The anti Klein brigade.

[vtwinvince]

The only Klein I ever had was an early 90's Team Super, a fantastic bike which I wish I still had.

 

[Prodigal Son]

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

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.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Wait, where were all you vocal Klein haters when I got ripped a new one for saying I hated them once too often?

And that they were for rich dickheads with sneaker collections and Nespresso machines.

I didn't actually say that last bit.

Should have tho!

I joke, I joke. Some of them are actually nice. Some of the people that buy/ride them are actually nice too!

(Mountain Klein over just Klein any day though, right?)

Anyway, where were you all?

I was alone.

And afraid.

And now there's a whole thread for us!

 

[joglo]

Hi,

Some of them are actually nice. Some of the people that buy/ride them are actually nice too!

Can't agree more.

Personally, I was trying to stay a bit away of any kind of Klein bikes, now for almost 30 years, because some of the buyers, at least some of the original buyers back-in-time, had been a specific type of person or character I'm not looking up a lot. Sometimes rather not interested to buy a great ride for sports activities but to buy something to raise attention or polishing an image.
Anyway, instead of starting a fight, let me share a nice picture, hopefully for a laugh.
From an underwear brochure from 1995, to me those guys look like a dentist and his wife, would you agree?
Of course the accessorizes have to fit to this scenario

 

[d8mok]

I’ve never understood the dentist joke. They earn decent money but not that much compared to many other professionals or business owners.

 

[eri]

I’ve never understood the dentist joke. They earn decent money but not that much compared to many other professionals or business owners.

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.

 

[d8mok]

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

 

[eri]

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

At least around where I live the correlation is uncanny - which is why it’s a long running joke.

Back to Klein… I rode a string of pinnacles and a rascal for 5 years in early 90s. I was a strong climber and loved their light weight, low top tube and stiffness. They beat the snot out of me on descents though. In hindsight they weren’t so great for all day comfort. We’d do all day trips in the cascades and remember having to stop frequently on descents because my hands had no feeling. I never had a frame break.

There’s a ton of bikes I’ll kick shade on, I flat didn’t like their geo, high weight or how they rode yet people spent big bucks on them, steel yeti for example were terrible bikes. Klein served me well even if in hindsight they were just too punishing.

 

[mk one]

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.

I think back then most manufacturers raced, looked for an edge, made lighter stiffer bikes. For a race bike alluminium made a lot of sense to me.

 

[Jamesbike]

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

You calling me a dentist!!

My teeth certainly show I'm not!