The bike industry has suffered another tremendous loss with the announcement of the passing of Bob Parlee. The founder of Parlee Cycles, Bob was one of those rare visionaries who made the leap from boat building and oyster farming to producing high-end carbon fiber bicycles.
While the brand has grown and changed quite a bit since those early days in a 12′ x 12′ office, Parlee continues to produce unique bicycles focused on comfort and performance – something Bob continued to contribute to until semi-retiring to fight cancer.
Our thoughts are with the Parlee family. Ride in Peace, Bob.
Parlee announces the passing of founder Bob Parlee:
Bob Parlee, founder of Parlee Cycles passed away peacefully at home with his family after a hard-fought four-year long battle with cancer.
Bob founded Parlee Cycles twenty-five years ago with his wife Isabel after a successful career building high-performance boats.
Originally from Wakefield, MA, 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 90’s. By 2000, he decided to pursue bicycles full time and he and Isabel quit their day jobs and founded Parlee Cycles.
In the early 2000’s 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 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.
Bob led development and design for over twenty years at Parlee until selling the business to current owner, John Harrison in 2023. Bob was semi-retired 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 if 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.
