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My experience with cycling while still fairly young at 5 years has included early aluminum frames, modern hydroformed aluminum, 90's lugged Columbus SL steel, aero carbon (Cervélo), lightweight carbon (SuperSix Hi-Mod) and some entry level carbon bikes. I've also had an opportunity to test out the Canyon Aeroad, Trek Madone 9.
I'm not a fan of aluminium, they're harsh and I am not a fan of hydroforming an alloy tube to look like carbon. Not all carbon bikes work for me either, some are too "dead" and I like a little feedback like my Cervelo S3. The best riding bike I've ever been on though is my Basso Gap but that was mostly due to the 28h box section wheelset which I figured out after switching to Zonda's.
Earlier this year I built a gravel bike starting with a 2018 Giant TCX frameset to be a road or gravel setup with wheelsets dedicated to each discipline. What I found with the road setup (Stan's Avion Pro Wheelset + 25mm Schwalbe Pro One's inflated to 58psi) was that it was almost as capable during a tempo training session as my Cervelo S3 allowing me to average a pace almost as fast and I set PRs on a few different climbs despite this TCX being 1kg heavier than my S3. The experience reminds me of a cyclingtips podcast from last year where they discussed frame stiffness with Jan Heine, I would suggest looking it up.
Long story short, many factors contribute to feel, comfort, and performance but there isn't one bike that's better than another just the right bike for the right rider. Of all that I've read of the Parlee Z5, this or the Altum is on my shortlist of bikes to try next.
Good luck with your journey.
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