Month: December 2021

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Parlee Z3, the wrap

Pairing the phone app with the DI2 system was easy enough to do, and with that you can update firmware without having to drag out the laptop and the charger and plugging everything together.  Nice.

And I found out that my Wahoo Elemnt Roam will pair with the DI2 system as well, displaying a nice little graphic so you can see what chainring/cassette combination is being used.  It’s a nice touch.  The really nice part is that the Wahoo will display the battery charge level for the DI2 system.

So the Parlee is finished.  Well, mostly.

I would still like to make one more change.  I’d like to run an 11-32 cassette in place of the existing 11-28 cassette.  Some of the hills on routes I ride are difficult, so if I can add a bit of low-end gearing to help it only makes sense.  The difficulty is that the Dura Ace RD may not have enough clearance or chainwrap capacity to work with the 32 tooth cog.  When the new cassette gets here I’ll see what can be done about that.

In the meantime, and because the cassette swap isn’t a major visual change, let’s get to the photos.

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Parlee Z3, part 3

Now that the fancy new electronic shifting is working well, on to the more usual bike work.

I cut and installed paint film on the frame in three places – the bottom of the downtube, the top of the DS chainstay, and the side of the headtube where the rear brake cable touches it.

I had ordered a mount for the “A” junction that replaces one of the headset spacers, so that went on next, then the stem, and a spacer above the stem.  Set the headset preload, and tightened everything up using a torque wrench.

Next I installed the wheels, and adjusted the brake pads to proper alignment with the rims.  Tightened everything down and they’re ready to go.

I removed the bar tape, and adjusted the lever to point straight ahead – the right shifter was canted inward a little.  I removed the front brake cable and housing, and cut a piece of the Jagwire red compressionless housing to fit.  Reinstalled the cable, fed it through the clamp on the caliper and tightened it up.  I left about 2 inches of cable exposed and cut it, then crimped on a nice red cable end.  The front brake is finished.

I removed the rear brake cable and housing, and cut two pieces of the Jagwire red compressionless housing to fit.  Reinstalled the cable, fed it through the clamp on the caliper and tightened it up.  I left about 2 inches of cable exposed and cut it, then crimped on another nice red cable end.  The rear brake is finished.

I used some narrow pieces of self-fusing slilcone tape to hold the brake housing and shifter wires in place, then wrapped the bars with new bar tape, and fastened the end of the wrap with more self-fusing silicone tape.

The last step was to install a pair of Arundel carbon bottle cages.

It’s ready to go.