with millions of at-home (and certainly some professional) mechanics. Retirement well earned!"
Perhaps the biggest compliment paid was when one fan commented: "I'll still hear his voice in my head any time I adjust a derailleur."
Jones's credentials extend well beyond his time at Park Tool, having taken his first bike shop job more than 50 years ago in 1973. He went on to become a US national team mechanic and mechanics instructor at the US Olympic Institute.
"I'll be retiring from the company," said Jones in a short video announcement. "Retire – that's a big word. Certainly my horizons will change. Answering the daily email, phone calls, customer service, sweeping and mopping the floor, daily meetings, will no longer be my purview. I've spent 29 years with Park Tool. Add to that, my time in the industry before, well, it feels like something."
Jones said he would be aiming to get fit by riding more: "As the seventh grade sweep I can't be several minutes off the back," he said.
And he hinted that we may not have seen the last of him yet: "In future, bottom line, if I think of something you may need to know, you may find me here at this YouTube channel," he said.
Park Tool wished him well, saying: "His presence will be missed in the office, asking about everyone’s latest ride and offering to tinker with their bikes. The entire staff at Park Tool sincerely offer him their best wishes in his retirement."
