Tag Archives: custom

Bike of the Week: Parlee Z4

Tour of California. Fitchburg. Gila. Redlands. Beauce. Herald Sun Tour. Super Week. For those who have ever pinned a number to your back, these names will ring a bell. Haven’t heard of those races? No worry as the Z4, aside from being a race worthy competitor, is simply a brilliant riding bike on any country road, path, city street or race course. No need to be a world-class competitor to appreciate its superior ride qualities . For anyone looking for a bike with proven pedigree, the Z4 is it – Parlee’s vision for a perfect road machine.

Since its introduction, the Z4 has been ridden and raced millions of miles. With classic, race proven geometry and handling, the Z4 is at home on any ride, regardless of rider ambition. With real-world weights rivaling bikes twice the price, the Z4 offers a lifetime of real world durability all-day cruising comfort and the crisp power transfer needed from a race bike without the typical bone-jarring stiffness. Forget the disposable, one-season-wonder bikes (this bike has a lifetime warranty), Z4 owners fully enjoy and appreciate the precision and attention to detail in each iteration of this bike. This very Z4 (see photos) came to us recently from Parlee for a customer who I’m sure (at his moment) is enjoying every penny spent.

THE FIRST MODERN CARBON CROSS BIKE – PARLEE BRINGS IT LIGHT, SMOOTH AND FAST

Bringing the performance and durability of PARLEE’s road bikes to the dirt, the CX is the perfect cyclocross machine (handmade in Beverly Mass with a lifetime warranty). The CX is feathery light, sucks up the terrain and dives into tight corners with the flick of a wrist.

Like its road counterparts, the CX’s carbon fiber construction make it the perfect blend of forgiveness and rigidity, making it adept at racing or linking together miles of back country roads. The wishbone mono-stay eliminates seat stay flex under braking. Ample tire clearance makes it perfect in all conditions from the dry hardpack of September to the muddy slop of November. With its light weight and top mounted cable stays, shouldering is almost literally a breeze.

Press-Fit 30 bottom bracket now available as a no-charge option! Semi-Custom frame and fork = $5900 : Full Custom frame and fork = $6900 (all made to order.) The CX is available in 5 FLEX-FIT options as well as complete custom bikes.

Now serving: Parlee

Hailing from Beverly Massachusetts (USA), PARLEE is a bike company doing it right and for the right reasons, and is the latest domestic brand to become a part of the NYC Velo family.

PARLEE bikes were born over a decade ago with one goal in mind, to build the best performing race bikes in the world. At that time, carbon fiber was overlooked in the road bike market despite all the success in motorsports and aerospace. In the late 1990′s, most race bikes were aluminum or titanium. However, based on what Bob PARLEE learned about materials while building racing boats for 20 years, says Bob, ” I knew that with the right sized tubes, and the right fiber lay-up, and proper molding techniques, carbon fiber would be the best choice for creating fast, light and comfortable racing bikes. Ten years on, it is plain to see, my instincts were right. Carbon is now the material of choice for professional and recreational riders. No major bike manufacturer is without carbon fiber in their road lineup. The question now, for the rider, is not what material to choose, but which carbon fiber bike to choose and why?”

Bob says, “PARLEE designs and builds fast, light, durable and comfortable bikes — qualities that were once considered mutually exclusive in bike building. Because of this, you will not see unnecessary shapes in the designs. The guiding principle for PARLEE is efficiency. The key to pushing performance is to use carbon fiber strategically to maximize its characteristics. Carbon fiber is perfect for building bikes because it has
such a high strength to weight ratio. This is why the styling makes no sense. All it does is add weight and take away from ride quality. It is akin to putting fins on a car — they may look cool, but they are not going to make it perform better”

In the last ten years, PARLEE has pioneered many industry firsts; from the first customizable carbon fiber racing frames to FLEX-FIT semi-custom geometry to the industry’s first sub-800 gram carbon fiber frames. But unlike other manufacturers, the development of PARLEE’s line of bikes has been organic. “I’ve always loved scribbling out an idea and then moving to the Bridgeport to create complicated molds,” says Bob. “By constantly thinking how can we make our bikes better, it has allowed our bikes to evolve, with each model building on the success of its predecessor.”

In addition to producing some of the best custom carbon frames available, all PARLEE models are offered in stock sizes. PARLEE stock bikes are built using the same process as their custom bikes. Each is built with uncompromising care and attention to detail. The PARLEE ownership process begins at NYC VELO, where we take precise measurements and gather the pertinent information about what (you) the customer wants in his or her bike’s performance. All of this information is passed on to the bike designers at PARLEE who use their internally developed CAD system to ensure that the frame matches the rider’s preferences perfectly.

BOTW: Indy Fab XS

You might think that being in the business of selling bikes would make you a bit jaded when it comes to bikes.  New bikes come and go in the shop (as they ought to), but every now and then we’re sad to see one go.

Cue this beautiful Independent Fabrications XS.  The Carbon tubes, Titanium lugs, and beautiful color scheme renders us starry-eyed whenever we look at this machine.  Alas, It is going to a good home where it’ll be ridden many, many miles.  We hope its new owner enjoys riding it as much as we enjoy looking at it.

Geekhouse Rock Cities

In celebration of our limited edition run of Geekhouse Rockcities (made
just for you), we sent cameras and followed the frame & forks through
production. We adopted a Terry Richardson-esque (disposable camera)
style…

We took some artistic license with the frame & fork color combos so you
could think about other things like what wheels, bars and saddle you want to round out the package.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with our Geekhouse friends in Boston,
they are a fully-loaded do-it-all-in-house crew.

As founder Marty Walsh says, “we produce a range of bicycle frames for all
types of riding. We work hard to source as much as possible from within
the United States and we hold green business practices in high esteem. By
utilizing a small staff of builders, we take the time to personally cater
to your ideas and we love watching each and every build take on the
personality and individuality of our customers.”

Come by and check out these urban assault vehicles in person.  Qty’s are limited, call the shop for sizing.

5ive Points: Jesse Fox

The latest subject for our 5ive Points series could not have come along at a more opportune time. Jesse Fox, currently the lead bike designer for Independent Fabrication (taking over for the recently departed Joe Ingram), has agreed to subject himself to our rigorous 5ive Points interrogation: brutally yet mercifully short.

In the interest of full disclosure, Jesse put in his time in the NYC Velo Mechanic Pit back in 2006, so he’s been a part of the “family” for some time now. After leaving NYC for the (allegedly) greener pastures of that lauded bike mecca that is Portland, Jesse spent time on the management team at the Bike Gallery, then at City Bikes in the Adams Morgan section of Washington, DC. Jesse’s travels recently led him to Boston, where he fortuitously connected with our friends at Indy Fab, and new love affair was born.

A lot has been said recently about the venerable bike manufacturers in Somerville. In the handbuilt bicycle world, Indy Fab has continued to build on their reputation as leaders in creating innovative products of the highest quality. The majority owner of the employee-owned company, Gary Smith, has decided that for Indy Fab to be able to continue to offer some of the best products in the industry and to push the technological aspects of the handbuilt industry forward, a move north to New Hampshire is in order. It’s not very often that we see such significant investment in American manufacturing these days, especially not in the bike industry and especially not in New England.

A brand is made of many components and the MBA’s out there can do a much better job arguing the merits of each. Certainly, the people that work at any company, especially in a high-end specialty industry (custom bicycles), contribute much to shaping the brand, both its image as well as the substance behind that image. While the move to NH will see the departure of some of the Indy Fab team, many integral parts of the “brand” will make the transition. We have also seen some of the great shapers of Indy Fab over the past 15 years, who had previously left the company, come back on board to shepherd the team through the transition and onto what will certainly be a bright future. Keep an eye out for a few folks joining the Indy Fab team for the first time to make their mark as well (ahem, Jesse…).

We can say that Indy Fab is and will continue to be the best handbuilt, custom bike manufacturer in the world because the represent them to the public as an authorized dealer. We also say this because we are Indy Fab owners, with some on the staff owning bikes from deep into the Fat City days. We get excited for every single steel, ti, and carbon bike coming out of Somerville and look forward to seeing the first bikes to come out of New market, NH. Stay tuned to the interwebs for Indy Fab’s NAHBS offerings next month!

If there are any folks that want to chat more about the move, feel free to drop us a line (or you can give our friend Jesse a call, tell him NYC Velo sent ya).

NYC Velo: What bike do you ride?

Jesse Fox: I have a few bikes that get ridden regularly, but I am really excited about a new IF that I’m working on. It’s going to be the ultimate D2R2 bike- basically a steel IF Club Racer, tweaked for performance on the steep, beautiful and tiny dirt roads in western MA. I can’t say much more about it right now, as it will be one of the IF show bikes at NAHBS this year in Austin. All I can say is that it will rule and everyone will want one. And, it will be Sandy-approved.

NYCV: What’s your favorite ride?

JF: I’ve been fortunate to have ridden in lots of great places over the years, but one that always stands out for me is riding up to the Plains of Abraham on Mt. Saint Helens. Incredible climb, soft and tacky dirt, then all of a sudden you are thrust out onto this bizarre moonscape, riding over baby head pumice and lava rocks in the shadow of this massive caldera.

NYCV: What’s your favorite post-ride food?

JF: Burritos. The perfect food in the perfect package.

NYCV: What is one thing you always carry on a ride?

JF: I heard that Gary Klein used to ride with a .38 Special in his pack, in case he encountered any mountain lions. I’m not sure what to make of that, but besides the usual water and a spare tube I always ride with three things: duct tape, zip ties, and extra Sidi buckles (the ratchet kind that screw on). You never want to run out of Sidi buckles.

NYCV: What’s next?

JF: I am really excited to be a new addition to the team at IF, especially with the upcoming move to NH. We’ve got some pretty big plans for the new shop, and I’ll be working hard to make sure the IF of right now and the IF of the future kills it just as hard, if not harder, than IF has in the past. I like the challenge of filling some big shoes, and I can’t say enough about how much of an inspiration the current and past IF crew has been on me as a designer and builder of custom bicycles. To the future!

5ive points, custom, D2R2, IF, independent fabrication

Be still my murmuring heart: A visit to IF

I got the flu about ten days ago, which meant that I got to both amass an arsenal of over-the-counter cough suppressants and other flu medication, and have the honor of being possibly the only person in America losing, rather than gaining, weight on Thanksgiving. And while both some weight and the fever have since been kept at bay, I’ve had a dry, hacking cough that’s lingered. The kind that will wake you up at night like an insatiable significant other, persistent and somewhat predictable, resulting in groggy workdays. The kind that results in somewhat sore abs and a tight back from those nighttime acrobatics. Except, you know, without satisfying happy endings that are implicit in anything involving insatiable significant others.

All of which led me to run to a walk-in clinic where a doctor listened to my heart every which way and then informed me that I just may have a heart murmur.

“Have you experienced any shortness of breath or difficulty breathing during exercise?” The doctor asked.

Images of attempting to climb River Road without “shortness of breath or difficulty breathing” came to mind. The inability to suck enough air into my lungs as I got pulled, dragged, then dropped up and down 9W presented itself.

“Uh, no, not really,” I answered.

Because images of a frame also emerged as I envisioned how I must look, riding up River Road. It was small and cute and welded together by a friend. I had visited the workshop to watch it being put together and even met the guy who was going to do my braze-ons [that sounds so dirty, I know]. And there was no fricking way some goddamn heart murmur was going to keep me off this almost-complete beauty.

Because, like I mentioned before, it’s an IF. The day before I got so pathetically sick that I was living off Tom Yum soup, I had ridden up to Somerville, MA to the IF workshop, with a quick stop by Clear Flour Bread to pick up some treats [their morning buns are pretty phenom]. Bundled up in every bike gear layer I own, it was a quick trip north to a warm workshop where my already-tacked frame sat, being TIG-welded into existence. I got to watch as Tyler worked his magic, explaining the process of using a giant electrical circuit to weld, and the use of air without oxygen in it.

Then I got the grand tour. I got to see the collection of tubes, the jig where tubes become frames, and the chain stay cutting machine [it was really cool]. There was the paint section where the newest green Ti Featherweight sat, waiting for its stripes of black matte paint, as well as an assorted collection of frames waiting for their respective powdercoats. I even got to see the big machine that provides extra pure air to the paint department, as well as IF’s sand and glass blasters.

Along the way, I saw and learned about how braze-ons are brazed on, leaving a glass-like residue, and how Corvids are assembled and the super power glue that holds them together. The IF carbon lugs for the Corvids are made specifically to measure, and not bent or stretched to fit like steel lugs. Even in its raw form, the carbon fiber frame was awesomely impressive. I think my heart murmured when I got to touch it; it didn’t hurt that it felt like air when I lifted it up, either.

There’s actually so much cool stuff and people at the IF workshop that it’s hard to actually delve in and describe everything in one visit [especially when your own custom frame is sitting in the welding department, nearing completion]. I left feeling more excited than when I arrived, and even in the midst of a feverish flu a few days later, I did a mental little dance when Tyler sent me even more pictures.

Yeah, that’s right. Pictures of my brazed and welded IF Crown Jewel. [Potential] Heart murmurs be damned. Ain’t nothin’ gonna keep me off that bike.

A Visit to Mr. Weigle's Workshop

We’ve been talking about this day for quite a while – over a year in fact.
It stuck in the back of our minds, a project that we knew would be a
labor of love.

Together, Justin, Mike, and I hatched a little idea about producing a
series of photo essays on framebuilder workshops.  We understood that we
were not reinventing the wheel: our friends at Rouleur, Embrocation, as
well as some of the more prolific bloggers in the industry have all
recently run with a version of the idea.  But we knew we also had the
goods to pull it off. Justin’s a great photographer, Mike can put pen to
paper when necessary, and most importantly, I have a car that seats 3 with
bikes – all of the components we needed for our own unique take on the
workshop profile.

Our subject in mind was none other than one of the all-time great American
frame-builders – J. Peter Weigle. We had gotten to know Peter recently,
and while we’ve been familiar with his bikes (and rustproofing) for
decades, it’s been the last couple of years where we’ve been able to truly
put into context what Peter contributes to the bike world.

After spending some time with Peter and his wife in connection with the
Museum of Arts and Design’s ‘Bespoke’ handbuilt bicycle exhibit this
summer, he invited us to stop by his workshop in Lyme, CT for a tour and a
ride.  Our schedules finally coincided last Tuesday, so Justin, Mike and I
hopped in the NYC Velo Subaru with a trio of steel bikes on the roof,
grabbed some coffee at Abraço, and headed out to our neighbor to the east.

We were greeted warmly by Peter upon our arrival at his workshop 120 miles
later.  We spent hours talking about rando bikes, vintage parts, handmade
tools, builders, flickr pages, NAHBS, and AC Cobra rally car racing.
Visiting Peter’s workshop for a day, one quickly realizes that you need a
month to document the parts, tools and bike ephemera that occupy every
inch of the 1000 sq. foot space.  At a certain point, Peter put his foot
down and got us out on a two-wheeled tour of the dirt roads in and around
the eastern CT coastline.  The day’s weather afforded a ride that took
advantage of the best that New England has to offer: grade A Vitamin G
roads – buff and fast.  Stark, leafless trees surrounding babbling brooks
and waterfalls sheepishly displaying a fraction of their springtime power.
Cottages and farmhouses, true to their Yankee locale, with nary a
subdivision in sight.  In other words – perfect.

Our planned four hour tour was cut back to an all-too-modest 2 hours,
thanks to the early winter sun’s westward advance.  But before we headed
back west to NY, Peter took us to Ashlawn Farm Coffee for an espresso
boost home and some talk about his days at Callaway Motorsports, tuning
Corvettes.  Peter’s randonneur masterpieces sure can move, and now we know
why.

Untill next time, thanks Peter!

We’re spending the winter organizing the photos of our trip, and we
promise the profile will be worth the wait.  Watch this space for more
info and updates.

-Andrew

BOTW: IF Corvid (Now with Kung-Fu Belt Drive action!)

There’s something to be said about machines that are utilitarian and beautiul.

There’s also something to be said about bucking a status quo in order to acheive both of those traits.

Enter the Belt Drive Corvid,  by our friends at IF.  Sure, chain-driven bikes are the driving force behind human-powered locomotion, but let’s be honest: chains are greasy and can be a pain.  Short of using one of these, a belt drive is an elegant and easy solution for the single speed bike.

This IF Corvid is a beautiful meld of carbon and shiny red bits (hello Chris King hubs!).  This bad boy was custom built to order a little over 6 weeks ago by one of our customers.  We worked with him to spec it out perfectly so that he could have exactly what he wanted.  There you have it.

If I had an IF…

Our good friend and fixie blogging maven Kaiko (AKA Pedal-strike) is finally switching over the darkside of multi-geared bikes.   To say she’s doing it in style would be an understatement; she has been lusting after her very own Independent Fabrication road bike for quite some time.  As she’s a total pro at documenting such things, we wanted her to share her experience of getting one of her own.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I think it bears repeating: when you come from a “tribe of midgets” as my mother once described our immediate family to a much-taller cousin, it’s hard to find a bike that fits.

Being a smidge over 5’2″, I’m too tall for the 43cm bikes that come with 650cc wheels but too small for anything on 700cc wheels with a horizontal top tube. In that gray, in-between area, I’m placed in the unfortunate position of choosing between the two. Add to that the fact that I’m a woman, new to road cycling, and Japanese, and the decisions to be made when purchasing that just-right road bike can get more frustrating than fun.

Sure, a lot of bike manufacturers now have entire lines of women’s specific bikes, in sizes starting from 44 to 49cm, usually designed with a slightly shorter top and seat tubes than their unisex counterparts. The woman that these bikes are generally designed for is one with longer legs and a shorter torso than her male counterparts;
valid considerations for your typical non-Asian cyclist. But if you have shorter legs and a longer torso like I do [think E.T. but with normal length arms], going for a unisex, smaller frame could provide the better fit.

The problem then becomes finding a bike that’s small enough, made from the material you want it to be made from, and, if you’re as unreasonable as I am, in colors that you can tolerate [personally, this tolerance is inversely and exponentially related to the cost of the frame or bicycle]. The first two considerations are obviously the more important ones, and ones that required the most leg work because while I’d ridden steel and aluminum, neither bike had gears, nor involved rides longer than 40 miles. I didn’t know what carbon felt like, what aluminum with a carbon back triangle felt like, or how smooth high-end steel can be. I called a dozen bike shops about road bikes they might have in my size, I rode a bunch around the block, rode a few a little longer than that, asked an endless train of questions, tried Sram, re-tried Campy, and ended up trusting my countrymen in deciding that I liked the ubiquitous yet reliable Shimano, best.

Now that I got the shifting down, I just needed a bike.

You’d think finding a smaller road bike with Shimano wouldn’t be so hard. You’d think that, wouldn’t you? Especially with all the women’s options out there?

Except for…well, a lot of things. Back in May, Andrew had measured my height [this is when I discovered I was more 5'2 than 5'3], had me wedge this wooden L-shaped ruler between my legs to measure standover height, and hold the end of the tape measure where my collarbones meet. I stood around the small stage at the back of NYC Velo in my socks [we had to measure my height without shoes on, which is more accurate and close to reality but which I also think is fundamentally unfair], and was asked questions about my weight, the kind of riding I do, and the kind of riding I would want to do with a road bike. Andrew sent the deets to IF a few days later, and a few days after that I got to see a custom frame spec’d to my measurements, and about two weeks after that, I balked.

I’ll admit that it wasn’t just the impending bar exam that got in the way. There was sticker shock, too. The realization that I was going to put down kind of a lot of money for a custom frame and fork scared me. I had never ridden an IF at that point, and the chances of me finding one close enough to my size were slim to none. In the face of the unknown, [at least I could ride, say, a Felt ZW5] I couldn’t commit.

But a few months post-bar, there was a sparkly green demo 47cm Independent Fabrication Steel Crown Jewel built up with Dura Ace hanging from the ceiling of the shop. Offered for a test ride, I took it up River Road and back and, unfortunately, fell in love. I tried to tell myself it was the Dura Ace that made the ride so smooth, that it was entirely in my head that the steel bike felt light, and that I should seriously consider carbon. But there was something about the way everything worked together, how the frame complemented its parts and the entire thing seemed to want to roll out and keep on going. As a complete derailleur novice, the versatility of the Crown Jewel appealed to me as well: it could be raced, ridden for hours on end, or taken out for quick spins. There was a lot of potential in that frame, but most importantly, despite the fact that it was too big for me, it felt really good.

The toe I dipped in the welcoming warmth of the IF pool was the end of my deliberating. I didn’t admit it to myself for another few weeks, but once I had ridden that IF, the bikes I test-rode seemed…not that great in comparison. Still, I wanted to be 100% sure. I emailed Kevin at IF too many times, asking too many really long-winded questions, and every single time, he seemed more than happy to explain things and even offered to take a look at my current bike fit via photos. He said something like, “I understand this is big decision,” and I wanted to hug him. I gave the okay a few weeks later.

And now here we are. It’s been about 4 weeks, and with an approximate turn around time of 6-8 weeks, my bike is on the horizon. Actually, it’s already been “born,” so to speak, and the sheer thought of having an IF all to myself has me giggling like a 13 year old with a crush. I can’t wait. It’s going to be awesome.

More updates coming [very, very] soon!