Klein Performance

[allard]

Already owning a late eighties Klein Pinnacle i lusted after one of their road bikes. So i started scanning ebay for a nice specimen and after a month i stumbled on this frameset. The problem that arose was that the seller didn't want to ship to Europe so i asked Bushpig if he wanted to help which he kindly did, the fine man he is!
A few weeks later it arrived for me to discover that the paint was in a worse state than could be seen on the photos so i decided to strip it and make it raw. I chose the group set as a reminder of the roadbike i had in the eighties which was Shimano 105. The seatpost i had laying around and the rest i could buy cheaply.

The actual date of manufacture i can't pin down. It has some strange things happening which almost has me convinced it was a custom build. The paint was the orange of the fork. It only has a bottle mount on the down tube and the mounting points for a rack on the seat stays are missing.

Specs:
Frame: Klein Performance
Fork: Klein
Headset: Shimano 1055
Stem: Nitto Dirt-Drop
Handlebar: OnOne Midge
Bartape: Cinelli cork
Shifter: Shimano 1055
Brakelevers: Shimano 1055
Brakes: Shimano 1055
Seatpost: Nitto Specialized S-Works
Seat: Selle Italia Turbo
Hubset: Shimano 1055
Skewers: Shimano
Rims: Campagnolo Lambda Strada
Tires: Challenge Strada
Bracket: Klein
Crankarms: Shimano 1055
Chainring: Surly stainless 44
Pedals: Crank Bros Candy SL
Chain: Shimano
Cassette: No name 7 speed
Derailleur: Shimano 1055
Bottlecage: King stainless

 

[topbanana]

Looks very nice, the repaint looks very good.

Are you going to put the decals back on? What is it like to ride?

 

[allard]

Nah no decals for me they just don't matter to me and take away from the clean lines. The bike gets it's real test this week. I just finished it and haven't had the time to really take it for a spin...

 

[Ian Raleigh]

Nah no decals for me they just don't matter to me and take away from the clean lines..

Never liked bikes which have no decals and several years ago if you had a bike with no decals it was regarded as being stolen!
Not saying yours is but I remember being stopped by the fuzz because of no decals on my bland no name winter bike and
having to prove the bike was actually mine and not stolen at all :roll:

Love how the rear mech' cable goes into the chainstay

 

[Dead Rats]

beautiful frame and nice clean build... I'd go for Orange Klein decals personally, just to bring the forks in from out the cold

 

[bugloss]

That's mad.
Interesting fork crowns too. I would have imagined them to have had a more sloping top.
I always wanted a Klein mountain bike when I was living in Oregon but plumbed for a Cannondale M2000 which is still going strong

 

[allard]

Ian: Nah decals are not for me... Actually it depends on the bike... I can't imagine an old steel road bike without the paint and decals. And no it certainly isn't stolen! The only theft here are the costs for clearing it at customs...

Bug: At the end of the eighties and beginning of the nineties there hardly where sloped top tubed race bikes. Probably only Charlie Cunningham was really doing it. The TCR frames from Giant came later...
Klein was on the forefront of the use of aluminium for bicycle frames not for geometry...

 

[NeilM]

I really like the fact that you don't have any decals. Too often people jam the fact that it's a KLEIN in your face, and it rather detracts from the fact that it's a really nice looking and well made frame.

Yours is the reverse and I prefer it.