boy"O"boy's 1990 Klein Attitude Dolomite/ Team USA/ Mavic build

boy"O"boy

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Back to 1990...this bike to me was the stuff of dreams. I blame that picture in Richards Ultimate bicycle book....Aesthetically perfect, instantly recognised, you couldn't mistake the 'Dolomite' or 'Team USA' colourway for anything else.
If you could afford to build one of these with a dream spec, you had it sorted.

In 1990, I was ready to trade up my Bickerton Mean Green to something special. By 1991, the Orange Aluminium 'O' was firmly in my sights. There was no chance of affording a custom specced Klein Attitude....and even if I did have that sort of money, it would have been spent on a pastel coloured Cal - Look beetle with Empi rims.

I'd never actually seen one in the metal until Mountain Mayhem 2006....and although it looked amazing, financially it was still well out of reach. My renewed enthusiasm for retro had got me thinking about recreating my Aluminium 'O' anyhow, but the impression of that Klein never left.

Fast forward to December 2019.
I've been following ads for Klein Attitude dolomites for several years but it's the same story....they either sell quickly, are the wrong size, or I don't have the money at the time.
Then Retrorider_IT posts a FS ad that grabs my attention. Right bike, Right size, Right time.....and after a fantastic transaction with my mate Marco, I was now the owner of a personal unicorn.

Usually, I buy projects that require research and complete restoration to bring them back to catalogue spec, but this time, the Klein was a bit of a departure.
The paint was perfect, the Klein specific parts complete. All I had to do was to plan a build and put it together. It still took 2 months to decide what I wanted to do though.

There several Dolomite builds out there already that are exemplary, so I wanted to do something period but different.
I've already done XC pro, campagnolo, XT and DX builds....but I've always liked the Aesthetic of the Mavic groupset, that full page yellow advert in MBUK/MBi etched in the memory. Combine elements of the Richards Ultimate bicycle book such as the Syncros Pro Post and the Cook Bros cranks...a plan was decided.
I'd kept the wheelset from my long gone Aluminium Elite build and promised myself that if I was ever in the fortunate position to own a Dolomite, these would be the wheels. I quickly decided however, the hubs should be better suited to the other components, so opted for black bullseye hubs and Ringle skewers.
I also have a Mavic Dakar wheelset at hand should I want complete the groupset.

Big thanks to
- Retrorider_IT for the initial sale as well as all of the Mavic parts for this build. Cheers mate!
- Synlos for the seatpost and whatjamacallit's needed to run the brakes
- kokies for the bullseye hubs
- thesneaker for the speed controllers.

None of my threads would be complete without a few magazine scans....
So here's some inspiration from back in the day and the review of the Klein Attitude in MBi November 1990.

Pics coming.....
Ultimate Bicycle book Klein.jpeg image.jpg MBUK_APR_91_capital cruise1.jpeg MBUK_APR_91_capital cruise2.jpeg MBUK_APR_91_capital cruise3.jpeg MBi August 1990 Klein Attitude  1.jpeg MBi August 1990 Klein Attitude  2.jpeg MBi August 1990 Klein Attitude  3 (1).jpeg
 
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Will add a build spec in due course. The only thing I'd change is the levers. Still on the hunt for a pair of Kooka Racha cantilever type in black.....I've got Gold but I'm reluctant to get these anodised in black as the condition of them is very nice.

Cheers
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Well that was short and sweet Ben! Nice that you've done something a little different to the norm in terms of spec.

It's definitely a departure from my usual choice but I've always had a soft spot for an Attitude too, only in this colour though. We didn't stock Kleins where I worked but we did have one of these hung up at the front of the shop. We'd get it down and drool over it from time to time. My mate (the only one of us who was in full time employment back then) spent a whole night awake, while we were camping, deliberating over whether or not he should buy it. He didn't! Ahhh nostalgia :)
 
Absolutely stunning, also a bike I’d love to own one day but for all your reasons never have!

Credit for the superb photography also, pics are super-sharp and the vibrancy of the paint really come across… top-class stuff 😎

I’d be tempted to swap out the Syncros post for a Mavic 330 though…. 😋
 
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:cool: One of my unicorns too.

Looks in fantastic condition, the spec i really cant fault either, even in a size up from preferred size it still looks good. Nice little article/review too.

Great build Ben 👍
 
That’s perfect. Great job. :cool:
Thanks Pete. Cheers 👍

Well that was short and sweet Ben! Nice that you've done something a little different to the norm in terms of spec.

It's definitely a departure from my usual choice but I've always had a soft spot for an Attitude too, only in this colour though. We didn't stock Kleins where I worked but we did have one of these hung up at the front of the shop. We'd get it down and drool over it from time to time. My mate (the only one of us who was in full time employment back then) spent a whole night awake, while we were camping, deliberating over whether or not he should buy it. He didn't! Ahhh nostalgia :)

Thanks Adrian.
Yeah....not my usual researched and step by step restoration on this one. Might add some pics along showing the wheel build but Marco sold me an absolute belter, so with this one....I've built it to a spec I would have gone over and over in my head or school exercise book BITD!
Can imagine your working mate agonising over buying one....head vs heart vs bank balance!
Glad you like it! 👍

Absolutely stunning, also a bike I’d love to own one day but for all your reasons never have!

Credit for the superb photography also, pics are super-sharp and the vibrancy of the paint really come across… top-class stuff 😎

I’d be tempted to swap out the Syncros post for a Mavic 330 though…. 😋
Cheers velofrog!

Not so sure on the photography....it's a really difficult colour scheme to capture with a camera phone. The transition between the white and green in the pics still looks a bit 'blurry' ....it's much nicer than that in the paint! The magenta is a pretty good match though.
These were taken on a cloudy day....on a sunny day it looks like the magenta has faded. 🤔

Tempted to try one of those Mavic posts but the 1st image from the ultimate bicycle book is etched in my mind as dream build.....plus this one from Synlos is an absolute work of art. Really nice attention to detail on these reproductions.

:cool: One of my unicorns too.

Looks in fantastic condition, the spec i really cant fault either, even in a size up from preferred size it still looks good. Nice little article/review too.

Great build Ben 👍
Thanks Mark.👍
Appreciated. Glad you like it.

Unicorns.....

Out of interest to visitors to this thread, which of these would you have opted for had the bank balance allowed BITD?

Both are Aluminium
Both are roughly the same weight built
Both are Icons...

Pick one!

Cheers
boy"O"boy

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Now that is a tough choice, for me anyway.

The Klein is just a thing of beauty, but i have always been drawn to the square tubes of a Pace for some reason. BITD i would have probably gone for the Klein because, well, look at it, the Pace would have always still been on my mind though. If i could have one now? probably the Pace.
 
Lovely

(if you want more you should’ve posted a longer thread🤣🤣)
 
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