Parlee's Pinoy framebuilder

CEBU - There are bicycles and then there are bicycles.

Parlee bicycles (www.parleecycles.com), who belongs in the second group, is probably the best bicycle in the world today. I know that some may think that Italian bicycles are the best but in the eclectic set, Parlee is the bicycle to die for.

Last September, I was lucky enough to tour their facility in Peabody, a city 20 minutes out of Boston. Their factory, which is approximately the size of a basketball court, is housed in a red, brick building beside a little stream. My brother, JC and me didn’t knock, we just pressed our faces in the glass wall uninvited. But Bob Parlee, whose background includes boat building, was very cordial and came out to greet us.

Bob then introduced us to Rommel Mariano, another unassuming guy who originated from Pampanga. We already knew that Parlee had a Pinoy worker but surprised us was when Bob said that Rommel was his chief framebuilder! Can you imagine a Pinoy as chief mechanic for Ferrari? Hello?

As we entered the facility, we saw the frame Tyler Hamilton used in the 2002 Giro D’Italia where he finish second, rebadged as LOOK. Lots of frames in different stages of construction, were lying around. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the shop, as they didn’t want their secret out! Rommel acted as the tour guide and introduced us to all the employees in the company, about a dozen guys in all, not really the number I was thinking for a top notch frame maker.

Parlee bikes do not come cheap. Atty. Goyo Larrazabal, whose Bike Town Cyclery distributes Parlee in the country, told me that the high end model, Z1, cost a whopping US$6,600.00! if spec’d with a Campagnolo gruppo, this could reach beyond US$10K. Weighing at about 800gms, the Z1 is less than half the weight of the bike Lance Armstrong used in his early years in Europe.

Parlee’s are all made of carbon fiber (except for the dropouts which are made of 4/3.5 Titanium) and all handmade (except for the new model which is outsourced in Asia) and proudly overlooked by a Pampangeno. In its nude finish, the bike looks “Stealth-ish” and exquisite sick. And they make around 350 frames, 200 more after Rommel started working with the company.

Due to his position, Rommel has been sought out by a rival company, Seven, but Rommel, said that that he owed a lot to Bob who has put his trust in him that only he and Bob have the keys to the facility.

As a former national rider, Rommel rides his souped-up Z1 around Peabody. A lot of rich, cyclists would ask him where he got the frame. When told that he made it himself, people would react like, “Oh, really…”. But when the same people get to visit their facility and Bob would talk glowingly about him, that’s when they’d believe him.  

Team GARMIN-CHIPOTLE had requested Parlee for sponsorship, but when the team asked for 50 TT bikes on top of the more than 100 road bikes, Bob pulled the plug because he knew he couldn’t meet the deadline on the TT bikes.

Finally, I asked Rommel why Parlee didn’t have a bigger signage than the one on door. He said, “Bob doesn’t want rubberneck’s around the shop”.

Yes, if your product is exceptional, people will always look for you. Like we did.

RACE RESULTS:

CAT C: 1-DENNIS MACAPUSA, 2-LOLOY BERDUN, 3-JONAS FONSECA, 4-NONOY ABASOLA 5-FRANK ALINDAO

CAT B: 1-LYNDYL CARAQUEL, 2-RICHARD PATALINGHUG, 3-JOHN GAYATIN, 4-HAYLIN BARDAJE, 5-JOHN MIER, 6-OME RODRIGUEZ. – THE FREEMAN