Parlee Taos gravel bike review: Daring to be different
The Parlee Taos doesn’t look like most other gravel bikes, nor does it perform like most other gravel bikes, either – but whether that’s a good or bad thing might depend on what you’re looking for.
“Looks like a Session.”
That was a running joke on mountain bike mega-site Pinkbike for years, particularly during the period when seemingly everyone’s downhill bikes started looking like barely-disguised clones of each other. One could perhaps apply a similar tagline for gravel bikes these days, with many models sporting similar silhouettes, features, and aesthetics.
Not so with the Parlee Taos.
It’s no cookie-cutter bike what with its dramatically sloping top tube, tall front end, and genuinely striking raw carbon finish. It’d stand out from the crowd even without a logo on the down tube. But is this a case where being different also means being better, or does everyone else’s bike look the same because they’re all following a proven formula that just plain works?
As is often the case, the answer is: it depends.
Pros: Distinctive design, gorgeous finish, snappy and responsive, smart handling, low weight, ample tire clearance, lots of customization options, you’re not likely to see another one on a group ride.
Cons: Ride quality isn’t as cushy as claimed, potentially polarizing fit, don’t expect the raw finish to be totally perfect.
The takeaway: Quick and fun if dirt roads are your thing, but maybe not the best if you’re looking for an underbiking beast.
Parlee 2.0
Parlee Cycles is one of the most iconic American nameplates when it comes to high-end carbon drop-bar bikes, producing some of the most sought-after and finely crafted custom road bikes in the 2000s and 2010s. However, it wasn’t all that long ago that it wasn’t clear if the company was going to survive at all. The company struggled to stay in the forefront as the drop-bar landscape quickly changed, and Parlee entered bankruptcy proceedings in early 2023.
The brand was acquired by private independent investor John Harrison just a few months later, though, and the pace of evolution in Parlee’s product range since then has been rather impressive. Despite the turmoil, Parlee has managed to add three new models less than 18 months after the transition was finalized, only one of which was already in development before the bankruptcy proceedings.
The Z-Zero GT flagship road model is the most recent release, and arguably the most quintessentially Parlee-esque of the bunch. The semi-sloping layout strikes a traditional profile and the tubes are nominally round throughout, and there’s an emphasis on low weight and superb ride quality, though still incorporating contemporary features like fully hidden cable routing, clearance for 700x40 mm tires, UDH-compatible dropouts, and a titanium T47 threaded bottom bracket shell. The Z-Zero GT is also the only Parlee that’s still completely manufactured start-to-finish (including the carbon fork) at the company’s headquarters in Beverly, Massachusetts.
The Ouray – the one that was already in progress in early 2023 – is a more mainstream all-road machine, and the first model Parlee manufactured at its new facility in Portugal using a new true-monocoque format where the entire frame is laid up and molded as a single structure with no seams or bond joints. The geometry is more relaxed and upright than Parlee’s full-blown racing models, the shaped tubing is more modern-looking than Parlee’s more traditional Z-Series bikes, and the generous tire clearance fits cushy 700x38 mm rubber.
The second model to be born out of Parlee’s new Portuguese facility – and the bike I’m reviewing here – is the Taos gravel bike. Replacing the longstanding Chebacco, the Taos is designed to be more at the forefront of the latest trends and preferences in the segment. There’s clearance for knobby tires up to 700x50 mm-wide, the front end is suspension corrected for forks with up to 40 mm of travel, and the aggressively sloping top tube reveals heaps of seatpost shaft with the goal of increased rider comfort. The steering geometry is on the more progressive side of things with sub-70° head tube angles across the board and generous front centers for confidence on slippery and/or steep surfaces, the bottom bracket is 80 mm below the wheel axles for stability, and the tall stack is designed to make the drops more usable in a wider range of situations.
Parlee hasn’t skimped on features on the Taos, either, which include UDH-compatible rear dropouts to accommodate the latest drivetrains, adjustable rake on the fork for tunable handling, compatibility with 1x or 2x (and electronic and mechanical) drivetrains, and a T47 threaded bottom bracket shell. Cable routing is, of course, fully hidden and fully internal courtesy of FSA’s ACR system, though Parlee has been careful to retain compatibility with Enve, Deda, Token, Pro, and other systems that use IS52 upper headset bearings. If you like to get rowdy on your gravel bike, the oversized 31.6 mm-diameter seatpost broadens the pool of compatible dropper seatposts, beefy molded guards are in place to protect the down tube and driveside chainstay, and the front brake mounts are sized for 160 or 180 mm-diameter rotors instead of the more typical 140/160 mm setups.
Fender mounts are incorporated front and rear, and Parlee has hidden them so thoroughly (such as with custom internally-threaded thru-axles so those holes don’t have to be added to the frame or fork) that you’d be forgiven for not even knowing they were there if they’re not in use. There’s also internal storage built into the down tube and feed bag mounts on the top tube, though somewhat curiously, there are just two water bottle mounts in the usual locations (there isn’t even a third mount on the underside of the down tube).
“We intentionally oriented the design of the Taos towards the faster, longer single-day events like Unbound, D2R2, and BWR,” explained Parlee’s FAQ for the Taos. “It’s also quite capable for adventure riding and light ‘credit card’ bikepacking, but is not designed for fully-loaded touring or multi-day, self-contained bikepacking.”
In terms of construction, Parlee in many ways isn’t pushing the envelope with technology. The Taos is manufactured using traditional bladder-molding processes, and there are no claims of fancy fiber blends, innovative internal semi-rigid pre-forms, or even ultra-low frame weights (claimed weight for a small frame is 940 g, which is light but not crazy light).
Instead, Parlee is drawing attention to the meticulous way in which the Taos is built.
The vast majority of carbon fiber bicycle frames are molded in several sections that are then bonded together and wrapped with additional layers of pre-preg for a smooth finish. And almost without fail, all of that is then covered up in paint so you’re none the wiser. As with the Ouray, Parlee instead builds the Taos as a true monocoque. The entire frame is laid up in a single process, and the outermost plies are treated to nothing but a clear wax finish. This not only leaves all of the handiwork fully exposed with no purely cosmetic layers, fillers, or adhesives, but it also decreases the final weight since there’s less overlapping material. Parlee also says the wax only adds “a couple of grams” to the raw frame weight, as compared to conventional paint that can sometimes tack on a quarter-kilo depending on the complexity of the finish (and the colors).
According to Parlee, there are some structural benefits to manufacturing the frame without those seams, too. The carbon fibers can be longer and more continuous for greater strength as compared to multiple sections that are glued together; frame designers have more control (and predictability) over tuning the bike’s the ride quality; and there’s less potential for misalignment in the final cure cycle.
Ultimately, though, perhaps the biggest upsides are more visual and emotional.
“[The true monocoque construction] yields a slightly lighter frame, but for us it's the finish and the strength and reliability that we get at that weight that is special,” Parlee product manager Tom Rodi told me. “We love the nothing-hidden ethos of these frames.”
In addition to the unusual manufacturing method, Parlee builds the Taos in much smaller batches than you’d see out of a mainstream brand, which affords a lot more flexibility in terms of what’s actually delivered to a customer. Taos frames are only offered in six stock frame geometries, but each can be delivered with two different upper headset cover heights depending on how you think you want your bars to be. There are also four tiers of selectable finishes on tap, starting with optional logo accent colors and topping out with no-holds-barred, fully custom paint where the possibilities are limited only by your size of your wallet.
Similarly, the Taos can be purchased as either a bare frameset or fully built. Parlee lists five pre-set build kits, but there’s ample flexibility baked-in if you want to make substitutions – and even if you don’t, you can still choose all the size-specific stuff like stem length, bar width, crank length, and whatnot.
Prices for the Taos start at US$4,790 for the frameset, and top out at US$12,490 for a flagship build with a SRAM Red XPLR 1x13 wireless electronic groupset and Zipp 303 XPLR SW aero carbon wheels (sorry, Parlee was only able to provide retail prices in USD).
I went with a mid-range build outfitted with a SRAM Force/XO1 Eagle Transmission mullet groupset (my test loaner was provided prior to the release of SRAM’s latest XPLR variants), Zipp 303 XPLR S carbon wheels wrapped with 45 mm-wide Goodyear XPLR Inter tires, and FSA/Ergon/Parlee finishing kit. Retail price is US$8,990, and actual weight for my small-sized sample is 8.46 kg (18.65 lb) without pedals or accessories.
In the saddle
Parlee describes the Taos as being “all-day fast”, as in, a gravel bike that’s light and stiff and snappy, but with such a strong emphasis on rider comfort that you feel just as fresh riding it after four hours as you do after four minutes.
Out on the road and trail, the Taos is supremely responsive. It’s fantastically reactive under power with a wonderfully rigid chassis that’s super eager to accelerate. Whereas some gravel bike sometimes need to be wound up a bit when you want to go faster, the Taos only requires you to step on the gas a bit harder, rivaling some of the best dedicated road bikes I’ve ridden in terms of how efficiently power is transferred from the pedals to the rear tire. Sprinting feels electric and exciting, and the bike jumps forward obediently and immediately when attacking climbs out of the saddle.
Once you hit those higher speeds, the Taos seems more than happy to stay there, too. Part of the credit goes to the fast-rolling tires and aero wheels (more on those in a bit), but much of it also goes to the frame geometry. Between the low bottom bracket, the longer front center, and that slack head tube angle, the Taos keeps its rudder reliably centered when charging through rough and/or questionable ground; basically just hang on and let ‘er rip.
Parlee has done a pretty good job with the steering characteristics, too, with the Taos offering up a good balance of stability and agility that’s neither overly traditional nor excessively MTB-like. The longer front center lends confidence on steeper descents and allows you to let the front wheel “surf” through loose corners (if you want it to, depending on where you put your weight), but yet the 78 mm trail figure (with the adjustable fork tips in the 51 mm rake position) is hardly outlandish and still lets the Taos feel reasonably flickable when snaking your way through sinuous singletrack.
Fit-wise, I think the Taos is a little more polarizing.
If you’re one of those weirdos who likes to pore over the minutiae of frame geometry charts (and to be clear, I consider myself to be one of those weirdos), you’ll notice that while the reach dimensions of the Taos are pretty normal, the stack figures are quite high, even without the taller headset cone. As mentioned earlier, this is entirely by design, with the idea that a taller front end encourages riders to spend more time in the drops where the additional bar width and leverage on the brakes offer more control.
“The tall stack is 100% intentional,” Rodi explained. “We believe a modern gravel bike works better for most cyclists with a bar position 1-3 cm higher than a traditional road race position. A higher position allows for better use of the drops, more comfort, and better overall control. With that said, with our Flex Fit interface system most cyclists can still have the same position on the Taos as they do on a road bike. We see a lot of data from our bike fitting partners that led us in this direction and we combined that with our own ride testing feedback.
“Our suggestion for most people would be try it a bit higher and see if you like it better,” he continued. “We think you will. This bike can be used places (single/double track) that a first-gen gravel bike would be out of place and being a bit higher helps in those places.”
I guess that puts me in the minority, then, because I never warmed up to the concept.
I don’t disagree with the claimed benefits of a wider hand position when using flared drops, but at least for me, I think Parlee has taken the idea a little too far. I normally spend most of a ride cruising on the hoods, but that position on the Taos just feels too high to be useful, to the point where I had to be much more mindful of weighting the front end to maintain traction through corners. And whereas you can almost always raise your grip height if need be if it’s too low, it’s much more difficult to lower it if the frame stack is already inherently tall.
Granted, I’ve got fairly typical Asian body proportions with shorter legs and a longer torso, but my measurements aren’t that out of whack, and the reach on the XS frame definitely would have been too short. Someone with opposite proportions isn’t likely to find the Taos’s tall front end to be as restrictive as I did, but it’s something to keep in mind regardless.
I unfortunately also haven’t found the Taos to be as comfortable as I expected given how it’s described. I’m not at all saying the company is being untruthful, but there’s perhaps some parsing to be done with the claim that the Taos delivers “an entirely new level of compliance.”
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