It's another Klein debate...!

[dbmtb]

I started MTBing in 91 and Fats and Kleins only ever conjured up one word in my narrow northern mind - and that was "poncey".

Sorry folks..... Never been tempted by either of them.

 

[Neil G]

I started MTBing in 91 and Fats and Kleins only ever conjured up one word in my narrow northern mind - and that was "poncey".

Sorry folks..... Never been tempted by either of them.

lol

I take it you were/are a Pace & Orange man

 

[utahdog2003]

Klein and Fat, much like brands like Seven and IF today, get a bad rap because they are expensive, and therefore those folks with loads of cash tend to buy them as their first 'real' bike...surely an expensive experiment and ultimately a mistake when they realize that they don't much like cycling after all! This happened alot (and still does...) and the result is that these expensive machines can be found hanging dusty and essentially unused in the garages of Doctors and Lawyers across the US, and all over the world it seems.

It's not Klein's fault.

It's not Fat's fault.

It wont be Seven's or IF's fault either. For some odd reason, rich fools buy expensive kit even when they know they'll never use it. Sub Zero refridgerators, Viking ranges, Porsches, Rolex Subs, etc. Same thing...

It's not Porsche's fault.

It's not Rolex's fault.

Klein, Rolex, et al...All these things are great products, somewhat tarnished in reputation by the image portrayed for them by rich folks who have more money than brains and buy big becasue they think they need to and not because they have to.

Don't let the reputation of Klein as a pretty, under engineered, and overhyped product cloud your judgement. Kleins are exactly what they were designed to be, fast, light, well made, no nonsense race bikes from the heyday of the USA mountain bike industry. If you don't have one, you should get one, and stop trying to convince yourselves that you don't need it.

 

[mechagouki]

I had a 1992 Team USA Attitude (green/white/pink), full XT, grey Mavic 231s, sprinkling of Ti, looked stunning - people used to stop me just to look at/talk about the bike.

It was certainly very light and wonderful to ride on smooth trails / pavement - I hit 52mph riding down into the Cuckmere valley in Sussex on it - the fastest I have ever been on a mountain bike! Once the trail got a little more rooty/rocky/uneven the bikes light weight and incredible rigidity became something of a liability - fast bumpy descents were basically achieved with a fierce grip on the bars and lots of luck.

I sold the bike when it was about 18 months old and it cracked at the headtube 6 months after that.

I'd love to have another as a wall decoration, I couldn't really recommend it as a vintage bike that would be regularly ridden.

As for the expense issue - it was more hype than reality, plenty of Klein's early 1990s contemporaries had much more expensive bikes - Boulder and Merlin are two that spring to mind, I actually think of Kleins as pretty common compared to some marques - how many people here have ever seen a Mantis or Potts up close? I see vintage Kleins on a weekly basis here in Toronto.

 

[utahdog2003]

Here'a a good comparison...at a time when Klein was making the Top Gun...first pic...Diamond Back (and many many other brands both stock and custom, expensive and cheap) was introducing this Axis, their top bike at the time, and by no means an inexpensive bike. I'm just picking on Diamond Back here (picture is handy), but these horizontal top tube steel frames were everywhere...Specialized, Ritchey, Salsa...etc From custom to mass produced, this was the standard. When Klein came along the product was a very real and very progressive alternative.

 

[Neil G]

Klein and Fat, much like brands like Seven and IF today, get a bad rap because they are expensive, and therefore those folks with loads of cash tend to buy them as their first 'real' bike...surely an expensive experiment and ultimately a mistake when they realize that they don't much like cycling after all! This happened alot (and still does...) and the result is that these expensive machines can be found hanging dusty and essentially unused in the garages of Doctors and Lawyers across the US, and all over the world it seems.

It's not Klein's fault.

It's not Fat's fault.

It wont be Seven's or IF's fault either. For some odd reason, rich fools buy expensive kit even when they know they'll never use it. Sub Zero refridgerators, Viking ranges, Porsches, Rolex Subs, etc. Same thing...

It's not Porsche's fault.

It's not Rolex's fault.

Klein, Rolex, et al...All these things are great products, somewhat tarnished in reputation by the image portrayed for them by rich folks who have more money than brains and buy big becasue they think they need to and not because they have to.

Don't let the reputation of Klein as a pretty, under engineered, and overhyped product cloud your judgement. Kleins are exactly what they were designed to be, fast, light, well made, no nonsense race bikes from the heyday of the USA mountain bike industry. If you don't have one, you should get one, and stop trying to convince yourselves that you don't need it.

Not sure about IF being the same as Klein...I would have thought you'd need a bit of bike knowlwedge and a genuine passion for MTB to have a custom made bike rather than something off the shelf

 

[andrewl]

I have long maintained that the biggest single impact Klein has made on the history of mountain biking has not been in the pioneering use of fat tubing but by the talent within their marketing department.

As a Klein owner, I'd have to agree in a lot of respects. That said my old Klein has had more hits than Elvis and is far from beauitful, but it still keeps going.

 

[utahdog2003]

Not sure about IF being the same as Klein...I would have thought you'd need a bit of bike knowlwedge and a genuine passion for MTB to have a custom made bike rather than something off the shelf

That's a bit of revisionist history, don't you think?...Pre Trek Kleins were available with options from the factory, and many Kleins were special orders. Sure you can buy a custom IF, but you can also get a medium Deluxe frame off the floor from an IF dealer. There's three for sale right down the road from me. It all depends on how involved the customer wants (today, in IF's case) or wanted (then, in Klein's case) to be involved in the process.

I guess your real purpose for your post was to question the "bike knowlwedge and a genuine passion for MTB" that a Klein owner would have? Again, brainlessly punishing the brand for appealing to the rich. 20 years from now you'll be blasting IF and others for the same thing with this misplaced argument. Please. :roll:

 

[Archangel]

Back then you could order a custom Klein with your own geometry and lots of different frame build options and of course, the paintjob.
For example, Team Super and Stage (not 97--> Stage) models were always custom jobs and in 1994 Klein launched an EX program, although I haven't seen any other EX Kleins except team riders' bikes.

 

[mrkawasaki]

.

If we take our advertising seriously :roll: then perhaps we should heed the words of the suits at Klein... and stick at step 2 (if you know what's good for you!)....

Mr K