Maiden Voyage

Arranged to meet up with Ryo at 5.45am and do a loop of Coastal before meeting up with Ben and the rest. It rained cats and dogs on the straight and we were forced to take refuge at one of those rain shelters along the park connector. I think we must have waited for like 45 minutes or so! So there it was, my first longer ride and the Parlee was christened with rain.

On Sunday, arranged to do 80km with Ryo (his idea) and I was game. Set out at 5.45am and did a rather quick, non-stop ride....we reached Geylang kopitiam around 8.20am (after about 75km). My Garmin registered an average of 31.1km/h and thats with tons of red lights along the way....could have easily be 32+km/h I think. The overhead stretch along west coast, we did 40+ km/h all the way which to me was like wtf???

So I dare conclude now that the Parlee is a better bike than the Colnago, and by that I mean a better road racing bike. I would rate the following...

1. Ride Quality

- Parlee Z3 rides like a steel bike! Its smooth but definitely not dead, very lively feeling (more so compared to the Haze). Did not beat me down at all during the 80km ride and I'm quite sure I can do twice or thrice that distance! I would say its a tie with the Haze.

2. Handling

- Woah, the Z3 turns into corners more confidently and I feel more secure cornering low. It seems to respond faster. The Z3 wins.

3. Weight

- nothing to be said here! The Z3 wins.

4. Responsiveness

- I've often felt a bit sluggish on the Haze. It can achieve the high speeds and climbs well too but in terms of reaction to speed changes, the Z3 just wins, hands down. Could be the weight or even the stiffness factor but its hard to believe a CF can be stiffer than a steel bike at the BB.

5. Bling Factor

- The z3 looks very very basic and plain and the sloped geometry makes the bike look smaller than it actually is but I've no problems with this (I know a lot of people who do!) in fact like the charm of a simple looking bike! But as far as bling is concerned - The Haze wins.

6. Comfort

- While the Z3 will not beat me up but purely due to its more racy attributes, the Haze is just a tad more comfortable (rolling through speed bumps etc, rough roads). The Haze wins, but only just.

1 Draw, 2 Wins for the Haze and 3 for the Z3.

I'm glad I bought this bike. I took a big risk getting it from Ebay but it looks to be in good condition and most importantly turned out to be a winner as far as CF frames are concerned. My goal was to get a frame that will have all that attributes of a steel bike (comfort, ride quality) but lighter. I got this and more in terms of responsiveness and handling. Suffice to say, the Parlee Z3 impressed!

I've been reading a lot about CF technology and really seeing more and more the true advantages, weakness and all that marketing bullshit in the cycling industry. Truely enlightening but its tough not to believe that CF is the future of bikes and lots of other stuff. A Steel Bike, remains the benchmark, always. Though admittedly, I'm not sure how much time will the Fixed see the road from now on.....