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TECH NEWS

Lance Armstrong tweets about his new bike… and it's not a Trek

Armstrong shows off his new road bike and – surprise! – it's not a Trek

Having been associated closely with Trek during his racing career, Lance Armstrong has tweeted that he now has a new Parlee Z-Zero road bike.

Lance said, “Down @mellowjohnnys building up my new @parlee_z1. What a beauty!! Right at 15 lbs.”

Mellow Johnny’s is a bike store in Austin, Texas, owned by Armstrong. The name comes from maillot jaune – French for ‘yellow jersey’.

Mellow Johnny's is a Trek dealership. Whereas usually Trek might not be too pleased with an ex-pro and current dealer showing off a bike other than a Trek, in this case they're probably fairly relaxed about the situation.

The Parlee race bike brand was established by Bob Parlee in Massachusetts about a decade ago.

The Z-Zero is custom-made to order in 16 semi-custom sizes, or in a full-custom geometry. Parlee say that they can tune the ride characteristics to each rider's exact requirements.

Armstrong has gone for a Shimano Dura-Ace 9070 groupset here. Previously, he had a contract with SRAM but the US component brand terminated it last year in the light of revelations about Armstrong’s doping during his race career – you might have heard about that!

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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74 comments

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snooks | 11 years ago
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Just go away and shut up Lance. Nobody wants to hear from you. I doubt Parlee is thrilled with being associated with you in any way.

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colinth replied to snooks | 11 years ago
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snooks wrote:

Just go away and shut up Lance. Nobody wants to hear from you. I doubt Parlee is thrilled with being associated with you in any way.

Really ? I'm pretty sure they're delighted. Tweeted to 4 million followers, discussed on countless cycling websites, rode Trek for years but now that he can ride anything he wants he chose a Parlee. It's publicity that is worth absolutely millions to Parlee

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timothy | 11 years ago
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does posting on twatter make you a famous cyclist? Does it not prove there are nearly 4m twatters who like a cheat.  31

Eddy Merckx much more famous and a better cyclist and human. factoid that.  1

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Old Man Miller replied to timothy | 11 years ago
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timothy wrote:

does posting on twatter make you a famous cyclist? Does it not prove there are nearly 4m twatters who like a cheat.  31

Eddy Merckx much more famous and a better cyclist and human. factoid that.  1

Reading the Maglia Rosa book - Merckx was tested positive - any different or better than anyone else who's been found cheating?

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chiv30 replied to timothy | 11 years ago
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timothy wrote:

does posting on twatter make you a famous cyclist? Does it not prove there are nearly 4m twatters who like a cheat.  31

Eddy Merckx much more famous and a better cyclist and human. factoid that.  1

I do believe eddy was known to dabble ........

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Roberj4 | 11 years ago
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So that will be $16K for the full bike and he'll fit a 20 year old San Marco 'Concor' saddle (the only saddle he uses I believe)to spoil the build. Are they Bontrager Wheels?

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mattsavage replied to Roberj4 | 11 years ago
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Enve, I believe...

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Celeste08 | 11 years ago
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LA has almost 4M twitter followers around the world. One tweet by LA and Parlee have exceeded the level of publicity required to cover the cost of a few bikes. Clever business strategy? I think so.

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farrell replied to Celeste08 | 11 years ago
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Celeste08 wrote:

LA has almost 4M twitter followers around the world..

This helps me highlight my point:

Mark Cavendish - 667,964
Alberto Contador - 700,139
Chris Hoy - 499,094
Jens Voight - 116,868
Victoria Pendleton - 241,662
UCI Cycling - 66,618
British Cycling - 36,796

Lance Armstrong - 3,996,347

But go on, hit me with the name of this other cyclist that was or is so famous that it managed to get one of the worlds biggest brands to create a sub brand for cycling based purely on their fame.

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marvo replied to farrell | 11 years ago
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Greg Lemond (Trek again).

Do I get a prize?  22

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dino replied to farrell | 11 years ago
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Only 116K for Jens? I'd think it would be so much higher... i'm not doubting the numbers... but Jens is awesome!

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gazzaputt | 11 years ago
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mmm sweet ride.

As for what Parlee thinks of him riding their frameset you pay your money and take your goods regardless of who you are.

The guy can still ride a bike if he wants to.

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Dr. Ko replied to gazzaputt | 11 years ago
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gazzaputt wrote:

The guy can still ride a bike if he wants to.

But not in many places! I think he is off any sactionated race.

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jamesfifield | 11 years ago
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Interesting that he is riding Dura Ace. So much for him being a stake holder in SRAM, I guess the Red 22 isn't so great after all...
Also, custom made but still with all those headset spacers? For shame!

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Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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To people who are wondering what Parlee make of Lance riding one of their bikes, who do you think alerted us to it?

 3

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Decster replied to Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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And road.cc duly obliged them.

Hope this backfires on Parlee

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dullard | 11 years ago
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I suppose now that he's not contractually obliged to ride anything in particular (come to think of it he has no contracts now to be obliged by) he's gone for whatever he wants. Dare say Bob Parlee doesn't overly mind provided the cheating, lying, mother-fixated, psychopathic scumbag paid for it.

j4m1eb - I've ridden my Parlee at a sportive but I'd rather eat toffee (with coffee on the side, natch) than ride for it.  16

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j4m1eb replied to dullard | 11 years ago
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dullard wrote:

(with coffee on the side, natch) than ride for it.  16

was that 1,2 or 3 you meant?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=natch

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dullard replied to j4m1eb | 11 years ago
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j4m1eb wrote:
dullard wrote:

(with coffee on the side, natch) than ride for it.  16

was that 1,2 or 3 you meant?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=natch

1 and 2! I hadn't heard of 3's usage, though given it looks like Americanish not sure it's common parlance in England?

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toonwurzel | 11 years ago
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would it not be more beneficial for the sport if journalists simply ignored any of the twatter this cretin continues to dole out in order to maintain the illusion of being a star?

We'll all be better off as soon as his name fails to appear in 'the news'

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Super Domestique | 11 years ago
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Nice bike.

Whatever you think of him he still made cycling famous then infamous, but it got back to being famous again!  13

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spasypaddy | 11 years ago
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love him or hate him, the guy is still box office

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badback | 11 years ago
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Lance who ?

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farrell replied to badback | 11 years ago
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badback wrote:

Lance who ?

Armstrong, it says it in the headline and everything.

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richdirector replied to badback | 11 years ago
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badback wrote:

Lance who ?

© LANCE PHARMSTRONG

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Dr. Ko | 11 years ago
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Let's see I also had a bike build, will I get the same media impact? Please note that I did never transfer any money into any of Ferrari's accounts - if that matters.  39

http://innercitymobility.blogspot.de/2013/05/italia-superbikes.html  4

Yes, I had to pay for the frame and parts.  3

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arrieredupeleton | 11 years ago
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It's a bit overkill for Sportives isn't it? Or is he banned from them as well?

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j4m1eb replied to arrieredupeleton | 11 years ago
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 21

Mind you I've seen a Parlee at a sportive - plus the owner could ride for toffee

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rswift | 11 years ago
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Utter bafflement here about why this rider is even being given the oxygen of publicity?

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farrell replied to rswift | 11 years ago
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rswift wrote:

Utter bafflement here about why this rider is even being given the oxygen of publicity?

Like it or not, he is the most famous cyclist going.

This is a cycling website.

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