BURLINGTON, MA (BRAIN)—Parlee Cycles and The Cycle Loft have formed an exclusive relationship offering high quality hand-built carbon fiber bicycle frames to the northwest of Boston and beyond.
Parlee innovations include the sub-900 gram SL tube set and the Z3 compact frameset, the first full carbon compact frameset available with custom geometry. Recently Parlee has entered the triathlon and time trial markets with their slippery TT model, available in both stock and custom configurations.
Bob Parlee brought his extensive knowledge of composite fabrication from years of building custom boats, including some Olympic racing sailboats, to bike frames in the late 1990s. Realizing that his frames rode better and were lighter than comparable offerings at the time, he decided to build bike frames exclusively in the early 2000s. Parlee quickly rose to the top tier of American frame builders when Parlee Z1's were spotted in 2002 in the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. The bike that former Marblehead, MA, resident, Tyler Hamilton, rode still hangs in the Parlee factory with a different name brand on it.
Major awards given to Parlee bicycles include Cycling Weekly Race Bike of the Year, 2006, and Bicycling Magazine Editors Choice for Dream Bike, 2007.
The Cycle Loft redefines the notion of the corner “bike shop;” it is a sophisticated retailer not only selling bicycles—but also the “experience” of cycling, as a sport and lifestyle. The shop has been noted to offer the high touch feel of a small shop, coupled with the selection of large format bicycle shops. Over the past several years, the Loft has been awarded the distinction of being a “Top 100 Retailer” awarded by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.
The Cycle Loft pioneered the idea of the “Fit Lab,” where ergonomic fittings—fine tuning one’s position on a bicycle—can be executed. The Cycle Loft’s features a hard wood floor area with raised fitting platform, which is nestled in the corner of the shop with a great second floor view out of the floor to ceiling picture windows.
Considering The Cycle Loft’s commitment not only to the latest in cycling analysis technology—a cycling ergometer that displays power output and pedaling efficiency and 3D video analysis software that informs body position—but also to the long-term mechanical, sales, and coaching expertise of its staff, Parlee Cycles felt the timing of this new relationship was right.
