Bike Check: Patrick's Parallax
Every once in a while your friend gets a nice new bike and you’re really happy for them… but almost kinda jealous at the same time. Well, that’s pretty much what happened when Patrick casually arrived at my place one night with a Cinelli Mash Parallax in super good condition, saying: “yeah, found this one for an okay price so here I am.”
Patrick has the same mentality as me: If you have more than one bike, it’s good if you can justify it! One daily, one for chill sunny Sundays, one for when it’s pouring outside but you have no other choice… and the list goes on. But this time it was just a fun bike to go shred outside! Needless to say that this build is tasteful and I’m glad that there are people like Patrick who like to mix parts on a bike and make builds that are a little bit less conventional. Mismatched rear and front wheel, components in almost every finish: silver, white, black, and even some with nice color touches here and there.
This first iteration of the Parallax is one of my favorite parts of the collaboration between Mash and Cinelli that started in 2008 and ended 10 years later. It’s just different and you can recognize one from 10km away because everyone knows what a Parallax is and it’s now engraved so deeply into the culture. I’m a big fan of the color accents on the inside of the chainstays and some other details but considering Cinelli’s history with art and street artists, it is no surprise that Mash added an extra twist by getting Benny Gold into the mix.
Bikes full of details are my jam, so let’s see what we can find! Starting with the drivetrain: a now collectible SRAM Omnium paired with a Kronos x Courage 49T chainring and a Euro Asia cog. A strong combo that will last as long as you maintain the GXP bottom bracket regularly. I’ve heard lots of people complaining about it, and while I agree that they’re not the best BBs out there, but I personally never had issues with them. Just do regular maintenance using the appropriate tools and everything should be fine. MKS x Mash pedals, Mash toe cages, and beautiful MKS x Mash double straps for some serious collaboration action in the pedal set-up. When Patrick told me he placed his order for some red straps, I wasn’t sure at first… but they complement the build perfectly, giving that extra spice and color accent I was mentioning earlier.
Let’s get onto the wheels which are the most 2000’s thing ever (besides super short risers maybe): serious business in the back and party in the front. We got a classic TB14 laced to a Mack Superlight hub as a good and sturdy rear wheel and an old-school Zipp 404 on the front for some critical street cred. Blue Mack hub and red Zipp, you start to get the theme here. There is an interesting story with that Zipp though. It used to be a road one until a friend got it relaced to a track hub which ended up half-broken literally the next day. One of the spokes almost went through the carbon creating a nice crack on one hole. The rim ended up at my place for an entire summer before I decided to relace it. I got the cheapest front hub I could find (traded one for some beers) some spokes and I got to work. Built it as a front wheel with a radial pattern to put as little tension possible on the cracked hole. In the end, it worked just fine! It’s not the straightest wheel out there but it does the job just fine and Patrick could buy it from my friend for almost nothing.
Detailed Parts List
Frameset Cinelli Mash Optical Parallax 56
Chainring and Cog Kronos x Courage Silver 49T, EAI Deluxe 18T
Crank 165mm SRAM Omnium
Seatpost and Saddle Thomson Silver Seatpost, Aspide saddle
Stem and Handlebar 120 White Ritchey WCS 4 Axis, Flat Out 750
Wheels Front Zipp 404, Rear Mack Superlight laced to TB14 rim
Tires “Whatever I have home”
Pedals Black MKS Track, Black Mash Cages, Red MKS x Mash Straps
An oil-slick seat-clamp and a nice top cap bring colors to places where one usually sees quite simple and plain stuff. Usually, it is tricky to mix white parts as they’re either not the same color tone or texture. But this time, Patrick put in the work to find a perfect match with this Ritchey WSC 4 Axis stem and since it’s a street shark build, 750mm wide risers are mandatory!
You can see that most pictures are really really bright and even overexposed for some. It’s one of the quirks of working with film all year round, especially after a long and dark winter. I shot Patrick’s bike “like usual” and ended up burning my film with way too much light. Things like this happen but I also enjoy shots that are not perfect but reflect what things really are.
You now know, I like bikes that go along their owner’s personality and accompany them through time. Patrick is the kind of person that arrived into cycling and created his own style by grabbing ideas here and there. And I’m excited to see what he will build next and how he’ll get everything into shape. If you have more questions you can drop him a DM on his Instagram here: @paaat__k
