Parlee Chebacco Build Thread

[Lanoy Sports]

Good Morning everyone!

i unpacked the bike and this frame is stunning. i unfortunately got to excited and forgot to take pictures.

so by the time i thought i should it was a little dark.

i will post back here today with some Friday awesomeness

12 hours ago, Monark said:

Max tyre size and width? 

Love your builds. 

This is the new latest 3rd version of this bike. The frame has plenty extra mounts and clearance for 45mm tires using 700c or 47mm tires with 650B

 

3 hours ago, Wayne pudding Mol said:

I’d go AXS - currently in a different league right now having tested it extensively and hassle free for just over a year.

 I’m going a force/gx build for a friend now so I’ll see how it stacks up against my red/XX1  - I’d be super keen to see the campy gravel gruppo but I know of 2 people having some hassles with it

These bikes of yours look beautiful 

Thanks! N+1 for you?

Thats the plan. This bike is going into our Demo stock (so i can ride it!)

All my bikes are AXS so it makes sense to stick with Sram.

Not that i have anything against Shimano - i have ridden a GRX 815 di2 bike and its a butter smooth shift!

i initially ordered this bike with the Red/XX1 build. just a pity there is such a massive shortage of Red groupsets.

2 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

Is it for me?! 52?

So kind!!!

You know. for a small fee i can ask the paint department to change the chebacco name on the frame to something more fitting...

1 hour ago, Sid the Sloth said:

Wow this is going to be nice... Did you bring in an extra groupset?

That i did. so i have the option between Force and Shimano. the extra groupset will be sold separately.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Lanoy Sports

[Furbz]

And finally here are a few pics to help you through your Friday afternoon!

Really love this paint job

Parlee make the cleanest BB i have ever seen

Edited July 2, 2021 by Furbz

[Sid the Sloth]

Wow that looks amazing!! 

[Ispeed_V]

23 minutes ago, Sid the Sloth said:

Wow that looks amazing!! 

The bike or the lawn.

Whish my lawn looked that good in the middle of winter

????

[Lanoy Sports]

Just an update,

i have chosen to kit this out with Sram Force AXS.

the build kit should have been arriving this Friday but has been held up due to the riots - patience has become a key quality for anything bike related in these Covid times

[Lanoy Sports]

So the Groupset arrived ????

and when the travel ban lifted we took the opportunity to move this build to Cape Town.

a quick throw together of the bike  so it would fit on the back of the car and we were off!

looking forward to building this and getting it on the road

Edited August 18, 2021 by Lanoy Sports

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, Lanoy Sports said:

So the Groupset arrived ????

and when the travel ban lifted we took the opportunity to move this build to Cape Town.

i quick throw together of the bike  so it would fit on the back of the car and we were off!

looking forward to building this and getting it on the road

Based on that photo I think I found your place of residence .... obviously I have not zoomed into it, but I believe I have found the patio the photo was taken from if I align certain buildings/landmarks

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Hairy on a Davidson

[Lanoy Sports]

9 minutes ago, Hairy on a Davidson said:

Based on that photo I think I found your place of residence .... obviously I have not zoomed into it, but I believe I have found the patio the photo was taken from if I align certain buildings/landmarks

 

just visiting sadly.

we are looking to move to the WC in the near future - its the purpose of our visit.

as for the area we are in now - in my dreams! i will play the lotto this week, hold thumbs for me

[DIPSLICK]

30 minutes ago, Hairy on a Davidson said:

Based on that photo I think I found your place of residence .... obviously I have not zoomed into it, but I believe I have found the patio the photo was taken from if I align certain buildings/landmarks

 

Mental note/ scary Hubber observational skills

tin foul hat,, we all watched????????

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, Lanoy Sports said:

just visiting sadly.

we are looking to move to the WC in the near future - its the purpose of our visit.

as for the area we are in now - in my dreams! i will play the lotto this week, hold thumbs for me

Best wishes, and hope it all works out for you!

[Lanoy Sports]

Time for a much needed update!

i really had fun building this bike up. its always such a pleasure working on a new bike

Let's dive right in shall we?

 

A little recap on the bike

https://lanoysports.co.za/

The bikes MSRP is R127840.00 - i know right. sticker shock for a gravel bike.

through some negotiations with Parlee we are able to sell these bikes for a significantly better price to help fit the RSA market.

+-R100k dependant on the exchange rate.

It's still a ton to pay for a gravel bike, no way around that.

BUT. and it a notable BUT. it rode markedly better than a top of the line titanium bike - i am getting ahead of myself here. more on that later!

 

 

The Build kit is the Standard Parlee XD LE build kit:

• Small Custom Painted Level 1 Graphics Parlee Chebacco XD LE
• ENVE AG25 Gravel wheel kit - really excited for these
• Parlee Carbon Stem, Bars and Seatpost
• Parlee Carbon Bottle cages
• Saddle Fizik R5
• Groupset Sram Force AXS 

Right to pictures we go!

a fun pic i took on the arrival date. i managed to keep the frame in the wine room for a week before catching flak.

 

The kit. obviously  we substituted out the GRX 815 di2 for Force AXS 2x. It really is beautifully packed by the guys at Parlee

 

A few curtesy weight pictures on my updated scale of truth. not really the point of a gravel bike - BUT and again i am getting ahead of myself, it did impact how the bike rode vs the Titanium gravel bike.

 

 

and of course a few pictures of the bike finally coming together. i only had to cut the steerer tube 3 times before getting it to the perfect height ????

the end product from my 3 attempts at cutting the tube to the correct height. a really neat finish.

 

my trusty build technician keeping a watchful eye on the bikes progress

 

BB and crank fitted. Seat post and saddle mounted along with with shifters. 

cutting and bleeding of disc brakes is not such a big issue. Be warned though, brake fluid will destroy paint so handle with care!

no mallets were use in the building of this bike ????

 

I am going to leave it there for now. 

i am back home in JHB. the bike has been washed and is ready for a photoshoot. i will post the completed pictures in the next few days along with a full review of the bike

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2021 by Lanoy Sports

[Furbz]

Ok so nobody told me having a baby means very little time to enjoy writing up my amateur reviews! 

Wow how time flies! due to a lack of time i will make this review a bit briefer than usual. and try touch on the important bits.

Not long after this bike build we took the opportunity to do a back to back test against this beauty! a Mason Bokeh Ti 

at 3600GBP for the frameset it about as good as you can get when in comes to a Ti frame

the Mason was fitted with Force AXS and a higher end set of Hunt Gravel aluminium wheels. 

 

To make sure we put the bikes through there paces we did not mess around with the route! following a few MTB paths below table mountain.

https://www.strava.com/activities/5747786521

We then did a more sedate road commute ride

https://www.strava.com/activities/5758770063

 

Two things became immediately clear straight out the gate.

1. The Chebacco feels light and nimble when compared to any other gravel bike i have ever ridden. it has a road bike feel to it in the way it responds to input. its an intoxicating feeling to have on a gravel bike!

2. The Ride Quality of the Chebacco made the Mason Bokeh Ti feel like a Makro special. It was markedly lighter, more compliant, forgiving and overall gave the Ti bike an outright hiding to none.

The ride quality of the Chebacco was so much better than the Bokeh Ti that the owner was left feeling rather upset after the rides.

and when i say ride quality, we are talking truely staggering levels of compliance. i have nothing i can compare it to. it makes anything else i have ridden feel harsh.

 

So some brainstorming later, we swapped the Hunt wheels from the Bokeh Ti over to the Chebacco and the ENVE AG25 wheels from the Chebacco over to the Mason.

BOOM. there was a large part of the difference.

Instantly the Bokeh Ti was a far more sophisticated machine. it was unreal how much the wheelsets influence the bikes ride quality and handling characteristics. the Bokeh was now transformed into a stunning shock absorbing pillow of a ride when compared to itself on the HUNT wheels.

In the same breathe the Chebacco became harsher and less forgiving than it had previously been when ridden on the Hunt wheels.

One big breathe out and a much happier Bokeh Ti owner later we sat down to discuss our overall feelings on the bikes.

WHEELS MAKE A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE. especially on a gravel bike. The key words you should be looking for is VERTICAL COMPLIANCE.

And this is something ENVE has absolutely aced with their AG25 gravel specific wheels. so much so that the owner of the Bokeh Ti is now sourcing his own set of ENVE AG25's.

(As a side i am also really tempted to try Zipps 101 XPLR wheels. they are slightly heavier by comparison but i feel that design must lend itself to a very compliant ride!)

https://www.sram.com/en/zipp/models/wh-101-xplr-a1

 

Back to the ENVE/Hunt Chebacco/Bokeh Ti debate.

Both wheelsets were roughly the same weight. the difference with the ENVE wheels being +-95g lighter.

Both had identical inner widths of 25mm.

We did not swap the tires out. The Chebacco had 38's and the Bokeh had 45's. I concede that this could also be a massive influencer when it comes to the feel of the bike, but time was against us - and come on 38's feeling nicer than 45's? 

yes we also checked tire pressures were correct.

 

So over a coffee and a few beers our testers all agreed that the Chebacco was the out and out winner here.

it was out and out still a more compliant and comfortable bike vs the Bokeh Ti kitted with the same wheelset.

i know is sounds like i am blowing smoke up my **** here but what Parlee have achieved with the Chebacco is some form of black magic. 

the bike rides like an absolute dream. i wish i had something i could compare it to, but everything else really pales in comparison.

It's no wonder the Chebacco is their number 1 selling bike.

my only gripe?

This frames colour scheme is not really for me. But for the ride quality i can happy overlook this and say without hesitation this is one of the best bikes i have ever ridden. And now with the new 2022 colours having some awesome options i may well sell this as a demo and grab the new black to green fade version.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Furbz]

have 3x bikes available in the coming weeks.

52, 54, 56

AXS Rival builds starting from - R62k

AXS Force builds starting from - R75k