utahdog2003
Senior Retro Guru
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I have no interest in collecting a slew of bikes...I just want to get back the three really great bikes that I've owned over the years...the ones that fit my style.
I like tight trails. The tighter the better, light trials style, lots of technical goodness, and not much call for air. I don't do air well on the trail. If I'm in the air, its because I've done something horribly, horribly wrong! I've had three bikes in my 20 years of off-road riding that have been nothing short of superb. They might not be everyone's superb, but these three trail bikes, the holy grails of Utahdog-dogma, are the cats niblets in my book.
My white EWR is well documented here, so I won't go into that one, but if you ever get the chance...ride an original EWR! Do it!
The Cannondale Beast of the East. Poke fun all you want about Cannondales. Do they creak? Sure! Are they Pontiac Trans-Am geeky? Hell yeah! Was the Super-V not the ugliest thing ever made? You Bet! But the Beast of the East, with it's 13" BB and feather weight is a thing of beauty on a tight trail. Ride one with finesse, and you'll never look back.
Finally, the reason why I'm posting this thread...The Klein Rascal. You Attitude and Adroit guys can keep them. Rascals share the same geometry with their upscale stablemates, and hell, but for the headtube, the Rascal IS an Attitude! But here's the goodness...a normal headtube. Sure it's one inch, and threaded to boot, but Chris King still makes that size! Deep Klein paint, fantastic weld-work and finishing, horizontal drops, internal cables. Built up right, and the Rascal will satisfy like, in my opinion, no other Klein before or since. Yeah, I've ridden a slew of them, and I'll stick to that.
And now, after selling my '92 in disgust after a bad wreck on concrete and an unfortunate Trek buy-out, I'm back with a Rascal.
Build will include a blue SDG saddle and Altek levers (because hey! ALL my bikes have Alteks and SDGs!) and I've got a NOS Paul Blue Balls seat bolt, but beyond that, my plans for the frame are evolving...right now I'm keeping it in my bed. I sleep on the floor. :shock:
PICS!
I like tight trails. The tighter the better, light trials style, lots of technical goodness, and not much call for air. I don't do air well on the trail. If I'm in the air, its because I've done something horribly, horribly wrong! I've had three bikes in my 20 years of off-road riding that have been nothing short of superb. They might not be everyone's superb, but these three trail bikes, the holy grails of Utahdog-dogma, are the cats niblets in my book.
My white EWR is well documented here, so I won't go into that one, but if you ever get the chance...ride an original EWR! Do it!
The Cannondale Beast of the East. Poke fun all you want about Cannondales. Do they creak? Sure! Are they Pontiac Trans-Am geeky? Hell yeah! Was the Super-V not the ugliest thing ever made? You Bet! But the Beast of the East, with it's 13" BB and feather weight is a thing of beauty on a tight trail. Ride one with finesse, and you'll never look back.
Finally, the reason why I'm posting this thread...The Klein Rascal. You Attitude and Adroit guys can keep them. Rascals share the same geometry with their upscale stablemates, and hell, but for the headtube, the Rascal IS an Attitude! But here's the goodness...a normal headtube. Sure it's one inch, and threaded to boot, but Chris King still makes that size! Deep Klein paint, fantastic weld-work and finishing, horizontal drops, internal cables. Built up right, and the Rascal will satisfy like, in my opinion, no other Klein before or since. Yeah, I've ridden a slew of them, and I'll stick to that.
And now, after selling my '92 in disgust after a bad wreck on concrete and an unfortunate Trek buy-out, I'm back with a Rascal.
Build will include a blue SDG saddle and Altek levers (because hey! ALL my bikes have Alteks and SDGs!) and I've got a NOS Paul Blue Balls seat bolt, but beyond that, my plans for the frame are evolving...right now I'm keeping it in my bed. I sleep on the floor. :shock:
PICS!
