vtwinvince
Senior Retro Guru
The only Klein I ever had was an early 90's Team Super, a fantastic bike which I wish I still had.
Never rode a Klein but always thought Yetis were the racing bikes.. and breaking bikes as well. I had the impression Kleins were technical trail bikes, climbers, slow speed trail where precision and brutal acceleration are the main qualities a bike should have. Descending at high speed is not made for a Klein. They are woods bikes.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
Can't agree more.Some of them are actually nice. Some of the people that buy/ride them are actually nice too!
It’s because they work short hours and then recreate. I guess they’re smart for finding a gig like that. Out on the trails at 11am you see a small group of fit 40yo on 10k mtb it’s always dentists.I’ve never understood the dentist joke. They earn decent money but not that much compared to many other professionals or business owners.
At least around where I live the correlation is uncanny - which is why it’s a long running joke.Always might be a bit strong……
So if someone is in shape, actually out riding , and has a decent bike they are a dentist.
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Never rode a Klein but always thought Yetis were the racing bikes.. and breaking bikes as well. I had the impression Kleins were technical trail bikes, climbers, slow speed trail where precision and brutal acceleration are the main qualities a bike should have. Descending at high speed is not made for a Klein. They are woods bikes.
You calling me a dentist!!Always might be a bit strong……
So if someone is in shape, actually out riding , and has a decent bike they are a dentist.
Gotcha