A pulse of green energy. KLEIN, 1995

[Obi-Juan]

Well, this is another project in my style: no rush, lots of time
In this case maybe too much
I bought the frame in 2008, it's been a long time since then

Maybe because everyone loves Kleins, I'm less excited about them, I'm weird like that. But I admit that I love them and I remember Zulle from the O.N.C.E. team riding a white prototype that I fell in love with with the curved vertical tube to shorten the cage and make it more climbing, which made me buy one at the time

Edit: Because of the time that has passed, you may see some poor quality photos taken with Blackberry. They were great phones, but they took terrible photos.

 

[Obi-Juan]

One day I saw one for sale
Obviously I fell in love with it when I saw it because its deep forest green paint is a true work of art
It was also from '95, just after the change to Trek but still keeping its DNA: horizontal dropouts, gradient tubing, internal wiring...

But perhaps what convinced me was that it was a Pulse.
I remembered that in the forums you hardly saw Pulses and many were built with little care. It's as if their quality was not appreciated. Everyone wanted an Adroit or an Attitude and the poor Pulses were pushed to the side without any love

So I looked at the '95 catalogue, I saw that it was originally assembled with an XT 737. But I also saw that it was a bike with geometry prepared for a suspension fork... WOW, that gave a lot of logical options

 

[Obi-Juan]

The first thing I did was find a head set that matched the frame: a beautiful Syncros that I had since 1996 would be ideal.
The colour of the logos on the frame decided on the fork: a Judy XC
Of course I removed the bellows from the Judy: I've always hated them, the dirt gets inside, it accumulates, it forms a paste with the grease and creates a very harmful breeding ground for the seals

 

[Obi-Juan]

The Syncros headset is certainly fabulous, it gave me some great times and no problems...except that you have to be very careful when removing the crown from the fork when you uninstall it.
I also thought it appropriate to focus a little on the brand. But that will be later
If Klein is famous for his paintings, you cannot imagine the beauty of this color in its natural state. It is incredible
Yes, I have already mentioned many times that I love greens, but this one is especially beautiful. The quality of the finishes is exceptional.

 

[Obi-Juan]

The first problem came with the rims. I found some beautiful black Araya RM-395 NOS rims in a shop
I reserved them to go pick them up the following week and when I arrived they had used one!!! Incredible, they had put it on a piece of junk bike from a supermarket that had destroyed its own in a jump...and they sold it for 25€!!!!!! They charged me 50€ for each rim!!!! but people are just idiots. Well, as I have read Carlo M. Cipolla's essay: "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" I was not too surprised, there are stupid people all around us
In the end I took the one that was left (for 50€) and a set of RM-17 NOS but with 36 holes
And that had a negative effect on the project
I found a 36H Ringle front hub without too much difficulty. Then a beautiful blue anodized Hope. I removed the blue, anodized it black, changed the bearings, made the decals... and lost it
When I moved house it appeared again, just as beautiful. What a joy!! I packed it carefully and it was lost again. 4 years later I still haven't found it, one day it will surely appear, but it is clear that it was not for this project

 

[Obi-Juan]

Supongo que muchos de vosotros pensaréis que podría encontrar fácilmente un buen juego de XT, pero no me parecieron adecuados para este cuadro. Además, las ruedas y el cuadro son lo más importante para mí, el resto se puede cambiar sin dificultad.
En noviembre encontré un precioso y curioso buje trasero World Class de 36 h. con su eje y núcleo de titanio. Era caro, pero llevaba muchos años buscando algo y no me lo había planteado.
Podría haberlo convertido a negro, pero tal vez perdería su hermoso logo, así que el plateado está bien.
Gracias a esta época, también aparecieron unas preciosas llantas Matrix Mt. Titan. Pensé que sería divertido ponerle componentes Trek, así que las compré.
Radios conificados, cabecillas Wheelsmith verdes, pinchos Salsa Flip-Offs... tenemos ruedas, manos a la obra.

 

[Obi-Juan]

Well, I think the components were clear since I put the Syncros headset on. The seatpost was fine but needed new decals so I did them. The stem, also Syncros, I chose in a color that matches the handlebar. I originally wanted a Syncros, but the Titec Bontrager seemed more fun to me because I mentioned putting Trek elements on it as a reminder of what was to come
The fork was stripped and reconditioned and I attached the frame number: P029511

 

[Obi-Juan]

The groupset has been a headache, that's the bad thing about taking so many years, you change your mind a lot. First I thought about an XT 737, and making a stock build. I really don't like making stock bikes, I've already made a few and in the end it's a bike like any other that was sold, it's NOT my bike. Except for my first 2 bikes, I've always had a frame and I've made it to my liking. I also searched a lot for a Klein Stratum and it was really difficult to find one that wasn't cut or in a decent condition

So I thought about a Sram 9.0 Sl. Grip Shift is my weakness and it seemed like the chosen option. Well, another project is already underway where it will stay

Looking in the garage on a sunny winter day I found some XTR M900 cranks in a box. I searched more and the rear derailleur, 2 front derailleurs appeared... What!!!! When did I get an XTR??? I need to clean out the garage

It seemed like a lot of groupset for the Pulse, but I saw Klein's technical specifications and they gave the option of an XTR bottom bracket on the Pulse
Awarded, A good place to put the XTR

PS. I'm looking for a project for an XT 737 that is sleeping in a cardboard box

 

[Obi-Juan]

Ok, it wouldn't be my bike with a full XTR, I need something more!
Grip shift...of course, without a doubt. An X-Ray, which is why I have it stored
Brake levers: Some Kooka red anodized ones that I kept with love. One has really lost color, it looked ugly (although "Lola" loves them and I can't keep her away from them), it was necessary to remove the anodizing, so this is the ideal project for them in silver. I weighed them before and after the process, be careful! more than 2% of material goes away
The brake levers are not excessively powerful so the idea was to put brakes that were. Some Pedersen SE 2000.
As pretty as "fun" to adjust

 

[Obi-Juan]

The cranks were the hardest part. It's not easy to give up some M 900s, but I had some Syncros Near Net Forged with STD and they are so nice that I couldn't resist.
Also, if this had been my bike in 1995, I would have put them on sooner or later. By the way, we continue with the Syncros line of components (what a fabulous brand they were in the '90s).
I looked through my chainrings, maybe some Canadian Blackspire for Canadian cranks, Race Face, but in the end I thought it would be better to go all silver and I think that some Real and Vuelta USA are suitable.