Re:
FC - indeed broadly agree with you, and liked the days of browsing at bike jumbles, finding things which I wanted and others didn't and vice versa. Everything's gone weird right now, and I can't find things new, let alone secondhand. I need a new jump frame (three withdrawn from sale...) and some 100mm 20mm axle forks (none anywhere, even new) it's baffling, frustrating and expensive.
And on here, I still don't understand the whole Klein thing. I had a Klein, 1992-4. It was pretty dire actually, compared with the steel bikes I had (Orange, Marin) - they had much better geometry, ride quality and climbing ability. Quite pleased to see the back of it...