Parlee Chebacco v. Open U.P.

I am looking at buying a more gravel/all-round bike next year and I have whittled my preferences down to the Parlee Chebacco (http://parleecycles.com/chebacco/) and the Open U.P. (https://opencycle.com/up). 

I currently ride my road bike on gravel roads, but would like to use this bike for rides which involve road, trails, and gravel roads. 

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks!

I have no personal opinion --- other than both bikes come from experienced builders who know how to manufacture excellent high end carbon bikes. Here is an in depth review of the Parlee from Gravel Cyclist: http://www.gravelcyclist.com/?s=parlee
I read a thorough review of the Open U.P. in Bicycle Quarterly magazine. You can purchase the issue -- Spring 2017 No. 59 or subscribe. Here is a taste: https://janheine.wordpress.com/2017/04/09/video-testing-the-open-u-p/

My own personal opinion is that while these are great carbon bikes, for bashing about on unpaved surfaces, you will be better served by a bike with a high quality steel or Ti frame. Carbon doesn't take well to being pinged and poked by flying rocks and debris that you will encounter off pavement.
If you still want to go with either Parlee or the Open U.P. then the choice may depend on tire width limitation. I believe the Parlee is limited to about 40mm, where as the Open U.P. can take up to 50mm using 650B wheels.

Thanks for your reply, bobknh! Much appreciated.

I don't have any experience with these bikes either since I wanted to go with a ti bike, but I did search for a new bike based on the design of the Open Up and ended up getting a Why Cycles R+ which is ti and fairly similar in geometry and tire clearance to the Open Up. I only have about 300 miles on it so far but have loved every single one of them. I'm not sure if you are really set on carbon but this may be an option for you as well. My Why R+ in the Rival build without cages or pedals came in at 19lb 3oz and if you go with the Force build I think it comes in just below 18lbs if weight is a concern. You could also look at the Lynskey GR250 bikes if you want a more relaxed gravel geometry. Happy shopping.

Thanks JGamm. I have a Lynskey Level 4 road bike, which has been my main ride for the past 10 years and so I certainly appreciate the ride quality of titanium.

The two choices I came down to were more a result of predispositions rather than any specific preference for carbon. I have always wanted a Parlee bike, but couldn't justify the outlay when I already had two road bikes. Now my cycling preferences are changing with a young family, greater fear of riding on the roads, and preference for riding for the sake of riding rather than training, I now have the opportunity to get a Parlee bike which will represent my preferred riding conditions rather than double up on a bike I already have. I live in Canada, so am partial to the heritage of the Open U.P. And orange is my favourite colour. Go figure!

Thanks again for your reply.

OPEN U.P all the way. The "hot" trend for gravel bikes is to go 650b and to go beyond 40mm tire. 3t Exploro and the Open UP are the like the pinnacle of this bike design. The parlee can only do a 40, and quite frankly a lot of gravel bikes can already do that cheaper. With Parlee you're buying a name, with OPEN you're buying possibilities.

Thanks, Smale Rider. I really appreciate your opinion and the reasons for your recommendation.

Two amazing bikes... Check this custom painted chebacco: http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=142587

Very cool. Thanks, LewisQC. Other than always being interested in a Parlee bike, I had already investigated potential colour schemes for the Chebacco 6 or so months ago (through their online custom paint planner). As you can see, I like orange!

   

bobknh wrote:I have no personal opinion --- other than both bikes come from experienced builders who know how to manufacture excellent high end carbon bikes. Here is an in depth review of the Parlee from Gravel Cyclist: http://www.gravelcyclist.com/?s=parlee
I read a thorough review of the Open U.P. in Bicycle Quarterly magazine. You can purchase the issue -- Spring 2017 No. 59 or subscribe. Here is a taste: https://janheine.wordpress.com/2017/04/09/video-testing-the-open-u-p/

My own personal opinion is that while these are great carbon bikes, for bashing about on unpaved surfaces, you will be better served by a bike with a high quality steel or Ti frame. Carbon doesn't take well to being pinged and poked by flying rocks and debris that you will encounter off pavement.
If you still want to go with either Parlee or the Open U.P. then the choice may depend on tire width limitation. I believe the Parlee is limited to about 40mm, where as the Open U.P. can take up to 50mm using 650B wheels.

Disclaimer: I do not--and have not--owned a carbon bike. However, I know many people that ride and crash carbon mountain bikes on a regular basis. I don't know anyone that's had problems with the durability of carbon frames. Up front cost would be the only thing that would discourage me from purchasing a carbon "gravel" frame. 

elapid wrote:Very cool. Thanks, LewisQC. Other than always being interested in a Parlee bike, I had already investigated potential colour schemes for the Chebacco 6 or so months ago (through their online custom paint planner). As you can see, I like orange!

   

I like your orange better than that standard orange offered by Open. 

Orange is my fav colour also, so you'll just have to get the Parlee 

Ha, I like your sense of taste as well owly!

Thanks as well GSPChilliwack. This is going to be a milestone birthday present, so the cost is not a huge factor (within reason!).

Looks like the cannondale slate is similar in concept to something like the UP - in that both are set up to provide a road bike like ride with 650b tires allowing easy off pavement adventures...

GSPChilliwack wrote:

Disclaimer: I do not--and have not--owned a carbon bike. However, I know many people that ride and crash carbon mountain bikes on a regular basis. I don't know anyone that's had problems with the durability of carbon frames. Up front cost would be the only thing that would discourage me from purchasing a carbon "gravel" frame. 

True, I have a 20 year old carbon mountain bike that I regularly beat to death.  The frame doesn't care.  Shoot, it flew off a car at 80mph and didn't care (totally trashed the aluminum wheel and fork though).

Yeah, it might get a little patina.  About the only thing I do to baby it is to make sure when transporting it (i.e. trailer hitch rack) that nothing hard rubs on the same spot for hours at a time.