Bike Gallery expands its line of custom bikes with the addition of Parlee and Signal Cycles.

February 5, 2008 - In the lead-up towards the much-anticipated North American Handmade Bicycle Show - coming to Portland this next weekend - the Bike Gallery is excited to announce the addition of two top-notch, custom bike brands to its already extensive line-up of bicycle brands. This month, Bike Gallery will start selling custom framesets and complete custom bikes built by carbon fiber specialist Parlee Cycles and Portland-based upstart Signal Cycles.

Parlee Cycles - a New England-based bike company lead by carbon whiz Bob Parlee - might not be a familiar name yet among northwest cyclists, but the company is rapidly developing a reputation of its own that is quite impressive. For one, the company is one of only a few builders that can do custom sizing in carbon fiber. Moreover, in the high-end, custom road bike segment, Parlee is currently considered “nothing but the best.” At least, that was the verdict of the editors of Bicycling magazine when they announced their favorite bikes of the year last spring. Parlee was invited for the first time as one of three finalists in the Dream Road category and their Z1 won the Editors’ Choice Dream Road Bike for 2007! According to the editors, [the Z1] is “masterfully crafted,” and “achieves a balance of speed, quickness, refined road feel–and grace”. You can find out more about the Z1 and Parlee's other carbon road models at www.parleecycles.com.

Signal Cycles is a very different story. The small upstart bike company was founded in a garage in North Portland by two of our own, Hollywood mechanics Nate Meschke and Matt Cardinal, who both graduated from art school with painting degrees and who bring - in true Portland bike craft tradition - an artist's eye to bike design and construction. All bikes are steel, brass brazed or silver lugged, and each is made to fit the customer. There are no stock sizes here and Matt and Nate love the challenge of using their craftsmanship towards building all kinds of bikes: mountain, road, cyclocross, commuters, track... some sneak previews of their work-in-progress can be found at www.signalcycles.com.

Of course, the Bike Gallery's love affair with custom bikes doesn't start and end with these two new brands. Another local Oregon brand that we have been carrying for years now is Co-Motion Cycles, which manufactures all their bikes in nearby Eugene, Co-Motion specializes in custom and semi-custom tandems and single road bikes, mostly using steel, but also some aluminum. In recent years, Bike Gallery has become one of the largest Co-Motion dealers in the USA and the popularity of the brand with Portland cyclists - from everyday commuters, to Cycle Oregon habituals, to cyclocross afficionados- is a great testimony of the quality and versatility of their bikes. More details at www.co-motion.com.

To find out more about our custom brands, the various models, colors and other customizable options, as well as lead times and pricing, visit one of our six stores in the Portland area or come see us at the North American Handmade Bike Show. Bike Gallery staffers will be at hand at the booths of Parlee, Co-Motion and Signal Cycles. And while you're at the Parlee booth, make sure to enter your name in the FREE drawing for a svelte Parlee Z4 carbon frame. You might end up riding that carbon dream machine sooner than you realized!