Klein - to be or not to be?

[Anthony]

I must confess that not being interested in new bikes it had completely passed me by that Trek stopped selling Kleins in most European countries from 2006 onwards. And stopped selling Klein full-suspension bikes period.

I can’t understand why they did that - even if sales of high-end bikes were difficult, you’d think somebody shelling out £4,000 on a bike would want to see a bling name like Klein on the frame. Who wants to pay £4k for a Trek? And if they thought the future of high-end bikes had moved from aluminium to carbon fibre, why not build a Klein mtb in carbon fibre?

If you look on the Klein website, it’s kind of dead, just a pdf of the 2007 catalogue (almost all road bikes), not all that much else, no 2008 catalogue yet (unlike Trek). It makes me wonder whether the rumours about Trek management losing interest in the Klein brand name are true. Could there be any prospect of them selling it to somebody who might establish Klein as an independent company again, worthy of its glories in earlier times?

 

[scant]

kleins still a big seller in the far east apparently. limited sales in the UK which is why they were pulled.

 

[David Gibson]

Klein bikes

Klein sales in the USA were stagnant and so Trek has pretty much limited their sale to Japan where they are still popular. Ever since Klein was bought by Trek the purists of the bike world became uninterested in a corporate made bike and the price of the bikes was too much for many average joes, thus Klein sales plummeted. It's unlikely that Trek would sell the brand to somebody else.

 

[tintin40]

Klein R.I.P :cry: :cry:

Trek :twisted:

 

[24pouces]

klein is dead…
It died when trek bought it. :roll:

 

[scant]

ironic really as trek bought klein just before it went under BITD.

 

[andrewl]

klein is dead…
It died when trek bought it. :roll:

Klein was terminally ill many years before trek bought it, they at least kept the dream of owning an overpriced, harsh riding frame alive for some people silly enough to want the things

 

[tintin40]

I blame the management the company was making bikes that people wanted. And still want.
The wrong decisions were made before trek and most certainly after

 

[purplewicked]

I blame the management the company was making bikes that people wanted. And still want.
The wrong decisions were made before trek and most certainly after

exactly. kleins were ultra expensive and the concept of an ultra stiff high end alum.hardtail was totally rejected in the mid 90s. an adroit would cost as much or more than a high tech, sweet and fast santa cruz in the late 90s.

 

[Anthony]

I’m not defending every decision taken BITD, I’m just saying Klein is still a fantastic brand name that only Cannondale equals and it just needs to make great bikes now. Trek own that brand name and letting it wither away is bad business – in business, if you own an asset you should either use it to the max or sell it to realise its value.

Cannondale are selling a carbon fibre hardtail for £4,200 (the Taurine SL Team, 20lbs, frame 2.75lbs). Trek have good skills with carbon fibre, but they can’t compete with Cannondale because the Trek name just doesn’t cut it (and nor does Gary Fisher). If Trek had any sense, they’d be using the Klein brand the way Toyota uses Lexus – i.e., very high quality cars that can compete with Merc/BMW because their brand name isn’t associated with budget cars. After all, that must have been their rationale for buying Klein in the first place.

And a top-quality carbon fibre Klein wouldn’t just be a great bike, it wouldn’t even shake your fillings out AndrewL!