I picked up this Klein Quantum II a few weeks ago. It started its life with me as a very poorly setup bike with a layer of dust and dog hair on it. I took a gamble on it as I needed a bike to commute on and thought it might be cool and the price was acceptable, even if it only turned out to be in reasonable condition.
One quick wipe after getting it home, plus a tweak of the saddle height and it looked like this:
Looked ok, but was still a bit dusty and in need of a spot of TLC in places.
New boots (Veloflex Master 25c), removal of some unnecessary bits & bobs and changing the original cork tape (yes, the stuff it originally came with out of the shop!), plus a spot of extra cleaning resulted in this:
Getting there, but on a frame that was already at least one size too big for me, that 140mm stem had to go. I switched it out for a 100mm Deda (which was all I could get my hands on quickly) and rode it a few times. For old aluminium, it's a damn smooth bike; and it rolls *so* sweetly.
By this time I had also realised that the Shimano 600 Tricolor kit on it is all *totally* original and *totally* immaculate; as is the rest of the bike (bar two or three scratches, none of which are serious). Even the apparently 'mismatched' rims have turned out to be a conscious decision to run a deeper rim on the rear.
I've contemplated selling it because, having realised what a good example it was, I wasn't happy using as the commuter it was originally supposed to be given that it is basically totally original, but having ridden it I'm now really reluctant to give it up - and it turns out the secure bike parking at work really is quite safe, which makes me much more comfortable with that prospect.
I changed the levers to modern 'Claris' 8-speed levers in an attempt to tidy up the bars (the 600 levers are immaculate and I will keep them; but they're also hideously uncomfortable and the cable coming out of the side of the lever drives me bonkers) I changed the stem to a Cinelli Pinocchio and switched the bars for a set of Cinelli Giro d'Italia bars (which have a shorter reach than the original Criteriums).
Before the stem change it looked like this:
It currently looks like this:
Next up is to finalise a saddle and get a new seatpost. An orignal Flite of some description is my target saddle and the only 31.6mm seatpost option I like is a PMP Ti; although there's no desperate rush as the Thomson is a good post and the Fizik K:1 looks good on the bike and suits my backside, even if it isn't at all period-correct.
I'm also planning to get a set of Hunt Sprint Aero Wide wheels so that I can set it up tubeless with a set of Schwalbe One gumwalls - albeit probably only whilst I'm getting a better set of retro wheels.
I've still got it advertised for sale locally because really it's slightly too big, but I'm going to struggle to actually let it go because it's seeing around 65% of my ride time at the moment and it makes me smile so much!
More pics here.
One quick wipe after getting it home, plus a tweak of the saddle height and it looked like this:
Looked ok, but was still a bit dusty and in need of a spot of TLC in places.
New boots (Veloflex Master 25c), removal of some unnecessary bits & bobs and changing the original cork tape (yes, the stuff it originally came with out of the shop!), plus a spot of extra cleaning resulted in this:
Getting there, but on a frame that was already at least one size too big for me, that 140mm stem had to go. I switched it out for a 100mm Deda (which was all I could get my hands on quickly) and rode it a few times. For old aluminium, it's a damn smooth bike; and it rolls *so* sweetly.
By this time I had also realised that the Shimano 600 Tricolor kit on it is all *totally* original and *totally* immaculate; as is the rest of the bike (bar two or three scratches, none of which are serious). Even the apparently 'mismatched' rims have turned out to be a conscious decision to run a deeper rim on the rear.
I've contemplated selling it because, having realised what a good example it was, I wasn't happy using as the commuter it was originally supposed to be given that it is basically totally original, but having ridden it I'm now really reluctant to give it up - and it turns out the secure bike parking at work really is quite safe, which makes me much more comfortable with that prospect.
I changed the levers to modern 'Claris' 8-speed levers in an attempt to tidy up the bars (the 600 levers are immaculate and I will keep them; but they're also hideously uncomfortable and the cable coming out of the side of the lever drives me bonkers) I changed the stem to a Cinelli Pinocchio and switched the bars for a set of Cinelli Giro d'Italia bars (which have a shorter reach than the original Criteriums).
Before the stem change it looked like this:
It currently looks like this:
Next up is to finalise a saddle and get a new seatpost. An orignal Flite of some description is my target saddle and the only 31.6mm seatpost option I like is a PMP Ti; although there's no desperate rush as the Thomson is a good post and the Fizik K:1 looks good on the bike and suits my backside, even if it isn't at all period-correct.
I'm also planning to get a set of Hunt Sprint Aero Wide wheels so that I can set it up tubeless with a set of Schwalbe One gumwalls - albeit probably only whilst I'm getting a better set of retro wheels.
I've still got it advertised for sale locally because really it's slightly too big, but I'm going to struggle to actually let it go because it's seeing around 65% of my ride time at the moment and it makes me smile so much!
More pics here.
