PARLEE CYCLES X GIRO D’ITALIA
Pull up a seat, grab a cornetto and espresso and let’s discuss the time Parlee Cycles nearly won the 2002 Giro D’Italia.
The late-nineties/early-2000s were the wild west days of bicycle technology. Many of the top pros of the time rode equipment branded with one manufacturer’s logos but built by another. Dario Pegoretti was one such builder who quietly produced custom frames for many of the era’s top riders. Another example that for me, has always embodied this quiet movement was this Look frame ridden by Tyler Hamilton during the 2002 season. As a Look retailer for much of the mid to late 80s and 90s, it was clear to my eye, Tyler was not riding a Look frame.
The time Parlee Cycles almost won the Giro D’Italia.
In 2001, Tyler signed with Team CSC-Tiscali, a team managed by former Tour de France winner, Bjarne Riis. The team’s bike sponsor was French company Look Cycles. Look was a pioneering brand in the use of carbon fiber. Their bikes were a common sight at the Grand Tours and were ridden to countless victories. The cycling press had been awash in the news of Tyler’s move from Lance Armstrong and the US Postal Service team to CSC and common in this coverage was Tyler and his trusty Look 381 shod in Dura-Ace components, Shimano wheels and every pro’s favorite, a trusty SRM power meter.
In 2002, Look was an early adopter of the internal headset (bearings sat inside the frame’s headtube - common place today) and shaped tubing. Their frames were also true lugged frames where the main triangle tubes were fitted inside a lug creating a bulky, yet durable connection. Tyler’s frame lacked these elements. Additionally, Tyler’s bike had a gently sloping top tube. Not a common sight in those days. Most of the road bikes of this era had a horizontal top tube. It would be many years later that the true origins of Tyler’s Look frame would be known.
But on May 11th, 2002 when Tyler lined up for stage one of the Giro d’Italia, something was amiss. The trusty Look 381 was gone, in its place was a round tube, external headset, large lugged, glossy carbon fiber frame. The power meter had been shed for weight savings and his wheelset possessed the unmistakable tall hubs and straw colored spokes of a Lightweight wheelset (another super component badged countless times as every maker under the sun other than Lightweight).
The only recognizable bits on Tyler’s bike were the big logo Team Issue Dura-Ace components and Deda handlebar and stem. This race-day metamorphosis was the cycling equivalent of an arms race. Tyler’s bike had every high tech advantage available at the time.
The story of this frame begins back in Massachusetts, Tyler’s home and location of Parlee Cycles HQ. Bob Parlee had known Tyler for years through the cycling circles and Tyler approached Bob with the prospect of him building Tyler a bike for the coming season.
The story goes that Bjarne Riis had been in conversation with Bob about building some frames for Tyler and one for himself. Tyler received two or three frames (this part is fuzzy) and one was built for Tyler (the frame we have in the studio) and one went to team mate and fellow size 51.cm (ctc) rider, Carlos Sastre. Bjarne’s frame ended up under neo-pro Brian Vandborg.
Tyler’s frame appears to be the only frame to survive its service and make it back to Parlee. Look had reportedly confiscated all of the frames aside from Tyler’s. It is unclear how this frame made it through the layers of team/sponsorship bureaucracy but here it is. A unicorn, here at Velosmith.
The first time I saw this frame was at the Parlee HQ in Massachusetts. It was hanging on the wall in the entry and I stopped dead in my tracks. This was it! The mystery was solved in an instant, 15 years later. To hold the frame in my hands, here in the studio is truly an honor. It has aged over the years, the finish is beginning to slowly deteriorate, the clear coat turning a soft brown in some areas and there are some frosty spots where the clear is broken or completely missing. What is immediately evident are the elements that we still see today.
A Parlee is not lugged, despite how much it appears to be. It is a true tube-to-tube construction. The carbon “lugs” are actually just a series of carbon wraps which make the connection between the tubes (see cutaway image). Each of the small parts on this frame (seat stay bridge, cable stops) are made in house at Parlee. Those same parts are still made in house.
Squeeze the rear triangle without a wheel in it and you can see why Tyler preferred this frame over his team issued Look. This bike has a much stiffer rear end which would equate to precise steering and cornering. I know for a fact that Look frames were some of the most comfortable bikes of their time, but I also know a Parlee rides like butter. That has always been one of Bob’s finest ride characteristics. Bob knows carbon.
The Look logos are a top mount vinyl decal - still in use on a modern Parlee. In person, a close look at the first “O” on the top tube reveals signs of the zip-tie cables used to secure Tyler’s #204 number plate.
The head tube has some deep grooves worn into the carbon from the Dura-Ace cables. The wear looks deeper than I would expect from a pro’s race bike. But I am unsure of the miles this bike has seen beyond the 2,084 miles of Italian countryside.
More classic Parlee elements can be seen in the aluminum head tube cups. They appear to have been sprayed with clear coat, perhaps to further camouflage the non-Look elements.
During stage five, Tyler crashed hard from what appears (and was rumored) to be a hub issue. Tyler put the power into the pedals and in an instant he was flying forward and off the bike. His Look (Parlee) bounced around wildly as it and Tyler scrambled to make sense of what happened. A crash like that on one of today’s hyper light carbon bikes would be impossible. The frame simply would’’t withstand the impact. When Bob first told me the story, he said he was watching the live coverage at home and as he watched the crash unfold, he jumped up shouting “oh no, I killed Tyler”! Hours later Tyler’s then wife, Haven called Bob and let him know Tyler was okay.
Tyler is known as one of the toughest riders to ever pin a number, he is famous for his ability to withstand pain and ride on. Stage five and the balance of the 2002 Giro was no exception. With a fractured scapula, Tyler rode on and who knows what would have been the outcome had he been 100%. Perhaps he would have his name on the Giro trophy.
The same can be said about Tyler’s frame. Picked up, brushed off and on to Milan it went. It finished not just the stage but the entire Giro. Simply incredible when you think about it.
There was a large span of time where professional bike racing was an illusion. Smoke and mirrors. True for the riders as well as the equipment. It is the equipment that I am most impressed by. Carbon fiber was just beginning to make its way into every corner of the bicycle. Some examples good, some not so good.
