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It’s been an embarrassment of riches here at the PELOTON Service Course lately. Thanks to our upcoming double issue Gear Guide and a new film series premiering soon we’ve built beautiful bike after beautiful bike. The latest from Parlee, a large Chebacco LE with SRAM Red eTap and DT Swiss wheels, may just be the most beautiful of the bunch.
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This Chebacco is unrelated to a certain famous Wookie. It’s named for the Chebacco Parish north of Parlee HQ in Beverly, Mass. in Essex County. Essex County’s entire 828 square miles have been designated a National Heritage Area by the National Parks Service and the best way to see it all is by bike, and a bike with the specific characteristic of the Parlee Chebacco LE.
This is the Parlee to get if you want a very capable one-bike quiver. Disc brakes, clearance for up to 40mm tires (with fenders!), a fairly slack head tube and lower bottom bracket than a pure ‘cross bike are intended to give the Chebacco LE plenty of stability and confidence as a pure adventure rig, but its made of the same lightweight, lively carbon recipe and manufacturing process that gives Parlee’s pure road racers such a responsive feel.
The slight rise as the top tube intersects the head tube has not been an aesthetic we were particularly fond of in pictures. Once unboxed, in person we found it takes nothing away from the Chebacco LE’s incredibly good looks. In fact, the way the sculpted top cap nestles in the top of the head tube is one of the bikes standout features, showing just how much precision and attention to detail the bike is built with.
The Parlee Chebacco LE we’ll be testing is a size LG with a SRAM Red eTap group, DT Swiss ERC DiCut 1100 wheels and Vittoria Terreno Dry 40mm tires. Parlee leverages its carbon know-how on the stem and seat post while a FIZIK Arione tops it off. Our test bike hit the scale at 7.7kg/16.9lbs.
The custom top cap blends seamlessly into the slight ‘hump’ at the head tube/top tube junction.No relation to Han Solo’s first mate.SRAM Red eTap is a nice companion for this frame, but the front derailleur’s battery does limit tire clearance. The 40mm tire has very little room for any mud or even the slightest rim deflection.Parlee’s HQ in Beverly, Mass is just south of Chebacco Parish, the area in Essex county that gives the bike its name.No need for any cable entry in the Chebacco’s down tube thanks to wireless SRAM Red eTap.The Chebacco has room for 40mm tires with clearance to spare, making it a legitimate gravel weapon, but keep in mind that clearance shrinks in back thanks to the eTap front derailleur battery.
Look for a full review of the Chebacco LE in the pages of PELOTON Magazine soon.
