First Pix of my Klein Stage Comp T (1998)

Old Ned":1jaa456g said:

I knew about Cannondale's history. But there are other MTB makers (eg Kona?) who started making road bikes later?

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Sure - Kona, Marin, GT and others were primarily mtb makers who added a road bike or two to their range.

I think a lot of the perception is caused by the fact that brands like Cannondale, Klein and Trek only started to arrive in Europe in large numbers when the MTB boom happened. European manufacturers had previously had their domestic markets pretty well sewn up, while the Far Eastern manufacturers had been getting stronger and stronger on exports to the US during the (road) bike boom of the seventies.

When MTBs arrived on the mass market, import channels that hadn't existed before were opened up, and companies that were known primarily for their mountain bikes began to bring in road bikes too, often selling them through new dealerships opened up on the MTB wave. As the big MTB boom began to cool off, more emphasis was put on other styles of bike, maybe giving the impression of MTB manufacturers turning to road production.

i bought the groupset parts separately on ebay. was way cheaper than buying the whole set. think i paid around 550 Euros for the whole group.

regarding the general brand KLEIN. they were always classy, on road and dirt - until TREK bought them. Now they suck!

mauricer":1sstbf5d said:

i bought the groupset parts separately on ebay. was way cheaper than buying the whole set. think i paid around 550 Euros for the whole group.

regarding the general brand KLEIN. they were always classy, on road and dirt - until TREK bought them. Now they suck!

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that Stage was built long after Trek has bought Klein...

Carsten

then it sucks as well....... (but not mine)

I'm the proud owner of a quantum race, and it's klein built even if post trek - trek took over completely after 2001, I think that klein made kleins are still kleins - know what I mean?
concerning american made bikes, comparing my klein (1997 model) with a y2k tommasini fire, made in columbus foco top of the line steel, i can say the klein wins hands down!

sorry for the absence of block letters, but i'm holding my daughter - hopless dad!

i rode mine for the first time today and it was amazing. great bike.

that's the point...