Golden Saddle Rides: From the Pit to the Crit – Mike’s Parlee Z5
Photos and words by Kyle Kelley
I met Mike about 8 years ago when he moved from Boston to LA and started hanging out at the bike shop where I was working at the time. He was a bike punk from the east coast hardcore scene, cooking vegan food by day and drumming in bands by night. Few things have changed in the years in-between and Mike is still hanging out at my bike shop, but he’s looking a lot more punk jock these days. When he isn’t roasting for Bicycle Coffee or running a Pure Luck pop up, Mike is likely out training for road or cyclocross season.
Mike is a big dude and he does not baby his bikes. He has broken just about every single one he has owned. From touring bikes to track bikes and a steel road frame to a Ritte, the guy is a crusher. Last year when Mike was down a road bike and looking for an upgrade his friend Rudi Jung was starting a new position painting bikes at Parlee. The connection was made and it wasn’t long before Mike owned what many would consider a dentist bike, the Parlee Z5.
Mike’s friend Rudi, who independently operates Gold Coast Bicycles and Black Magic Custom Paint, handled the custom paint and made sure the result was as far from dentist bike as possible. The final paint was a surprise and Mike said he is still finding little secret messages in it.
When it came time to build up the bike Mike worked with Woody on something that would require minimal maintenance. They decided to go with a Shimano Ultegra gruppo, hubs and all. Mike has been riding Zipp handlebars, stem and seatpost on his track bike so that was just carried over on the new bike. The Pacenti hoops were Woody’s idea. He was looking for someone to put them through the ringer so he’d have a better understanding of the rim. With Mike’s history, there was no better person for the job. He’s only had the bike for about 6 months and has close to 5,000 miles on it already.
More punk Parlees please!
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Follow Kyle on Instagram and visit Golden Saddle Cyclery in Silverlake, Los Angeles.
