Diesel8810
Retro Newbie
1998 KLEIN MANTRA (basically Pre-Trek, or under Trek but still while Klein was operated by Klein in WA)
CUSTOM PAINTED BY KLEIN
SIZE MEDIUM
JADE CHAMELEON
Currently up on eBay starting at $299 but since this site requires a price lets just say I'll sell it right now for $1k usd
Okay, Heres the story... I had been a Klein lover while growing up and working at my local bike shop... Just about the time of the full suspension revolution I had 2 Klein hardtails and was waiting for Klein to come out with their FS bike... When they finally launched the Mantra I was excited that it was designed to be super stiff laterally and still climb like a Klein... The only issue I had was how boring and bland the paint schemes were (in comparison to their earlier stuff that I spent every penny on)..... So reluctantly I went ahead and bought a Klein Mantra Race (the race was the best choice as I could easily drop a King headset into it and have several fork options where the Pro had Klein integrated headset that limited fork choices) in RED... I upgraded almost everything on the bike and ended up riding the bike for about a year when upon a cleaning I noticed a small crack on the rear triangle up under the pivot... I immediately had KLEIN on the phone and they instantly informed me that this was a known issue with the 1997 Rear Triangles and said they would send me out a brand new 1998 Frame... Only thing was was that the 1998 (due to Treks cost cutting) would have a black rear triangle that would be common across the model line with all the Mantras in the near future... I told them that that was unacceptable as I had been dissapointed with color options as it was let alone having a cookie cutter color scheme... After a few minutes of explaining that this was my 4th Klein (as a 22year old) and the fact that I had recently won a Klein sales contest (as a mechanic non the less) they offered to paint my new frame ANY of their current color offerings and more importantly they would paint the entire bike not just the main tube... They said "NO WAY" to Rain Forest or Mardi Gras to match one of my two others... So I went with the most exotic color they had at the time PPG's Jade Chameleon that was offered only on the Quantum Pro road bike at that point.... The guy said that the frame would take a few weeks and congratulated me on my persistence... This is the same paint found on the Ford Mustang Mystic Cobra from around the same period...
SO as the story goes I ended up rebuilding my one Attitude and ended up riding that daily.. When I finally got my brand new Mantra frame it was so simply amazing I actually had it hanging on the wall in my College apartment until I could save up enough money to build it up custom with matching colored components... Fast forward a few months and I simply got out of riding and got into the world of german cars... I sold off all of my complete bikes and gave the Mantra frame to a friend to hold on to... The frame sat in his basement for the better part of 8 years until he called me and asked me to come and get it.... I went and picked it up and decided to build it up with junk components that I had left over in my parents beach house basement and leave it there so that I could ride it when I was in town... So here it is today.. Riden less than 100 miles and NEVER in the dirt... I am selling it as Frame / Rear Shock / Thompson Seat Post Only (you can have the mismatched Raceface cranks and most anything else if you would like as I am just trying to keep shipping costs reasonable)..... Flite Ti Seat is NOT included..
There is only one small chip on a cable stop under the main tube that must have occurred during storage and moving the last 14 years...
1998
Mantra Race
Medium
Custom Painted by Klein PPG's "Jade Chameleon" (Color change from Purple to Gray to Green depending on angle and intensity of the light)
Full color painted - No Tacky off colored Black rear Triangle...
New Barely ridden
CUSTOM PAINTED BY KLEIN
SIZE MEDIUM
JADE CHAMELEON
Currently up on eBay starting at $299 but since this site requires a price lets just say I'll sell it right now for $1k usd
Okay, Heres the story... I had been a Klein lover while growing up and working at my local bike shop... Just about the time of the full suspension revolution I had 2 Klein hardtails and was waiting for Klein to come out with their FS bike... When they finally launched the Mantra I was excited that it was designed to be super stiff laterally and still climb like a Klein... The only issue I had was how boring and bland the paint schemes were (in comparison to their earlier stuff that I spent every penny on)..... So reluctantly I went ahead and bought a Klein Mantra Race (the race was the best choice as I could easily drop a King headset into it and have several fork options where the Pro had Klein integrated headset that limited fork choices) in RED... I upgraded almost everything on the bike and ended up riding the bike for about a year when upon a cleaning I noticed a small crack on the rear triangle up under the pivot... I immediately had KLEIN on the phone and they instantly informed me that this was a known issue with the 1997 Rear Triangles and said they would send me out a brand new 1998 Frame... Only thing was was that the 1998 (due to Treks cost cutting) would have a black rear triangle that would be common across the model line with all the Mantras in the near future... I told them that that was unacceptable as I had been dissapointed with color options as it was let alone having a cookie cutter color scheme... After a few minutes of explaining that this was my 4th Klein (as a 22year old) and the fact that I had recently won a Klein sales contest (as a mechanic non the less) they offered to paint my new frame ANY of their current color offerings and more importantly they would paint the entire bike not just the main tube... They said "NO WAY" to Rain Forest or Mardi Gras to match one of my two others... So I went with the most exotic color they had at the time PPG's Jade Chameleon that was offered only on the Quantum Pro road bike at that point.... The guy said that the frame would take a few weeks and congratulated me on my persistence... This is the same paint found on the Ford Mustang Mystic Cobra from around the same period...
SO as the story goes I ended up rebuilding my one Attitude and ended up riding that daily.. When I finally got my brand new Mantra frame it was so simply amazing I actually had it hanging on the wall in my College apartment until I could save up enough money to build it up custom with matching colored components... Fast forward a few months and I simply got out of riding and got into the world of german cars... I sold off all of my complete bikes and gave the Mantra frame to a friend to hold on to... The frame sat in his basement for the better part of 8 years until he called me and asked me to come and get it.... I went and picked it up and decided to build it up with junk components that I had left over in my parents beach house basement and leave it there so that I could ride it when I was in town... So here it is today.. Riden less than 100 miles and NEVER in the dirt... I am selling it as Frame / Rear Shock / Thompson Seat Post Only (you can have the mismatched Raceface cranks and most anything else if you would like as I am just trying to keep shipping costs reasonable)..... Flite Ti Seat is NOT included..
There is only one small chip on a cable stop under the main tube that must have occurred during storage and moving the last 14 years...
1998
Mantra Race
Medium
Custom Painted by Klein PPG's "Jade Chameleon" (Color change from Purple to Gray to Green depending on angle and intensity of the light)
Full color painted - No Tacky off colored Black rear Triangle...
New Barely ridden
