Who is Parc? How did you start?
Hey! This is Sam, creator of Parc. If you’re new to Parc, thanks for checking us out!
Parc is a new cycling brand I created in Austin, Texas. It’s built by and for cyclists who just love riding their bike, no matter what kind of bike or surface. The brand was really the second creation, behind the flagship product. The Bag from Parc is really a solution to my personal problem. For years, I’ve ridden and raced my bike and hauled my gear all over the country. As much as I love riding, I hate dealing with lost equipment, messy cars, plastic garage bins, black-hole bags that swallow gloves and a never ending search for all the bits and pieces that come with cycling.
I had pretty much tried everything to stay organized. Backpacks, duffle bags, reusable shopping bags, ziplocs etc. Nothing really worked. I’d pack Thursday morning to race Thursday night after work and return home with a backseat that looked like a hurricane had torn through a bike shop. The cleanup was annoying and seemed avoidable.
I had searched high and low for a good solution in the cycling world. No luck. Some useful features, but nothing that met all of my needs. I’d also seen similar bags with cool features in the running world, but those clearly needed iterating. It took six months of the idea stewing in my head before I drew the first sketches of The Bag in 2018. After doing the initial sketches, I turned to the Internet to find a designer who had experience working with large outdoor brands creating duffel bags, backpacks and gear bags. He set us on a course to the product we have today.
We wanted The Bag to be a totally unique, new take on what was previously called a “gear bag,” or a “race day bag.” Parc, the brand, was actually created as an afterthought to sell The Bag under. We will definitely have more cycling products in the future, and may branch out into running and triathlon, but for now The Bag is our sole focus. We foresee creating several versions of The Bag as it exists today.
What will those next products be? We don’t know. Our intent is to release The Bag into the world and see how our users use it. We want to see where they take it and what they pack it with. We’ll turn that feedback into new versions of The Bag and add complementary products that our audience asks for and needs. It could be anything from riding attire to tools to bags or travel gear etc.
Ultimately, our mission is to help more people spend more time on their bike. We believe The Bag accomplishes this through eliminating the time you waste digging, searching for and organizing your gear. The Bag lets you get out the door quicker, maximize your time on the bike, and stress less about whether you packed your shoes.
It’s likely Parc will always be a very small business but it’s one that we’re extremely passionate about. We don’t intend to release generic products in hopes of capitalizing on any trends. We would rather put out products that people won’t be able to help but tell their friends about. So if you have feedback of any kind for us, please reach out tohello@rideparc.com. Thanks!
