Park Tool celebrates 50 years – Interbike 2012

Park Tool is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year and the company isn’t just sitting around eating cake. While the new year brings a celebratory limited-edition three-way hex wrench with an anodized aluminum body and gold-plated, replaceable bits, the rest of the range is all business as usual.

Doing the heavy lifting for 2013 – literally – is the new PRS-33 Power Lift Shop Stand, which incorporates a burly electric motor reportedly capable of lifting 54kg (120lb). Why bother, you ask? Certainly this sort of thing is overkill for the majority of standard bikes but the emergence of e-bikes and their weighty motors and batteries have certainly changed the landscape a bit, along with the growing crop of freeride, downhill, and even classically styled – but often very heavy – cruisers.

Not surprisingly, Park Tool doesn’t expect many consumers to purchase the PRS-33 but dealers can pick one up for about $1,200 without the mounting base but with a single clamp. The PRS-33 can also accommodate a second arm for dual-sided work and the accessory bar up top can be used to mount storage hooks and even lights.

Chain tools have also received a host of changes for the coming year, catering especially to Campagnolo 11-speed chains that require the pin to be peened and mushroomed following assembly. Built-in ‘anvils’ are now included in the redesigned CT-4.3 Master Chain Tool and portable CT-6.3 Folding Chain Tool while the standard CT-3.2 Chain Tool omits the anvil but gets a sliding shoulder to make it compatible with nearly any chain width.

Other additions include a promising-looking PFP-7 Professional Mechanic Floor Pump with aggressively textured flip-up steel feet, reamers and pilots for BB30 and PF30 bottom bracket shells, newly independently adjustable jaws for the CRP-2 crown race puller, a handy benchtop overhaul mat, tap handles, and even a new axle and spindle vise clamps.

Most of the new items are slated to be available starting late this calendar year.