My first Klein.
Bought this bike a few weeks ago but only just got around to collecting it. The seller was from West Yorkshire and he used to race for Specialized and Klein BITD, now he deals in them, this bike was part of a display piece, it had been ridden but not very far, probably less than a kilometre and possibly not even outside, it is immaculate. There is some very slight oxidization at the crown fork, but you can't see it unless you go right in and it's so slight it's not even worth worrying about. The rest of the bike though is minty.
It's all DX except for the Seatpost and headset which are XT, everything corresponds fully with the catalogue spec, the Thorr rims are pristine with no tracks at all, it's about as close to being a NOS bike as you can get without it being box fresh. Pics really don't do the colourway justice, this thing glows in the sunlight, the flare red in particular seems almost fluorescent.
I took it out for a spin today, I swapped out the original saddle and wheels, the saddle to preserve it and the wheels partly to preserve the original tyres, but also to give me an honest comparison with the other bikes I've ridden, this is my go to commuting wheel and tyre set and it has been on most of my bikes over the past couple of years, and so I can be sure anything I notice about the ride will be down to the frame and nothing else.
What they say is true, these bikes are extremely responsive, fairly uncomfortable and a hell of a lot of fun to ride, you really do feel like every single watt of energy that you invest is being fed directly through the drivetrain with no wastage whatsoever, you push your foot down and it is off. My White spider had a similar feel to it but this is something else, and while the White Spider was extremely comfortable this bike makes you feel every single bump and stone through that handlebar, I've never suffered from painful wrists before, after 25 miles of hard riding today I finally know what sore wrists feel like.
Presumably that's the price you have to pay for all that efficiency and instant responsiveness, just as your energy is channelled directly to the wheels the ground shouts back at you through the grips.
I absolutely love it. This is not a bike I would want to ride all day long, it's not really a bike I'd want to ride every day either, but if I'm ever in the mood to let off some steam then this is the bike I'll be reaching for. It loves the kind of tracks I was out on today, fast hardpack, winding loose gravel and tight woodland trails, but you have to push it to really enjoy yourself, it's not for bimbling about while you admire the flowers, it's for tearing around full pelt, it does whatever you tell it to do, point and off it goes, think about kicking the back wheel out and out it pops. I never felt more in control flying at breakneck speed down my favourite trail as I did today, sadly my wrists are not quite as impressed.
Bought this bike a few weeks ago but only just got around to collecting it. The seller was from West Yorkshire and he used to race for Specialized and Klein BITD, now he deals in them, this bike was part of a display piece, it had been ridden but not very far, probably less than a kilometre and possibly not even outside, it is immaculate. There is some very slight oxidization at the crown fork, but you can't see it unless you go right in and it's so slight it's not even worth worrying about. The rest of the bike though is minty.
It's all DX except for the Seatpost and headset which are XT, everything corresponds fully with the catalogue spec, the Thorr rims are pristine with no tracks at all, it's about as close to being a NOS bike as you can get without it being box fresh. Pics really don't do the colourway justice, this thing glows in the sunlight, the flare red in particular seems almost fluorescent.
I took it out for a spin today, I swapped out the original saddle and wheels, the saddle to preserve it and the wheels partly to preserve the original tyres, but also to give me an honest comparison with the other bikes I've ridden, this is my go to commuting wheel and tyre set and it has been on most of my bikes over the past couple of years, and so I can be sure anything I notice about the ride will be down to the frame and nothing else.
What they say is true, these bikes are extremely responsive, fairly uncomfortable and a hell of a lot of fun to ride, you really do feel like every single watt of energy that you invest is being fed directly through the drivetrain with no wastage whatsoever, you push your foot down and it is off. My White spider had a similar feel to it but this is something else, and while the White Spider was extremely comfortable this bike makes you feel every single bump and stone through that handlebar, I've never suffered from painful wrists before, after 25 miles of hard riding today I finally know what sore wrists feel like.
Presumably that's the price you have to pay for all that efficiency and instant responsiveness, just as your energy is channelled directly to the wheels the ground shouts back at you through the grips.
I absolutely love it. This is not a bike I would want to ride all day long, it's not really a bike I'd want to ride every day either, but if I'm ever in the mood to let off some steam then this is the bike I'll be reaching for. It loves the kind of tracks I was out on today, fast hardpack, winding loose gravel and tight woodland trails, but you have to push it to really enjoy yourself, it's not for bimbling about while you admire the flowers, it's for tearing around full pelt, it does whatever you tell it to do, point and off it goes, think about kicking the back wheel out and out it pops. I never felt more in control flying at breakneck speed down my favourite trail as I did today, sadly my wrists are not quite as impressed.
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). Did not know Klein changed the clearance on the chainstays later on.
