The bike trade has suffered one other great loss with the announcement of the passing of Bob Parlee. The founding father of Parlee Cycles, Bob was a kind of uncommon visionaries who made the leap from boat constructing and oyster farming to producing high-end carbon fiber bicycles.
Whereas the model has grown and altered fairly a bit since these early days in a 12′ x 12′ workplace, Parlee continues to provide distinctive bicycles targeted on consolation and efficiency – one thing Bob continued to contribute to till semi-retiring to battle most cancers.
Our ideas are with the Parlee household. Journey in Peace, Bob.
Parlee broadcasts the passing of founder Bob Parlee:
Bob Parlee, founding father of Parlee Cycles handed away peacefully at dwelling together with his household after a hard-fought four-year lengthy battle with most cancers.
Bob based Parlee Cycles twenty-five years in the past together with his spouse Isabel after a profitable profession constructing high-performance boats.
Initially from Wakefield, MA, Bob spent most of his grownup life on the North Shore, the place Parlee remains to be primarily based. He started tinkering with bicycles within the 1980’s and began to use his composites experience to bicycles within the late 90’s. By 2000, he determined to pursue bicycles full time and he and Isabel give up their day jobs and based Parlee Cycles.
Within the early 2000’s phrase was spreading about revolutionary carbon fiber bikes being made on the North Shore of Boston. Quickly, Parlee’s had been seen on the Tour and Giro with riders corresponding to Tyler Hamilton. Parlee Cycles started to promote bikes all over the world.
Bob believed within the superiority of composites to make nice driving bikes and underneath his management, Parlee pioneered many new concepts in composites and developed a well-earned status for innovation and high quality.
Bob led improvement and design for over twenty years at Parlee till promoting the enterprise to present proprietor, John Harrison in 2023. Bob was semi-retired the previous couple years to concentrate on his most cancers battle however by no means stopped sketching new concepts in his ever-present notebooks. He had spent a lot of his obtainable time over the past half decade, mentoring and creating expertise throughout the crew. Harrison commented, “Bob has been an actual inspiration for all the crew right here at Parlee, me included. His persistent and unwavering concentrate on pursuing an uncompromised and excellent product will proceed to steer the id if our enterprise eternally into the longer term. We’re all extraordinarily proud to proceed the work that he began”.
Bob is survived by his spouse Isabel and his two sons. Isabel famous how grateful Bob was for all of the relationships that working within the bike enterprise had afforded him. He liked attending all of the annual reveals to meet up with fellow body builders, suppliers and sellers. Being a part of the material of the trade was one thing he was all the time appreciative of.
Isabel Parlee additionally shared their mutual appreciation for workers previous and current.
The Parlee household will announce plans for a memorial at a later time.