BIG INTERVIEW
A NEW ERA John Harrison, CEO of Parlee Cycles
arlee Cycles is a storied brand with more than two decades of custom carbon frame building history. Earlier this year it filed for Chapter 11 status, allowing for a reorganisation and restructure of the company. Now, Parlee is now looking ahead to a new era after avid
P
cyclist and independent investor John Harrison acquired the brand and 100% of its assets. The business will operate under a newly formed entity named Parlee Composites, Inc., with Harrison assuming the role of president and CEO.
But how did Harrison, a successful businessman in his own right and former CCO at a software company, come to take over such a heralded brand? “I’d heard about the Chapter 11 process and - as I owned
a bike - was inquisitive on what the future of the business would look like,” he explained.
“I was riding with some friends practising for a charity fundraising ride in Massachusetts and talking about next steps, business, careers and passions.
“This put the proper thought in my mind while we’re out riding that some of the challenges Parlee faced in the past were things that I’ve done really well in my career.” That discussion sowed the seed for potentially investing in Parlee, which Harrison initially dismissed.
20 | December 2023
With the future of Parlee Cycles secured, Daniel Blackham speaks to new CEO John Harrison to hear about the brand’s next chapter
“I then woke up at three o’clock in the morning and couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t get that thought out of my mind.
“I called Bob and Isabel [Parlee] the next day. “The more I looked, the more I understood how the business had ended up here and I felt more confident that I had the right skills to be able to help the business go forward into its next chapter.” Harrison’s affiliation with Parlee started after a recommendation from a local bike fitter. “I didn’t really know much about the brand at the time [but] once I was able to get a test ride, I instantly loved it. It rode like nothing else that I had tried before,” he said. “That’s when I started looking at what the brand was about and the passion for developing bikes that rode with a real high degree of both performance and comfort. “I also like the craftsmanship of the brand. This wasn’t an off the shelf, well known mega brand that everybody else was riding. It was a little bit unique. It had a story, a personality. “I felt like there were people making these bikes that I could relate to. And I felt like there was a level of passion in the brand and in the product I was acquiring that I didn’t see represented in the other brands that were available in my local bike shop.”
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