Honest question - what's so great about Kleins?

MiniNinjaRob

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I started thinking about this after reading the similar question about Ritchey bikes.

BITD me and my buddies never even thought about Kleins. If we dreamed about the super bikes we might own it would be Manitou, Yeti, Pace, Salsa, Cannondale, Mountain Goat or some of the Brit custom steel frame builders. This was because this what was in local shops, amongst other brands, and maybe in the mags too. I was aware of Klein but dont think I'd ever wanted one.

So here I am now on this site and there seems to be an almost religious following of the Klein brand. Obviously this can't be for no reason, but I'm struggling to find out why. In my eyes, they are just expensive paint jobs that people daren't ride for fear of reducing their value. This view is narrow minded and based on no evidence apart from posts on here.

So please answer these questions honestly:

1) Why were they so expensive BITD? What's so special about the frame construction that made them so expensive? Are there things Klein did before anyone else?

2) Why are the paint jobs held in such reverance? A couple of them like night storm for instance are stunning, but the fade jobs are fade jobs. Not difficult to a pro paint sprayer, surely? And why one earth was the gloss black paint job recently shown on here so expensive an option? Surely it should be cheaper than a fade?

3) How do they ride? Are they a lot different from other bikes? The design and the tubing suggest to me that they are ridiculously stiff and harsh - are they? Or is there some subtle handling trait that makes them ace? Are they only racers bikes?

4) I may be wrong, but is there a larger percentage of Klein owners that won't ride their bikes off-road or at all? If there is and they are so great then why? Are they too delicate, or is it that people don't want to reduce their value?

Some of the above may apply to other brands too but after having a good lurk around the Klein threads these questions have come to mind.

I am hoping (probably beyond reasonable expectation) that this will be a gentlemanly thread with some real answers found. If it turns into a slagging match all that will happen is that you'll look like a prat and the thread will be locked, which won't help me or anyone else who have thought the same as me.

Thanks!
 
Nor me. Saw a couple at the Turkey Twizzler and i didn't get what all the fuss is about, now or back then. Much preferred the skinny tubed Diamond Back Axis or the Rocky Mountains that i saw.
 
Nor me. Saw a couple at the Turkey Twizzler and i didn't get what all the fuss is about, now or back then. Much preferred the skinny tubed Diamond Back Axis or the Rocky Mountains that i saw.
 
Ha - just posted in the BOTM thread that they are something of a mystery to me too. I said it's funny that while I've never aspired to own or even ride a Klein, they do look pretty special to me. I couldn't say why that is, probably becuase I like things that are a bit different, even if it's just for being different's sake. In a world where most bikes looked remarkably similar the kleins with fat tubes, forks, and mental paint jobs must have stood out a mile.

Like the OP, as someone without experience of riding one, I'd genuinely like to know if there's more to it than that and the ride was as remarkable as the looks.
 
hand-grenade.jpg
 
Ok, my genuine tuppence ha'penny worth (I'm old, it's relevent! :oops: )

At the Malverns in '92 the bikes that stood out for me were the Yates,' one of the first 'd.o.g.s.b.o.l.x.' (it was white and you couldn't get Dave Hemming off it!), and the Dolomite Klein...

In a way the Kleins looked better then than they do now; perhaps it's the old 'familiarity breeds contempt' phenomenon? BiTD however they were out and out race bikes.

I don't think I'd want one to ride (too damn stiff for me!), but I do think they are works of art (very aesthetically pleasing)... :cool:
 
i feel a bit like that too rob
rode a couple but just found them .... well plain
should have maybee looked at them a bit more ,soak up the details
 
Rumble is hitting the nail.

If all the bikes you see are skinny tubed steel frames when you see a Klein for the first time it really makes you go wow, or at least WTF.

Now that the vast majority of modern bikes are fat tubed aluminium frames skinny tubed steel has the wow factor.

I wouldn't buy one now, for a couple of very good reasons, but I remember the first one I saw in my lbs in the classic colours in the very early 90's and it still has some kind of hold over me.
 
This subject has been covered more times than Jenna Jameson's face.....

The start for me was 1990 when the Dolomite Attitude (white/green/pink) was released, looked like no other bike i have ever seen, and i thought one day i will have one, 17 years later......

Fat tubes, lairy paint jobs, mission control bar/stem, internal cable routing, squared chainstays, oversized b/b and headsets etc......

They climb and handle great, but yeah are abit stiff, but i'm always smiling when i'm riding one.

I guess they are like marmite, love or hate them.
 

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