"Water’s just like air, only thicker"
The Parlee Bicycle Company - Beverly, Massachusetts
Bob Parlee moved from designing boats to bicycles only twenty two years ago. But quite long enough to secure the reputation as the ultimate engineer's engineer. Bob didn't so much learn on the job as re-express his decades as a carbon craftsman in the seven tubes of a bicycle frame. We remember being mesmerised by the sheer craftsmanship and innovation of the first Parlee Z1 frame in 2001. But what impressed us most was Parlee's guiding principle that his frames should be 'efficient' even though he was and is a carbon-fibre specialist and therefore 'lightweight'. For Bob Parlee, class-leading weight was an assumed and unintended consequence from doing things properly. This at a time when Bob was building bikes for Tyler Hamilton (badged Look), to ride Giro d'Italia, that weighed 5.2kg! Some of the best known Tour de France riders beat a path to Bob's door, hoping for a custom Parlee re-painted in their sponsor's livery.
Tyler Hamilton's 2002 Giro Look (made by Parlee)
Parlee Z1 - a classic the moment it launched
Parlee Today
Parlee is still a small and dedicated team based on the East Coast. And they still delight in hand-crafting beautiful bicycle frames. In 2016 Parlee infused their DNA in to a stock range of bikes - the Chebacco is now their most popular model. Followed in 2020 by their unfeasibly light RZ7 aero frame.
Parlee Chebacco LE - pick your adventure
Parlee RZ7 LE Aero - more watts, less grams
"For Bob Parlee, class-leading weight was merely an assumed and unintended consequence from doing things properly"
Parlee Z-Zero - express yourself. But not necessarily like this. Ahem.
Parlee at Cyclefit
Parlee bikes and frames are now available from Cyclefit. In fact, we do have a long relationship with Parlee - we used to represent them in our old Manchester shop. It is great for Parlee and Cyclefit to be together again. Please call or email to chat about your new Parlee bicycle.
