Honest question - what's so great about Kleins?

[Archangel]

For me back in the day, Kleins were the ultimate bikes.
Living in a small town in Finland, I had a summer job in the best bike shop in town. They had Nishikis, Mongooses, Haros, Cannondales and Kleins.
Most of the shops sold only some domestic ATBs and some had low-spec Specializeds like Hardrocks and low-level GTs.
Stumpies and S-Works bikes as well as Zaskars and Xizangs seemed to stay in the capital area.

I remember when I went to that LBS of mine in 1990 to buy my first MTB, a Nishiki Bushwhacker. The shop owner showed different other bikes, like Italian Carraro, etc. Then he showed a Cannondale M400, which cost few hundered Finnish Marks more than the Deore LX equipped Nishiki but was equipped with some cheap Suntour parts. He also mentioned that there's a much much more expensive aluminum bike in the back office and let me peek from the door. And there it was, a Dolomiti Attitude with crazy sloping toptube and flash paintjob. It was an immediate wow factor for me.
When almost all bikes around were steel framed, a huge diameter tubes of 'Dales and Kleins made them very distinctive indeed.

2 years later I bought a Cannondale M700 with aluminum Pepperoni fork. It was the closest thing to Klein I could get as a 15 year old kid. It rode nicely but was nothing compared to other summer trainee's Attitude XT with Backfire paintjob. In 19" it was long but low and with bona fide racer looks.
One other shop employee had a Dolomiti Attitude and since we used to do weekly rides together I got to ride than bike whenever I wanted. And boy was it fast but also very harsh. They guys with Amplifiers and Delta Vs / Super Vs were able to beat us rigid riders easily in the technical trails.

Still, the defining moment for me was seeing an advert of Tinker Juarez in MBA mag and there he was racing a Team Storm Adroit. From that moment on, I knew I had to own one some day.
Only in 2006 I was able to buy my first Klein and I got a chance to buy a proper racing Adroit in Team Storm a couple of years later.

In Kleins I love the flashy paintjobs, beautiful craftmanship and extraordinary (for the day) features. Because of my personal biking history, they will always have a place in my heart for them.

 

[Martin]

They do look nice and they do have a nice paintscheme. Also I like the looks of the frame/forks/barstemcombo.....

Unfortunately I cant say they ride that great. Have had some retrobikes (steel) wich rode way better. And besides that, I dont like the idea of cracking of some seattubes. For that reason I don't dare to trash my Attitude.

So are they great? Overall, I dont think they are.

cheers,
Martin

 

[kleinrenzo]

They do look nice and they do have a nice paintscheme. Also I like the looks of the frame/forks/barstemcombo.....

Unfortunately I cant say they ride that great. Have had some retrobikes (steel) wich rode way better. And besides that, I dont like the idea of cracking of some seattubes. For that reason I don't dare to trash my Attitude.

So are they great? Overall, I dont think they are.

cheers,
Martin

Shame on you

 

[jonrock]

1.I think theres a story that Kleins were'nt selling massively early on so they put the price up to make them more desirable

2.The painting was pretty revolutionary for me.They seemed pretty open to creative ideas.
'Hey lets put the paint on with sponges' 'Let do clouds and lightning'....etc
BTW the linear fades require a lot of skill to apply.I dont think Ive done one yet I'd say is 100% as good as theirs.
Why was gloss black so expensive? Ive no idea!

3.I love riding mine. I ride my Team Klein 5 days a week come rain or shine.
I wouldnt say the ride was extremely harsh. But thats what off road was BITD.

4.A lot of owners dont ride them in anger.Kinda sad really because they can take it.
I'd rather ride mine than sit there stroking it!

As Ive said before they sum up the 90's for me.
Superlight,Fat tubing,Neon paint.
I like the simplicity of the headset and BB something which has been taken on by other companies today

J

 

[Barneyballbags]

I owned a Klein Attitude about 12 years ago. I didn't know a hell of a lot about them then, but it was the look of the thing which got me. It was for sale (used) in my LBS so I traded my Parkpre Pro Image in for it.

Ride-wise, it was far too harsh for my liking (remember that I didn't know much about them), and it only lasted a few months before I swapped it for something else.

From an aesthetic point of view, there are very few bikes that can match the head-turning capability of a Klein, both from people who don't know anything about MTBs to people who do.

For me, though, that's pretty much where the speciality ends. I'd love to own another one however, and if I ever had the money lying spare in my Paypal account then I'd consider buying one. At least this time I'd be under no illusions that it would somehow ride better than anything else!

 

[suburbanreuben]

1.I think theres a story that Kleins were'nt selling massively early on so they put the price up to make them more desirable



J

Sorry, but I couldn't resist;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVvcD4Czx4Y

 

[24pouces]

I'm a lucky man because I own two klein.
I discovered this brand in the 1990 summer in a magazine. I felt in love two years ago for a cannondale for the big tubes and the compact geometry, like a BMX. In these years, many mtb you could find in France loked like road bike.
Klein and Cannondale are very near : the same 6061 aluminum and quite the same technology of heat treating (T6). Gary klein developped big aluminum tube before Cannondale. But Klein made first very cheap frame and he didn't sold them. He growed the price and many people wanted them. For Cannondale, things were different. They wanted to make cheap bikes. they becam expensive when they came in Europe.

The firs klein I saw in a magazine, was very compact, campy equiped : big tube, big brakes levers and neon colors ! The bike looks like a motorbike (it was before suspension came in mountain bike)
Some month later I could touch a klein and how litgh it was !!!

I bought my Attitude in 2006. It's a very cool bike for riding. OK, it's stiff, but on not so roughly trails, it's a very funny bike. Great climber (I have climbed the "Plateau de Beille" with slick tires and I took a lot of pleasure in downhill, it was a toy with a very secure feeling).
In mtb downhill, the bike is fine too, because of the very low geometry. The bike is stable and very precise.
Quite confortable. No comparison with modern suspension bike, but not so hard.

Klein is an amazing bike for me. My girlfriend rode with a little Pinnacle with a pace RC35. And she loves it.

We are lucky to own steel, and titanium bikes. Which are the best ?
It's a stupid question.
These bikes are so differents. I rode all my bike. Today is Merlin, tomorrow, the klein… It's like choosing a wine for eating : today is a Bordeaux, tommorrow, a Bourgogne or a Corbières !

 

[mooster]

For me, Kleins were always out of reach, but just looked so good. They were built to be light and fast and didn't do many lower end models which mean it would always be a bike I never had.

Would I have one now? No, they weren't designed to last 20 years and although they were possibly the best examples of lightweight aluminuim engineering BITD, the drawback is fatigue and the ever present possibility of cracks developing. So I'm in support of those who choose not to thrash them and maintain them in pristine condition as an example of beauty and engineering, while choosing to ride other bikes on the trails (e.g. steel framed Ritcheys!)

 

[guymuttley21]

Klein

Some interesting comments from pro and anti Klein bikers. It's a bit like supporting man. United(another debate) you'll always get strong opinions.

Anyway I am a very nostaglstic person. For me the 90's is my era, therefore I reminisce about being a teenager back then. I, like most bought other bikes that I could afford(Saracen trekker comp) but would read all the publications mbuk and the u.s. mags that contained exotica and dream bikes. My first sight of the Gary Klein ads obviously left a mark on me forever. Seeing tinker Juarez racing this dream bike was so cool.

Klein Ads were aspirational to me. My life moved on job,family, hardtails and full suspension bikes owned and sold, broken. For me Klein attitudes/rascals/adroits were discussed by me and my mate for over 15 years on and off. They were and are a unique bike, and no opinions will ever change that feeling. My chance to own a Klein attitude came last year through a well known website. Having never ridden a Klein I was somewhat nervous, would the images and feelings live up to the hype- for once yes. I own a full suspension orange and French free ride bike and now owned a nimble, light, accurate tracking bike.
I agree with those that say you take the rough with the smooth, it's a harsh unforgiving ride but a large diameter aluminium frame would ride any different? I now own two dolomite rigid Klein Dolomites and they for me are ridden(dry conditions) and the pride of my bike collection. Gary Klein is a legend to me.
It's about the paintwork, the anal attention to detail,what Klein means to me and my era- period.

 

[racer x]

Archangels Klein sums it up for me