When TREK bought & took KLEIN from "She"-halis, WA to WATERLOO, Wisconsin -(WIS-con-SIN) = Wisdom con Sin,
they probably hoped to transform KLEIN(small) into GROSS (big), but instead then KLEIN sank - became "Waterlooed" = NULL (0)
The purchase of KLEIN was neither a thing of Wisdom nor a Sin, but without doubt many Klein owners felt CON-ned,
due to the fact, that Klein from "She"-halis, WA had always postulated to give a lifetime warranty for each frameset...
(something like a one million miles warranty on each frame....)
instead of a lifetime, it became a very short amount of time, amounting to a couple years at best or just a couple months...
depending when the bike was bought.
The technical Pinnacle (PEAK) of Klein was probably in its 20th year Jubilee year 1995-
& then when sold to Trek in August 1995 the quality just started dropping at an alarming rate.
1985 - 1995 = huge advances (optical, quality, technical, etc)
Sept. 1995 - 1998 total decline in quality, reputation etc...
Parallels to cars:
Imagine wanting to turn the brand "ROLLS ROYCE" into a brand most people could afford without ruining the things ROLLS ROYCES are known for:
(very high quality, very good service, high price, exclusivity, status, etc....)
JUST(don't)DO IT!!
they probably hoped to transform KLEIN(small) into GROSS (big), but instead then KLEIN sank - became "Waterlooed" = NULL (0)
The purchase of KLEIN was neither a thing of Wisdom nor a Sin, but without doubt many Klein owners felt CON-ned,
due to the fact, that Klein from "She"-halis, WA had always postulated to give a lifetime warranty for each frameset...
(something like a one million miles warranty on each frame....)
instead of a lifetime, it became a very short amount of time, amounting to a couple years at best or just a couple months...
depending when the bike was bought.
The technical Pinnacle (PEAK) of Klein was probably in its 20th year Jubilee year 1995-
& then when sold to Trek in August 1995 the quality just started dropping at an alarming rate.
1985 - 1995 = huge advances (optical, quality, technical, etc)
Sept. 1995 - 1998 total decline in quality, reputation etc...
Parallels to cars:
Imagine wanting to turn the brand "ROLLS ROYCE" into a brand most people could afford without ruining the things ROLLS ROYCES are known for:
(very high quality, very good service, high price, exclusivity, status, etc....)
JUST(don't)DO IT!!