walleater":1sdy438r said:
I used to drool over Kleins BITD just like everyone else, but I don't really get the snobbishness. Manitou and Pace brought out way more innovative bikes around the same time, that still have features found in modern bikes (Aheadsets (albeit switched upside down), wider hubs, asymmetric rear triangles, wider bottom brackets, blah blah blah. Klein had an archaic steerer / stem combo but just bigger, annoying rear facing horizontal dropouts, crappy chainstay bridges that held mud etc etc. I wouldn't say no to a backfire Pinnacle but I just don't get the willy waving that comes with the brand.
Have you ridden a DBM??? How about an Adroit/Attitude? Having both bikes as frequent riders the Adroit outshines the DBM any day of the week. Lighter, more agile, stiffer, better climber. Maybe-maybe the DBM is more stable at high speed, but just by a bit.
I am a huge fan of DB and think he had some great innovations and was way ahead of his time. Agreed on the hub axle length, BB length YES. DB didn't innovate the aheadset BTW, don't know where you're getting that notion from. But his bikes are not as exciting to ride as a Klein, plain and simple.
However saying that Klein had this archaic headset is very ignorant. Have you seen a modern Cannondale, Specialized??? Have you looked at their headsets?? What do they remind you of???
On another note Klein was building Aluminum mountain bikes on a production scale when DBM was cranking out 50-60 a year and Pace was a word used to describe speed and velocity, not the name of a bike company. So to say they didn't lead innovation in the Al frame bike market is simply ignorant.
