OUR LATEST BENCHMARK: Z-ZERO DISC

The last 10 years have seen a curious trend emerge in road bike design. Conservative policies by the governing bodies in professional cycling allow the technology available to amateur and recreational cyclists to far outpace the technology available to professional racers.

The Z-Zero Disc is a great example of this unusual dichotomy. Featuring custom geometry, custom tube lay-up schedules, tubing made by Parlee north of Boston in Beverly, Massachusetts and the most advanced braking technology available, the Z-Zero Disc is a technical tour de force, a sheer joy to ride and still not legal for use in the Tour de France. Their loss is the Parlee riders gain.

The Z-Zero Disc is 100% made to order, with the optimum performance characteristics and technical requirements perfectly met for each individual rider. From gravel epics to gran fondos, no road bike can match the versatility of the Z-Zero Disc.

TECHNICAL FEATURES

PARLEE tube joining process: Pioneered on the Z1, our exclusive molding process is the technical benchmark for fusing carbon fiber tubes into a monolithic structure. Our process is neither “lugged” or traditional “tube to tube” construction. The Z-Zero joining process is more precise, more costly, and unmatched in strength, using only carbon fiber to fuse each tube to another in a manner that yields a wholly unified structure with almost zero redundant material.

Carbon dropouts and bearing races: First used on the Z5, our compression molded carbon drops and bearing races (in the head tube and bottom bracket) allow us to reduce the metal content in the Z-Zero to less than 20 grams. Eliminating metal correctly in any carbon composite structure translates to lighter weight and better durability.

Shaped, bladder-molded tubing: A technology first used in our Z5, the performance based shaping allows for lighter overall tube weights and optimized tuning of the laminate schedule. A variety of tube designs allows us to perfectly tune the ride to each riders needs. Produced by hand, by our staff,here in Beverly, MA the Z-Zero tube set is 10-15% lighter on average than the already light Z1 (with better torsional performance) and more tunability.

Tapered head and steerer tubes: An innovation derived from the now industry-wide CEN testing protocols; tapered steerer and head tubes are hardly news anymore, however, with our Z5, we pioneered the use of the smaller 1.250” (32mm) inch lower standard over the heavier 1.500”(38mm) inch standard. Riding the bike demonstrates that the 1.250”(32mm) taper provides the ideal balance for a road bike. Strength, safety, performance and lightweight without harshness.

Disc Brake compatibility: A new standard for the future, disc brakes for road bikes present a range of new options for brake, wheel and drive systems. The Z-Zero was designed from inception to be both caliper and disc brake capable. We use the modern thru-axle standards both front and rear for optimum performance and handling. The Z-Zero Disc is compatible with 12mm front and rear thru-axles and the latest flat-mount calipers from Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo.