highlandsflyer
Retro Wizard
- Feedback
- View
All Kleins should be painted black. I see a bicycle, I want to paint it black. No colour anymore, I want them all turned black.
Honest question - what's so great about Kleins?
- Thread starter MiniNinjaRob
- Start date
- Feedback
- View
highlandsflyer":2qi0uedi said:
Yes, Kliens, black, work it, work it - YES!
- Feedback
- View
i just dont get it, to me they are just meh. Think it was the most recent Thetford ride where there were no less than 6 of the bloody things. Made my kona look rare
I always connected them with volvos and saabs for some reason, only thing i have ever heard about them is how harsh they are to ride
I always connected them with volvos and saabs for some reason, only thing i have ever heard about them is how harsh they are to ride
The first time I did see a Klein was a Dolomite Attitude back in '91 I think. Back then I didnt like them very much. I believed it to be too vulgar.
In those days I was into road cycling. I loved Italian road bikes like Pinarello and De Rosa..........and the greatest equipment was from Campagnolo. Big American bikes with Shimano was far from my dream at that time.
In '94 I started working in a bike shop and soon fell in love with mtb's. We sold KHS, Mongoose, Marin, Litespeed and many more. The high end Marin's and the KHS bikes was tempting to me but after trying them I was really disappointed because these Taiwan made steel frames were really bad compared to my Koga Miyata road bike.
I was also comapring them to the great hand made Italian bikes with fantastic Columbus tubes that were far stiffer and more responsive than KHS and Marin. So I bought a local brand alu bike instead with complete M737.....a great bike.
But then....someone introduced me to a Fat Yo Eddy and I was sold. For the first time I got to know what the "magic" was! So I decided I wanted a Fat. But since I had limited funds it remained just a dream at the time.
A friend of mine (the same one who showed me the Dolomite in '91) bought another Attitude and the later an Adroit.
..........Trying his bikes was a revelation!! Talk about magic!!
There is something so special about riding these bikes. If there is anyone who cannot recognize that feeling in a Klein....well I dare to say that a person like that is not a true biker. But this is about intuition. You have got to have a feeling for bikes in order to really appreciate it.
Then add to that feeling.....impressive craftsmanship, great innovation, beautiful paint jobs and a fantastic finish.........well, the sum of all that is the greatest bike ever built.
I longed for a Klein for many years after that but since I never wanted to own a post trek Klein it remained only a dream.....until this year....when I bought both a Fervor and finally an almost unused MC2 Attitude in painted desert.
....and my dream finally came true!!
In those days I was into road cycling. I loved Italian road bikes like Pinarello and De Rosa..........and the greatest equipment was from Campagnolo. Big American bikes with Shimano was far from my dream at that time.
In '94 I started working in a bike shop and soon fell in love with mtb's. We sold KHS, Mongoose, Marin, Litespeed and many more. The high end Marin's and the KHS bikes was tempting to me but after trying them I was really disappointed because these Taiwan made steel frames were really bad compared to my Koga Miyata road bike.
I was also comapring them to the great hand made Italian bikes with fantastic Columbus tubes that were far stiffer and more responsive than KHS and Marin. So I bought a local brand alu bike instead with complete M737.....a great bike.
But then....someone introduced me to a Fat Yo Eddy and I was sold. For the first time I got to know what the "magic" was! So I decided I wanted a Fat. But since I had limited funds it remained just a dream at the time.
A friend of mine (the same one who showed me the Dolomite in '91) bought another Attitude and the later an Adroit.
..........Trying his bikes was a revelation!! Talk about magic!!
There is something so special about riding these bikes. If there is anyone who cannot recognize that feeling in a Klein....well I dare to say that a person like that is not a true biker. But this is about intuition. You have got to have a feeling for bikes in order to really appreciate it.
Then add to that feeling.....impressive craftsmanship, great innovation, beautiful paint jobs and a fantastic finish.........well, the sum of all that is the greatest bike ever built.
I longed for a Klein for many years after that but since I never wanted to own a post trek Klein it remained only a dream.....until this year....when I bought both a Fervor and finally an almost unused MC2 Attitude in painted desert.
....and my dream finally came true!!
kleinrenzo
Retro Guru
There is something so special about riding these bikes. If there is anyone who cannot recognize that feeling in a Klein....well I dare to say that a person like that is not a true biker. But this is about intuition. You have got to have a feeling for bikes in order to really appreciate it.
Then add to that feeling.....impressive craftsmanship, great innovation, beautiful paint jobs and a fantastic finish.........well, the sum of all that is the greatest bike ever built.
1.000.000.000.000.000.000% agree on that... I like Fat Chances and Yeti's because of the cult status as well but the round shapes, fat tubes, inside cables, integrated headsets on a Klein makes any steel frame look the same (from a distance).
Almost every modern mtb these days has got integrated headsets, inner cable routing, BB30 like system, all things Klein used for the first time all together in one bike as well..... In 1989..
Then add to that feeling.....impressive craftsmanship, great innovation, beautiful paint jobs and a fantastic finish.........well, the sum of all that is the greatest bike ever built.
1.000.000.000.000.000.000% agree on that... I like Fat Chances and Yeti's because of the cult status as well but the round shapes, fat tubes, inside cables, integrated headsets on a Klein makes any steel frame look the same (from a distance).
Almost every modern mtb these days has got integrated headsets, inner cable routing, BB30 like system, all things Klein used for the first time all together in one bike as well..... In 1989..
kleinrenzo
Retro Guru
Klein
Basically the attraction is that they were really expensive and really cool BITD.
They got it right, made a frame that looked like nothing else, rode the fat alloy tube trend, had an impeccable finish and had good geometry.
I remember lusting after Kleins, you would very rarely see them on the trails but they were all over the mags and because they were just about out of the reach of the ordinary biker they were one of the most desirable.
The guys I met who rode them were always successful and stylish - Architects etc, so (as with Aston Martin cars) the desire to own one is not just the getting to ride the bike itself (which if we are being honest doesn't ride _that_ much differently to a saracen) but the whole image projected by owning the bike. I.e. people will associate me with a certain group of people and think I have those qualities.
Nowadays this has been inflated, they are really popular on the continent, american bikes with euro style. On here they seem to be inflated way beyond their original desirability. Something like a Yo Eddy is just as desirable to me but you don't see quite so many threads about getting an aquaface paint job spot on (nearly as many...)
Its like genuine herman miller chairs, its a lovely piece of design. Its probably no comfier than a knock off or the best chair from staples, its simply a nice objkect to have a around and use.
They got it right, made a frame that looked like nothing else, rode the fat alloy tube trend, had an impeccable finish and had good geometry.
I remember lusting after Kleins, you would very rarely see them on the trails but they were all over the mags and because they were just about out of the reach of the ordinary biker they were one of the most desirable.
The guys I met who rode them were always successful and stylish - Architects etc, so (as with Aston Martin cars) the desire to own one is not just the getting to ride the bike itself (which if we are being honest doesn't ride _that_ much differently to a saracen) but the whole image projected by owning the bike. I.e. people will associate me with a certain group of people and think I have those qualities.
Nowadays this has been inflated, they are really popular on the continent, american bikes with euro style. On here they seem to be inflated way beyond their original desirability. Something like a Yo Eddy is just as desirable to me but you don't see quite so many threads about getting an aquaface paint job spot on (nearly as many...)
Its like genuine herman miller chairs, its a lovely piece of design. Its probably no comfier than a knock off or the best chair from staples, its simply a nice objkect to have a around and use.
highlandsflyer
Retro Wizard
- Feedback
- View
I am willing to bet a large amount that given half a dozen bikes of equal(-ish) quality, weight, dimensions, geometry and contact points, most would struggle to single out the Klein.
The early ones were horrendously 'harsh', I used to use the largest volume tyres possible to work that out.
Sure they were very special, but let us not single them out in that regard to the detriment of the many amazing bikes in the same era.
Plenty of those were much more expensive, and cooler.
The early ones were horrendously 'harsh', I used to use the largest volume tyres possible to work that out.
Sure they were very special, but let us not single them out in that regard to the detriment of the many amazing bikes in the same era.
Plenty of those were much more expensive, and cooler.
Klein for me never turned me on, neither did/do Cannondales. Merlin Titanium, yes. Roberts D.O.G.S.B.O.L.X., yes, Pace RC100, yes. Diamond Back Axis TT, yes.
Don't know why, just the way it is. My mate, who was my best man, has a 97 Attitude, and I'm helping him bring it up to the spec it deserves, although he's going with disc brakes, which I'm not sure I agree with, but it's his bike. Once it's riding, I'll have ago, until then, I can't comment on how they ride. To me it's just a fat tubed bike, which I never took to.
Don't know why, just the way it is. My mate, who was my best man, has a 97 Attitude, and I'm helping him bring it up to the spec it deserves, although he's going with disc brakes, which I'm not sure I agree with, but it's his bike. Once it's riding, I'll have ago, until then, I can't comment on how they ride. To me it's just a fat tubed bike, which I never took to.
