1998 Klein Mantra Pro - Blue Koi

Hi - Enjoy posts on the retro bikes here on this site. Here is my recently re-acquired Klein Mantra. Very clean example.


1998 Klein Mantra Pro (Large) Blue Koi
-Replaced Sram ESP 9.0 with XTR M952's
-Decals on rear dropouts are a reasonable copy but not original.
-Chris King Hubs
-Ringle Skewers (Nice Jewelry)
-Race Face Atlas 175 MM Cranks
-Thompson Seatpost and Stem

Live in downtown Tampa FL so mostly relegated to street riding.

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Love it! still yet to own one, but I will one day

awesome bike, but someone told me that rear suspension doesn't work well in mantra... it's more fashion than function... is that true?

snack":1ebkbfhc said:

awesome bike, but someone told me that rear suspension doesn't work well in mantra... it's more fashion than function... is that true?

Click to expand...

This bike works extremely well when seated and acts like a hardtail (URT design) when standing. Due to this fact it is not ideal at all for going down-hill. I find it works quite well off-road and seated. These URTS get bashed a lot from the down-hill folks but is was never really designed for that purpose. Now, I ride on pavement. It is less than 25.5 pounds which makes it lighter than my wife's Gary Fisher hardtail.

Pretty bike. I have a blue Comp with zero miles on it. It's built up but never ridden. Too many bikes to choose from but love Koi as a color option.

I have owned several of these and currently own two. What I have done is replace the rear shock with a Fox CTD (Climb- Trail-Desent) with remote lockout and put longer travel forks on the front. This greatly improves the performance of these bikes.

Here is my current Mantra project:
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=322083

addicted":3ni6kync said:

I have owned several of these and currently own two. What I have done is replace the rear shock with a Fox CTD (Climb- Trail-Desent) with remote lockout and put longer travel forks on the front. This greatly improves the performance of these bikes.

Here is my current Mantra project:
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=322083

Click to expand...

Very nice bike you have and picked up for a nice price.

When you say longer travel front shock do you mean longer rather than longer travel?

I thought I read over the years that these actually worked best on fairly short-ish travel forks?

The original design had a non suspension fork but they realized that design would be difficult to market.

ponti33602":1p0klp7x said:

addicted":1p0klp7x said:

I have owned several of these and currently own two. What I have done is replace the rear shock with a Fox CTD (Climb- Trail-Desent) with remote lockout and put longer travel forks on the front. This greatly improves the performance of these bikes.

Here is my current Mantra project:
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=322083

Click to expand...

Very nice bike you have and picked up for a nice price.

When you say longer travel front shock do you mean longer rather than longer travel?

I thought I read over the years that these actually worked best on fairly short-ish travel forks?

The original design had a non suspension fork but they realized that design would be difficult to market.

Click to expand...

I found longer travel works better because one of the characteristics of this bike was for it to stink bug. Kind of scary on steep declines. The longer fork gets the nose up. Suspension shock design has also greatly improved with the addition of air adjusting to stiffen the ride. As you stated above ,people always compare these to downhill bikes and they are not. If they were, the head angle would be more relaxed.
I have seen another Mantra were the guy put a 29 on the front and 26 in the back. It looked pretty cool.

I just read your opening about where you live :facepalm: Not many hills to worry about in florida. I would keep it as is

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Very nice like it a lot lovely colour!