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Parlee was founded in 2000 in Beverly, Massachusetts, just minutes from Boston and only a 5-hour drive from the shop. The goal was simple yet noble: to build the best bikes in the world. With over 20 years of experience in the shipbuilding industry, Bob Parlee understood the promising potential of composite materials for designing higher-performance bikes. Carbon fiber was the obvious choice to take performance bikes to the next level, but this incredibly high-performing material wasn't being used to its full potential. Since Parlee's inception in the 1990s, they have consistently pushed the boundaries with groundbreaking designs. They don't care about following trends. Instead, they are always searching for genuine innovations that improve ride quality and performance.
Carbon fiber opens up a world of possibilities when it comes to optimizing tube sizes and shapes. It allows for fine-tuning properties such as weight, strength, durability, compliance, and conformability. By perfecting layup programs and molding techniques, Parlee has been creating lighter, faster, and more comfortable bikes for years.
Beyond their well-known achievements in custom geometry, Parlee was also the first carbon frame manufacturer to create a road frame weighing less than 900 grams. A few years later, they broke the 800-gram barrier. Throughout their history, their designs have garnered major accolades, including Bicycling magazine's Editors' Choice, Cycling Weekly's Race Bike of the Year, and Eurobike Design Awards. Most recently, they launched two new platforms: the Ouray as an all-road bike and the Taos as a new gravel bike.
Fast forward several years to today, where carbon fiber is the material of choice for almost all performance bikes. All major manufacturers offer carbon fiber in their product lines. The question now is: which carbon fiber bike will you buy and why?
It's not an easy decision. Every company claims to use the most durable materials and the most advanced manufacturing techniques. Moreover, the selection has never been as vast and diverse as it is now, and product lifecycles are constantly decreasing, multiplying the opportunities to renew your fleet of bikes. So, what will motivate your choice? Quality, innovation, and durability, or the latest trend? Speaking of durability, you may have already had to deal with a frame replacement under warranty, or worse, one that wasn't covered! At Parlee, we offer the option of having your frame repaired and repainted, whether it's a warranty claim or not. This option has a much smaller environmental impact than simply replacing the defective frame. Few, if any, manufacturers can boast of offering such a service.
You'll understand that carbon fiber allows bicycle designers to become stylists. Frames can be molded and shaped into every imaginable form. But don't confuse style with performance. Parlee's goal has always been to design and build bikes that are fast, lightweight, durable, and fun to ride. They never use unnecessary shapes in the name of design. Moreover, carbon fiber is perfect for building bikes because it has a very high strength-to-weight ratio. That's why it doesn't make sense to focus on style, which only adds weight and reduces ride quality.
The guiding principle at Parlee has always been efficiency. They will always use carbon fiber strategically to achieve a higher level of performance. They have the ability to create a bike specifically for you that does exactly what it's designed to do, while other major manufacturers release new models year after year simply to follow trends. Over the years, Parlee has made its mark by forging its own path. Their progress is measured and their evolution organic. Every new Parlee bike builds upon the success of its predecessor. They won't change a feature for the sake of it, and they aren't interested in superfluous styling. Massive downtubes and oversized bottom brackets can be a good sales driver, but Parlee will always choose to avoid trendy marketing features that only add bulk and weight without improving ride quality.
At Parlee, their focus never wavers from the ultimate goal: building the best bike for you. They constantly design, test, and refine every tube shape to achieve specific objectives.
Whether you're looking for a road racing bike, a daily training bike, a cyclocross bike, or a gravel adventure bike, Parlee is definitely a great choice to consider. (Take advantage of the clearance sale on Parlee Chebacco bikes while supplies last!)
Targeted performance meets a custom fit. Unlimited custom paintwork in the Parlee Paint Lab , along with geometry 100% tailored to your physique (for a certain investment), are also among the services offered by the company. This approach defines a Parlee bike.
At Maglia Rosa, we believe in Parlee's approach of offering a unique bike to each of our customers. You deserve a bike that perfectly matches your expectations and goals. Every Parlee bike we sell is fully assembled in our shop, and a bike fit is performed before you order to optimize each component and accessory for the best possible experience.
