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Parlee has announced the passing of founder Bob Parlee, who died peacefully at home with his family after a four-year battle with cancer. He was 70 years old.
Bob founded Parlee Cycles 25 years ago with his wife Isabel after a successful career building high-performance boats.
Originally from Wakefield, Massachusetts, Bob spent most of his adult life on the North Shore, where Parlee is still based.
He began tinkering with bicycles in the 1980’s and started to apply his composites expertise to bicycles in the late 90s.
By 2000, he decided to pursue bicycles full time and he and Isabel quit their day jobs and founded Parlee Cycles.
In the early 2000s, word was spreading about innovative carbon fiber bikes being made on the North Shore of Boston.
Soon, Parlee’s were seen at the Tour and Giro with riders such as Tyler Hamilton.
Parlee Cycles then began to sell bikes around the world.
Bob believed in the superiority of composites to make great riding bikes and under his leadership, Parlee pioneered many new ideas in composites and developed a well-earned reputation for innovation and quality.
He led development and design for more than 20 years at Parlee until selling the business to current owner, John Harrison in 2023.
Bob semi-retired in the past couple years to focus on his cancer fight, but never stopped sketching new ideas in his ever-present notebooks.
He had spent much of his available time over the last half decade, mentoring and developing talent across the team.
Harrison commented: “Bob has been a real inspiration for the entire team here at Parlee, me included.
“His persistent and unwavering focus on pursuing an uncompromised and perfect product will continue to lead the identity of our business forever into the future.
“We are all extremely proud to continue the work that he started”.
Bob is survived by his wife Isabel and his two sons.
Isabel noted how grateful Bob was for all the relationships that working in the bike business had afforded him.
He loved attending all the annual shows to catch up with fellow frame builders, suppliers and dealers.
Being part of the fabric of the industry was something he was always appreciative of.
Isabel Parlee also shared their mutual appreciation for employees past and present.
The Parlee family will announce plans for a memorial at a later time.
