Chessin Gertler's Freedom Machine is probably as far away from modern digital media as one can get. Focussed on the theme of human movement, it's a totally anti-monetisation visual project that sits open to all readers. No algorithm chasing, no platform games. And from time to time it focusses on cycling.
His latest work takes us inside Parlee Cycles in Beverly, Massachusetts, the custom bike builder where a team of twelve make carbon fibre bicycles by hand in a converted railroad building.
The images here were all shot on film, focus on the paint shop, and form a small portion of Gertler's in-depth Parlee insider, which you can read in full here. They conjure the unique environment of a historic framebuilder – paint-splattered booth walls that mix Jackson Pollock with custom carbon heritage.
Chessin's wider piece captures a company in transition. Bob Parlee, the legendary business founder whose boatbuilding background shaped the brand's philosophy, sadly passed away after a long illness. Under new ownership, the team that remains, some of whom have been there for two decades, is carrying forward principles while building toward what comes next.
Gertler's accompanying interviews span engineering, paint, sales, and leadership. The images open a door, the conversations are what tell the real story of an American brand.
Chessin offered to share some images with Velora Cycling. The full piece, with Gertler's complete interviews and expanded imagery, is well worth your time.
The images that follow offer a glimpse inside the Beverly factory.
An hour north of Boston, in a warehouse pressed against the commuter rail tracks, a dozen people build some of the finest carbon bicycles in the world.
The paint operation is legendary. Cody Haight has been here sixteen years, offering full custom finishes direct from the factory, whatever your heart desires.
The new GT fork uses over 180 individual pieces of carbon. Twenty-five iterations were built and tested before it passed.
The building is an old railroad turntable. Where the train once spun around is now the paint booth – layers of overspray becoming archaeology.
Bob Parlee described himself as an old Yankee: thrifty with materials, suspicious of excess, focused on what lasts.
Carbon orientation here is tuned uniquely for each rider, a USP for the brand since its very outset. The team describes their process as closer to woodworking than metalworking.
Twelve people. Every bike touched by hand. Knowledge accumulated not in theory, but in repetition and instinctual judgment.
Parlee's future is actively under construction – history intact, the next chapter being shaped by the people who make the work possible.
Read the full piece at Freedom Machine
Photography by Chessin Gertler - Freedom Machine
