@fguki:
Sorry, unfortunately you are totally wrong:
Vintage Klein bikes breaking is not the most stupid thing at all.
Be informed, do your research, read = be knowledgeable!
If you're choosing to be ignorant or have half knowledge, then that's your choice, but do not pretend to know, if you clearly don't.
Why (for example) the boxed fork, with square head was discontinued after 1991....guess why? Because they broke very often. It was also the same reason why FUNK bikes changed to round heads in 1992.
Back to Kleins:
Other areas on the frames prone to breaking - were seat tube area near the top, on the rear, headset area and others.
Kleins 6061 T-6 tubing (used with Kleins until late 1993), which btw came from a large plane builder, was unfortunately not that strong and prone to break, especially with bikes from 1990 - 1993.
@fguki: Read on the subject, do your research, inform yourself, talk with many who have owned various Kleins who have really driven them offroad, not just put them on a wall or driven around the corner to impress their neighbors. You will then have to acknowledge that (unfortunately) all mentioned points are 100% correct.
Klein's were a massive part of the local racing scene when I was a Youth/Junior rider. The group of young riders from Croydon that were always at the front (Humphries and Hemmings usually off the front) were picked up by Klein. I would smash my way around the Southend and County Wheelers' Winter Series getting thrashed by these guys every few weeks on their Dolomite Attitudes. As someone mentioned earlier, Hemming took his to a silver in the junior downhill in Durango, so they must handle reasonably well. So, in my mind they have always been associated with racing and performance. Unlike Cannondale I have never seen a Klein frame failure at a race.
I couldn't afford one as a junior and really didn't understand how anyone could; but would I like a Dolomite Attitude now? OMG yes.
Precisely.Even on the road side, the steel 753 tubeset was intended for race grade and to be retired after a few seasons / races even of being thrashed. The 753 ATB tubeset seems rather rare. It's just daft to think these uber light frames regardless of material were built to be eternal.
@fguki:@24pouces
Oh wow...one KLEIN frame cracked. Can you please provide whats the average failure rate of KLEIN MTB frames per thousand? Compared to Manitou, Cannondale, later Yetis or other Aluminium manufacturers in general.
Its not about lurid examples from the net or magazines. Its about pure and dry statistics - lets say per thousand - or ten thousand of manufactured frames. How many cracked?
And again: KLEIN frames were definitely not certified as being "prone to cracking". There are many other brands or products that were!
@biker23
Were talking about frames here. And you are arguing like a 14 year old. Just the fact, that neither the boxed fork of KLEIN or FUNK cracked (5 of 1.000) dont make the brand prone to cracking in general.
It is simply "stupid" to take out one fact of a peripheral part that was changed after 1 year and categorize the whole brand as "they crack" and simply stubbornly stick to your argument. *lol*
I am not any kind of "fanboy" of KLEIN. I do have a lot to criticize. But its simply dumb to completely overgeneralize ...
Sorry