The anti Klein brigade.

[Dr Dremel]

I remember seeing my first Klein frame in the window of our local bikeshop in 1988. This thing might as well have come from another world. We were used to the heavy, touring based mountainbikes, sometimes still called "ATB" and there it was hanging: Searing neon colour, fat tubes, modern geometry, and super light weight. It was the polar opposite to the then available bikes over here, I had to have it!

I rode the cr*p out of that thing, BMX tracks, gnarly downhills, took it all with a stride. I only managed to break it when a taxi hit me 3 years later. I had the cracks welded up (broken leg took a bit longer to heal) and continued using it, albeit mostly on the street now.

Granted, I´m more of a svelte build, but I never had the feeling they were fragile, let alone prone to frame snapping?! All the frames are from 6061 and heat treated properly, not like later frames with 7000series aluminium (Manitou, Marin, Yeti). AFAIK the only problem they have is cracks developing on the slit for the seatpost binder. Mine has them too, but most likely because I extended the seatpost far too much with my frame being a tad too small.

2 years ago I finallly found the same frame, this time in the right size, used, but not abused, no cracks on the seat binder. My most used bike atm (1500km and counting) and I see no reason why it should be treated gently. Is it stiff? Hell yeah, but the comparison with the oh so comfy steel frames is kind of mitigated with the advent of the full suspension MTB.

So I say: Nothing wrong with the bike (and I don´t know a single dentist with a Klein).

 

[kingoffootball]

I don't really have any experience of them. I would be interested to know how the failure rate compares to aluminium bikes from other manufacturers. From a distance, there are some thing I like (internal cable routing) and some I'm not keen on (the look of the thick tubes and some non-standard parts). I appreciate the paint jobs, but there's not many of them I would choose for my own bike.

I'd be interested to ride one and see how different it felt from the other aluminium bikes I've ridden.

 

[Woz]

Trust you woz to get down to the nitty gritty details
Just enjoy the paint yeah!

No thanks. Make and market an über light AL frame then add buckets and buckets of heavy paint? Stupid.

My foray into über light AL frames led me to one that was anodised - micron wafer thin ano.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

No thanks. Make and market an über light AL frame then add buckets and buckets of heavy paint? Stupid.

My foray into über light AL frames led me to one that was anodised - micron wafer thin ano.

An itch ive never scratched is the Uber light ally ...
And your right paint is heavy! My bonded trek lost around 65 grams when I polished it!

 

[Tsundere]

I don't really have any experience of them. I would be interested to know how the failure rate compares to aluminium bikes from other manufacturers. From a distance, there are some thing I like (internal cable routing) and some I'm not keen on (the look of the thick tubes and some non-standard parts). I appreciate the paint jobs, but there's not many of them I would choose for my own bike.

I'd be interested to ride one and see how different it felt from the other aluminium bikes I've ridden.

If you're ever passing through Northampton let me know, I'd gladly let you have a go on mine.

As for failure rate I doubt they perform any worse than other alu manufacturers on that front, one issue they have is the same that supercars have, whenever one ends up totalled a crowd forms and pictures are taken to be shared around with glee, you'll see more pictures of totalled Lamborghini's and Ferraris because everyone loves to dab on the rich, but you know they don't crash at a higher rate than any other cars.

Klein's are without doubt a polarizing brand which is actually great, anything that gets people talking about old bikes is a good thing, especially when it generates debate and disagreement, it's in these threads where I learn the most and find myself questioning my own assumptions and preconceptions. It's odd to be relatively indifferent to the brand while being an owner of a bike, having seen these types of discussions all over the internet since I recently began researching early Mountain Klein's for another project, you do see the very real strength of feeling that the subject inspires.

 

[mk one]

Personally i like Kleins, i see the point of them and would love to add a higher end model to my collection.

I suppose you need to remember that they were built as race bikes, to compete at the highest levels, of course that is going to result in compromise and maybe failures from experimenting with the latest innovations and ideas, and are built under the assumption that next seasons newer lighter faster models will be bought by the competitive riders.

As far as breaking, well yes, most manufacturers of the time who were experimenting with lighter and lighter materials and designs encountered faults, not just Klein, though to be fair, as is the case with just about everything in life, you rarely see threads on the tinternet saying how good something is, always how poor it is, there may be far more Kleins still being ridden today that have ever cracked, and a lot are still being ridden.

Also comparing the ride of a race bike to one made of a more compliant material designed for comfort is strange, the design is great at what it is designed for, acceleration. I like stiffer bikes for that reason along with lightness, just how i ride, all my bikes i tend to go for a rigid set up to float over the roots and rocks. One of the reasons i have ridden mostly steel frames is for the durability, which i can not afford to chance with alluminium frames, though if i was racing i would ride alluminium all the time and look for the stiffest lightest bike for any edge, which would have led me to a Klein back in the day. I do actually have my dream frame i lusted after when i dabbled in racing back in the day but like above i could not afford to just buy one frame that could possibly break after one season. Not surprisingly they also suffered from failure after a hard season of racing and i have not seen any others, i will be building it up one day but not riding it

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I was always mad at Jerry for the wall hanger. Then I learned it was actually Cosmo's.

 

[Imlach]

I'd love to have a Klein if anyone fancies donating one to me. I'd polish it, I'd kiss it, and then promptly put it on eBay, and buy some rideable, serviceable high end steel framed bikes and have a nap. All in a days work. But I'm not allowed to buy more things. So don't do this.

 

[hookooekoo]

Never really liked the look of Klein frames. I just don't like fat tubes. Give me a steel frame any day. Sorrynotsorry.

 

[Imlach]

Never really liked the look of Klein frames. I just don't like fat tubes. Give me a steel frame any day. Sorrynotsorry.

Don't worry about fat shaming, I'm proper fat in real life and I believe it is the only way we will get Kleins to start losing weight. Either that or I take the angle grinder to them.