Owner 500AMM - 1993 Klein Fervor

[manuelschafer]

Hello bikers!

This is my first post so why not start with an Owners Thread, and per the thread title I have a 1993 Klein Fervor in Nebula green paint scheme. I wouldn't call myself a purist, but I am a deep fan of Klein MTBs, their build quality, paint quality and history, and I guess it origins from the era when Klein was among the top notch brands back in the days. The Fervor is the predecessor for the Pulse and AFAIK it was offered for two years only, and it's not much info to find about the Fervor. In the Klein circles the Fervor may not be considered as the real bones, but sort of a cheap semi Klein, hardly worth much - this is about my bike and my 30 years ownership.

I started with MTBs in 1989 and the biking really took off during the following years. It was only in the terrain and my first bike was a Miyata Terra Runner, pretty oversized due to my lack of knowledge about MTB riding generally. Two years later I bought Miyata Ridge Runner, this time in correct size for my use. After another two years in 1994 I bought the Klein Fervor from a pro' rider & shop owner, it was just as new with no scuffs. A lot of riding had improved the technique and the Fervor was beaten up pretty hard from day one. After a few years all equipment was toast and it was due for a complete rebuild. The bike was stripped and everything was replaced and some minor corrosion spots were taken care of. The bike had a mix of Shimano Deore LX and XT when I got it, cantilevers of course, but now it was all in with XTR gear & their revolutionary V-brakes. But no .... - I didn't bore out the brake liner in the top tube, but fitted the tiny brake line adapter made for a V-brake conversion.

I put on a Syncros crankset, Syncros seat post, Selle Flite Italia Titan seat, XTR headset and replaced the bottom bracket bearings. The rigid front fork was already replaced with an early Marzocchi XC51 front suspension, but it was now replaced with the new Marzocchi Bomber Z1 BAM. .... I did a couple of mods which is hated today, when fitting the V-brakes I cut off the brake line bridge sitting at top across the seat stays, and the brake wire guide tube sitting under the MC1 handlebar. But hey, this was in 1998 on a 5 year old bike, a rider fully utilized for its build quality, and the development of MTB equipment evolved like a Japanese high speed train. So it was all about getting the sweet stuff on the bike you know.

Today, after thousands of kilometers in the woods proving its build & paint quality, the Fervor has retired carrying the memories in its patina, the rigid front fork is back on again, comfortable soft tires fitted, and it's rolling on the street - still on a daily basis.

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View attachment 865457

Super rad thread and brilliant in the way that the Fervor was holding up with even a Z1 or was it the = Z2,
Greetings from another Fervor ride.

 

[Wilou]

Nice detail info considered here,
for sure the red is unique among them..

Hello,

That's also my preferred color for this bike ! It almost seems like it was alive !

 

[500AMM]

Super rad thread and brilliant in the way that the Fervor was holding up with even a Z1 or was it the = Z2,
Greetings from another Fervor ride.

The main reason for choosing the Marcocchi Bomber Z1 was that they at the time still had a bolted steering tube in the crown. The early Kleins has a 1" steering tube and the headset, MC1 and all was made for that. But towards the end of the '90s almost all suspensions forks came with 11/8" or larger dia. steering tubes, so the choises was limited. But with Marzocchi and their bolted steering tube I could do neccesary mods to make it fit. So I got a Bomber with 11/8" steering tube and bought a separate 1" steering tube. Next I turned a steel sleeve with a press fit onto the 1" steering tube to increase the dia. to 11/8" to fit the crown, and voila it was plug & play! Later on I decided to cut a split in that sleeve to improve the clamping forces in the crown.

Just for posterity - the enclosed image showing the bolted set-up on the Marzocchi Bomber crowns.

 

[sam_white]

That's a nice cutaway of a Z1 fork - Looks like a used fork has been cut up. Crown and top caps look like a 97, brace is 1998 and aluminium steerer is unusual.

 

[500AMM]

That's a nice cutaway of a Z1 fork - Looks like a used fork has been cut up. Crown and top caps look like a 97, brace is 1998 and aluminium steerer is unusual.

The original steering tube on the Bomber Z1 I bought was also aluminium and it was made for aheadset. Still have that tube in my parts stash.