Z5 review on RCUK

For those of you who have not seen Dave Arthur's Z5 first ride report, please see attached
I cannot add anything else to this at present, I think he has summarized the points well
It really does feel a special bike - as stiff in the front end as my Z1 but as light and as 'flickable' as the Z4

As soon as I stop lending the demo bikes to customers and get a chance to put some more miles on one I will post my thoughts and photos as well

Parlee website is revamped

Click here to see the new site
Looking good boys!

Alex G's Z5

This is a bike we built up for Alex

Its the first one we did with Campag, and with the introduction of the new Campga BB30 cups it was a piece of cake to build - no different to a Z4
Alex has gone for Super Record and Neutron Ultra wheels. We got a black and white Antares saddle to emphasize the white decals, and also some of the 3T Team contact points (with the red detailing) to being out the subtle red accents of the frame. I love how the wheel decals match the red Parlee on the DT !



As photographed, the bike is 14.2lbs which is quite silly really !

Sunday base ride

This morning the weather was terrible so I took the opportunity to gain brownie points around the house. My reward was that by 11 the sky had turned blue and it was time to ride
I met Brett (like Dean another founding member of the Bespoke Cycing Race Team) and we decided on a 2.5 hr base ride - trying to keep it nice and steady at around 130-140 bpm and not go over that too dramatically on the climbs


Inspired by the challenge of climbing Star Hill in under 4 minutes we decided to see how long it takes when you ride at a steady pace without pushing it. My HR was 140 at the middle of the climb and slowly hit the 150s at the top. It was only when we finished that I looked at my watch and saw it took 5 and half minutes !!
So I need to find 90 secs somewhere. Obviously really pushing it will reduce the time dramatically, but I am still not sure that will account for the 90 seconds. Work to do !

If you look closely you can see Brett coming round the last bend of Star. Its here, on the false flat, that you would have to really dig deep and push it if you were chasing a time. As it was we had the luxury of still spinning to that top. After all, the slower we are now the more impressive our 'improvements' will seem !




Most of the ride was actually below 130, and after yesterdays longish ride it felt nice to be out again and in the sunshine
This has been the best 2 days of riding for a long while, and I feel I have my mojo back
How long it will last is anyones guess !

LSD

Today Dean and I took the the expected good weather to be a signal to make Saturday our long ride instead of the usual Sunday. We went around an area of Kent I have not cycled much in - as far east as Goudhurst
It was a perfect route for this time of year, a few rolling hills to keep it interesting but mainly lots of flat roads where you could keep the effort level high enough to keep warm but not too high where you sweat and then get a chill

All in all it was just under 5hrs door to door - and thus the longest ride for many months
I am sure I will feel it tomorrow

I love an early start, everything has such promise for the ride ahead







This part of Kent is full of wonderful old pubs. I keep on meaning to take my wife their afterwards for Sunday lunch, but by the time I have gotten home all I want to do is fall asleep on the sofa


After I left Dean I had about an hr to get home. On the way I saw these 2 cycists in the distance on a gradual climb. Motivated, I big ringed it up to them and was pleased with how easily I had caught them - I still have it I thought.....
When I passed them I said hello, trying to look as unruffled as possible but my joy turned to embarrassment when I realized they were both in their 60s. If I can ride like that in 30 years I willbe a happy man



By all accounts I should have taken the IF winter bike, but I was desperate to take the Z5 out and the weather was meant to be dry and sunny. What I did not take into account was the state of the roads and this is the result, but I console myself that this is a demo/media bike and journalists will treat it far worse !




In February, I posted a photo of my then 3 month old puppy. Back by popular demand here he is again - dont they grow up fast !

Whats new

I thought I would take some photos of the lovely frames that are currently in the studio awaiting their owners

This is JKs new IF SSR - it has a Tokyo Pearl (white) paint (3/4s) and the back is left as polished steel



The fork is the highlight for me - again its a Pearl white with alot of intricate masking going one, so that the raw carbon comes through in certain areas....



Here are 3 Z5s hanging on the wall - a Small and 2 MLs (one with a smaller HT and one with the extended HT). We are awaiting the build kits for these bikes, but one will be Super Record and pretty tasty indeed !


This wall has the metal bikes, so with the SSR is a lovely Ti Cross bike and a Steel Crown jewel in a lovely candy Apple red.The red is quite subtle inside, but the metallic really pops in the sunlight

Saturday ride in Kent

I took the opportunity of a 3 hour respite from the rain to go for a ride on a route I have not done in a while
When its summer, we are on our carbon wonder bikes, I am 10lbs lighter and 40 watts fitter this ride can be an attack-fest
Now it was just an achievement to get to the top of these hills !

We start by taking the country lanes around Farnborugh that lead to Biggin hill. Here there is a very cool replica of a RAF Hurricane that was used in WWII





This is Pligrims way - if you are feeling fit you can absolutely smash it along here and not see a car for miles



Triathlon anyone?



This was definitely a day for the winter bike, with 25mm tyres and full mud guards. The only problem was whenever it went uphill (and this here is 15%) I felt like a bag of cement...



The classic 2 hills of the area are Toys and Ide. You can climb both from either side and they meet at the top, so if you are feeling frisky you can make patterns of 8 as you did your hill work


This is the reward you get from the South side of Ide - in the distance is Bough Beech nature reserve



This is the last climb of the day - Star Hill



I swear the photo does not do it justice - for some reason I seem to find this hill far worse than 'harder' hills in the area. some of the racing snakes do hill repeats up Star - the most I have done is 3 before I gave up. To me the whole idea of climbing quickly is to get to the top so its over (and your friends are still suffering) - I cannot seem to push as hard if I know I am just going to do it again !