Parlee ESX Etap

[meesterbond]

Just recently had this built up and since then have been suffering with sciatica so haven't been able to ride it... very frustrating.

Anyway, it's a Parlee ESX frame in medium. Built up with:
- SRAM eTap drivetrain
- Zipp bars, stem and 303s
- Direct mount eeBrakes
- Rotor 3D+ cranks with a Power2Max PM
- Ti Speedplay Zeros

Weighs in at a fraction under 7kg.

Since the pics were taken I've swapped the super-light Selle Italia saddle for my old, faithful Arione as I could not get on with the solid carbon one and swapped the decals on the wheels for 'beyond black' ones.

[phillyt1988]

Very nice!

[Geoff]

Ok, that's nice. What do you think of those brakes?

[meesterbond]

Thanks!

I'll caveat the response re the eeBrakes with the facts that it's only been ridden in the dry and pretty much only on the flat / slightly undulating roads but bearing that in mind, they've been great.
I haven't noticed that the stopping power or modulation is any better or worse than the Red / Record ones I've used previously and they are really easy to adjust (centring and width).

[mike]

Like the seatpost. The bump on the top tube I just can't get used to

[grilledcheese]

This bike is dope. How do you like those bars?

[meesterbond]

It is a bit marmite... actually looks a lot better in real life than in pics - the hump doesn't look quite so out of place.

Bars are great, although first time I tried the old pseudo-TT position with my arms resting on the tops I nearly came a cropper - particularly with a long-sleeve jersey they're very slippery without tape on them.

[wkwt]

So sick. Congrats and hope the nerve quiets down.

[kkibbler]

Super nice bike. I don't mind the humps/dorsal fins at all, I think they make the bike look more interesting. This makes a strong case for my N+1. How is the shifting on Praxis rings, and how is the crank arm clearance against the FD limit screws?

[Vallinotti]

Awesome build!

[mrgray]

time for a laminectomy and then for riding. beautiful bike and is it just me or does it have a bit of vias around the bar/stem area?

[meesterbond]

I've used Praxis rings for years - always been faultless and no different with eTap. I had the shop build the bike up so haven't noticed the limit screws at all... certainly haven't seen any interference with the cranks, although I will look this evening to check how close they are.

I think the Vias-look comes from the way the white decals swoop down on the bars onto the stem - make it look like they curve like the Vias bars do.

[Valbrona]

Have you heard of what is known in the UK as 'fat wallet syndrome'?

[AZR3]

Wow! When I first saw the ESX is wasn't impressed at all, looked gross to me with the humps but yours looks awesome! It helps that you don't have the big cone spacer and that the stem is slammed.

Love the look of the aero cover on the EE brakes also

[Calnago]

This is probably the nicest build of this frame that I've seen, but I've seen them in the flesh and still haven't warmed up to the design. Not even a little bit.