Parlee Z-Zero :: ISP, Di2, and *Really* Red - now 6.31 kg

Who are you (no off-topic talk please)

Moderators: MrCurrieinahurry, maxim809, Moderator Team

Post Reply
Musiker
Posts: 196
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:07 pm

by Musiker

This is one heck of a beautiful bike, absolutely love it!! And that paint job looks perfect to me (But that should ofc. be expected when talking about bikes in this category)!
I understand your desire to have the ISP for the look, normally I think many ISP's look clunky because of the topper, but it looks good here, because the topper is "slammed" and painted in the same color as the frame. :thumbup:
I would have chosen standard seat post, because I know that I do tweak my saddle height a bit from time to time. And I don't think I could have imagined that the ISP could be made to look like that :lol:
I can't wait to hear how it rides..
I tried to search your posts to figure out how you mad your decision for a Parlee and what bikes you have owned before.. Would be interesting to know a bit about along with your ride report!

Merry Christmas and congrats with a beautiful bike!

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



User avatar
kfreytag
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:42 pm
Location: Oakland, CA

by kfreytag

Musiker wrote: I understand your desire to have the ISP for the look, normally I think many ISP's look clunky because of the topper, but it looks good here, because the topper is "slammed" and painted in the same color as the frame. :thumbup:
I would have chosen standard seat post, because I know that I do tweak my saddle height a bit from time to time. And I don't think I could have imagined that the ISP could be made to look like that :lol:

I agree with you on most ISPs. They end up looking quite awful once a topper is added, as most of the toppers on the market are horrible appendages that just destroy the otherwise clean lines. Parlee uses either a Ritchey topper (for setback, and it's awful) or Tune (for no setback), and I think it integrates nicely when painted.

I've been messing with my fit now for ~9 years, so I've gotten to the point where I'm pretty OCD about saddle height (743mm), and I don't change it. The few bikes I have are all set up identically. I knew that if they did the ISP correctly, I could get the topper "slammed" and not expose any bare carbon. The only experiment here is the new Arione 00, which has a stack height of 4cm as opposed to the previous Arione's I've ridden (CX), which had a stack height of 5cm. If I don't like the new Arione, I'm a bit stuck.

Musiker wrote:I can't wait to hear how it rides..
I tried to search your posts to figure out how you mad your decision for a Parlee and what bikes you have owned before.. Would be interesting to know a bit about along with your ride report!

Bike 1: I started out 9 years ago with an Orbea Lobular 100 (aluminum front triangle, carbon rear). It was an interesting bike and very stiff, but it suffered from a terrible speed wobble at 38mph. Being basically new to the sport (after a 20+ year hiatus), I assumed it was rider error until I got on something else and realized that the geo of the frame was fundamentally screwed. Sold that on Craigslist after about 2 years to make room for a huge step-up.

Bike 2: My wife told me to buy a bike that I'd keep for 10 years, so I bought a Parlee Z3 (M/L Tall). I absolutely loved that bike. It did everything well and always left me feeling like it had more to give. Owning that bike pushed me to become a better cyclist and I truly fell in love with the sport. That was my first 5k+ mile year. Last February 24th, however, I was descending a hill near my house (Claremont Ave for those of you in the East Bay of the Bay Area), and a minivan cut directly across the road in front of me. The Garmin says I went from 40 to 0 as I took the impact with the front of the bike and then my face. I won't go into the gory details of my condition after the rapid deceleration, but the Parlee did not survive. Headtube separated from the top tube and down tube. I place the order for the Z-Zero in March.

Bike 3: When I started racing (~4 or 5 years ago?), I bought a CAAD 9. That is perhaps the best handling bike I have ever ridden (until today). The geometry of that bike was the basis for my Z-Zero. It is truly astounding what Cannondale can do with aluminum. I still ride that bike quite often. It was to be a race and bad weather bike, but now it has DA 9k mechanical, Mavic CCUs, and a ROTOR 3D+ SRM. The front-end on that bike is so perfect that I made sure to get the Z-Zero to match exactly (at least with respect to geometry).

Bike 4: This was an impulse buy. A friend had a 2010 Colnago EPS 56 traditional that he'd decided didn't quite fit him, so he bought the same bike in a sloping 52. I told him I was bored and asked him what he wanted for it. He simply gave me a price I couldn't refuse, so I bought it, built it up with 7900 (oh, the horror), and rotated it with the Z3. It's an incredibly stiff bike -- sometimes too stiff. I wouldn't do a 100 miles on it, but it feels absolutely efficient and rock-solid. I love the colorway (AKBL), and I was lucky enough to get an FSA Plasma bar/stem painted to match by Colnago, so this won't be going anywhere. Currently, though, it's hanging on the wall without a grouppo.

Bike 5: Bike 5 is "the bike". I finally got a chance to put a few miles on the Z-Zero today (~36 miles with ~3,650 ft of climbing). My riding partner today perhaps said it best. "It's like when you are handed a very high-end watch and you can literally feel the difference in quality and workmanship." The bike is, for me, perfect. The bottom bracket is ungodly stiff, yet the frame is compliant, and I feel confident that I could ride it for 100+ mile days without issue. The front-end does feel like my Cannondale, yet it's even more rock-solid. At the same time, it's not a freightliner. Changing direction mid-corner is effortless and without drama. A little nudge of the bar or a shift in weight, and the bike responds with aplomb. On fast descents, I felt like I was going 5mph slower than the Garmin indicated; I kept having to double-check. Two words come to mind. One is somewhat clinical, and that's "neutral", as it simply takes whatever input you give it and responds immediately but without any edginess. The second word is "sublime." Carving one of the technical mid-speed descents, I was literally grinning from ear-to-ear at the character of the bike. For me, it's perfect.
Life's too short to ride clinchers.

Current:
Parlee Z-Zero ISP
Santa Cruz Stigmata CC

Past:
Ridley X-Fire Disc

User avatar
kfreytag
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:42 pm
Location: Oakland, CA

by kfreytag

Build list and weights added to the front page. Clearly, I've missed something, as I'm off by ~100g. :noidea:
Life's too short to ride clinchers.

Current:
Parlee Z-Zero ISP
Santa Cruz Stigmata CC

Past:
Ridley X-Fire Disc

Skorp
Shop Wrench
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 12:54 am

by Skorp

This must be the most beutiful bike i've ever seen! :)

User avatar
kfreytag
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:42 pm
Location: Oakland, CA

by kfreytag

Skorp wrote:This must be the most beutiful bike i've ever seen! :)

Wow. Thanks!
Life's too short to ride clinchers.

Current:
Parlee Z-Zero ISP
Santa Cruz Stigmata CC

Past:
Ridley X-Fire Disc

User avatar
Elrey
Posts: 557
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:13 pm
Location: Denmark. Yeeees

by Elrey

I'm really happy to see a Parlee in a fresh color like candy apple red. Very nice bike! Looks fantastic! And a very nice spec list!
If i was you, i would sand down a Red22 crank to go with the stealth wheels. Other than that. Flawless.

seanblurr
Posts: 297
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2013 7:47 pm
Contact:

by seanblurr

Is it wrong for me to wish it had solid black tires?

Great bike, I will be able to spot you pretty easily out on Bear Creek now!
Instagram @seanblurr

User avatar
Elrey
Posts: 557
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:13 pm
Location: Denmark. Yeeees

by Elrey

No... But to each his own :)

User avatar
kfreytag
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:42 pm
Location: Oakland, CA

by kfreytag

seanblurr wrote:Is it wrong for me to wish it had solid black tires?

Nope. Not wrong at all. I rode it yesterday with the Mavic CCUs, which have all-black Vittorias on them. Turns out that the rear ENVE was out of dish by 5mm, so I had to pull the tire.

It's totally different look (more modern). I failed to take a picture, but I'll get one and post it for comparison's sake. I personally prefer it with the skinwalls, but it looked good with the all-black wheels and tires as well.

seanblurr wrote:Great bike, I will be able to spot you pretty easily out on Bear Creek now!

Yeah. I'll be the guy on the flashy bike you're passing.
Life's too short to ride clinchers.

Current:
Parlee Z-Zero ISP
Santa Cruz Stigmata CC

Past:
Ridley X-Fire Disc

User avatar
kfreytag
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:42 pm
Location: Oakland, CA

by kfreytag

Elrey wrote:If i was you, i would sand down a Red22 crank to go with the stealth wheels. Other than that. Flawless.

I really want to keep an SRM on the bike, so I could sand down the ROTOR and paint it black. The kicker is the SRM sticker, which (I believe) covers some critical electronics. I don't mind having a little logotype on the bike, hence the single Parlee logo on the downtube and the Z-Zero logo on the headtube.
Life's too short to ride clinchers.

Current:
Parlee Z-Zero ISP
Santa Cruz Stigmata CC

Past:
Ridley X-Fire Disc

User avatar
Elrey
Posts: 557
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:13 pm
Location: Denmark. Yeeees

by Elrey

Keep the arms black and the srm white. It's just me talking. Think the Rotor grafic is a bit to 70's disco.
Image

User avatar
thencameyou
Posts: 301
Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:27 am
Location: Nu Zild

by thencameyou

fantastic build, not a huge enve component fan but the bar/stem look right here and tan sidewall tires top it off perfectly. and any bike that has an SRM gets bonus points from me...
chapeau!

User avatar
kfreytag
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:42 pm
Location: Oakland, CA

by kfreytag

thencameyou wrote:fantastic build, not a huge enve component fan but the bar/stem look right here

I can understand that. Their clamp mechanism on the seatpost is beyond ridiculous; I've sat down more than once just to find my saddle suddenly pointed at the sky. That having been said, this bike is made entirely from ENVE tubes, and my team is sponsored by ENVE (not that I'll ever race this bike). Given that, however, it's hard not to go with an ENVE cockpit to finish out the bike. I do really like the shape of their compact bar.

thencameyou wrote:and tan sidewall tires top it off perfectly

I like the way those turned out. I did have some fear that it would come out a tad Ronald McDonald, but I think it works.

thencameyou wrote:...and any bike that has an SRM gets bonus points from me... chapeau!

Indeed. I need the constant humbling feedback.
Life's too short to ride clinchers.

Current:
Parlee Z-Zero ISP
Santa Cruz Stigmata CC

Past:
Ridley X-Fire Disc

User avatar
kfreytag
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:42 pm
Location: Oakland, CA

by kfreytag

Elrey wrote:Keep the arms black and the srm white. It's just me talking. Think the Rotor grafic is a bit to 70's disco.

Agreed. The older, simpler graphics were better. The new "lightning bolt" graphics are a bit much. Nonetheless, it's a pretty fantastic crank.
Life's too short to ride clinchers.

Current:
Parlee Z-Zero ISP
Santa Cruz Stigmata CC

Past:
Ridley X-Fire Disc

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



User avatar
jipperd
Posts: 1217
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:44 am
Location: Holland

by jipperd

:up: :shock: :shock: :shock: What a amazing build, and a stunning paintjob. We've read it was a tough job getting it to this level. Although it isn't the lightest bike on this board, it sure is one of the most eye touching ones! Huge credits and many congrats with this build, many same km's!

Post Reply