Need Help IDing a early Klein Pinnacle/Rascal?

[yeti_bomb]

So I just scored a old Klein today. I thought from the pictures that is was just a faded 1989 Pinnacle. But now I have it home and am confused.

It appears to have a faded classic sunburst paint job. It has chainstay brakes mounts. Original Spinner fork. But then the serial number is R716 Klein logo.

I thought Rs were for Rascals. But I thought Rascals only came out in 1990 after Klein got sued for using the name Top Gun. Also I thought Rascals never had chainstay mounted brakes. I been looking over old Klein serial numbers and have not found anything to clarify this particular frame.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Overall, I love the frame and is in good shape.

 

[yeti_bomb]

Re: Need Help IDing a early Klein Rascal?

I still think it is a Pinnacle likely a 88 or 89. But that serial number is weird.

 

[yeti_bomb]

I'm starting to find a other 1988 Pinnacles that have the R in the serial number. So pretty sure now this is a Pinnacle. I think may be it had a custom paint job from Klein...

 

[Dr Dremel]

Re:

Can confirm, "R" in frame number of my U brake Pinnacle also. Do you also have the axle width stamped into the other dropout?

The paint on yours is "just" the period Klein color "Flare", with a case of heavy sunburn. The place under the FD clamp gives you a hint of how it looked when new. For this red orangey neon colour Klein used a yellow primer or base coat, and neon magenta on top. When the neon topcoat fades it leaves you with a more and more orange hue.

I now kind of wonder if such a heavily faded example gave them the idea of the various horizontal fades a couple of years later ...

 

[yeti_bomb]

Re:

I had the same thoughts last night. Pretty rad that red paint can fade to the sunburst look.
No stamp with the rear axle width. Though it is 130. Be cool to figure out if there is any way to tell if it is a 88 or 89 Pinnacle.
Have a pics of your Pinnacle?

 

[Dr Dremel]

Re:

No pics of mine yet (if you discount the awful seller pics with mudguards, racks and other bike herpes parts on), I´ve only had it for a couple of weeks and did not have time to do anything with it. But it has the same orange fading beginning on the top tube. Previous owner had it stored outside for a while *facepalm*

As far as I know you cannot determine model years on Kleins up until 1994 (?) as there are no hints in frame numbers (hexadecimal system?) There is a thread on here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=273546&hilit=klein+serial+number

Probably the only conclusions we can make about our frames are pre 1989 because of the U Brake. Mine came with a few Deore II parts on it, which looked to be original equipment. So I´m guessing my frame sat a while before it sold as the group only came to market late 1989/early 1990 in Germany.

 

[2manyoranges]

I was a Pinnacle owner in 1990, and the brakes had migrated to the seatstays on that, even though it was a tiny tiny frame. If you are interested in the paint issue, the very clear demarcations where the front mech was etc show that it was the solid paint colour which graced the Pinnacles - along with the chromed Spinner fork. The reason for the extraordinary fading is that the pigments in red paint at that time were not stable in UV and blue light. Cars of that era which were painted in any red shades were prone to terrible sun-fading. That’s all changed in the last 30 years, with three decades being a very long time in pigment research. Red is prone to fading because of how it works - yep, it’s red because it reflects red light, but absorbs the really high energy blue spectrum and UV. That high energy induces molecular breakdown, the paint essentially a thin film which, when perpendicular to the energy source, absorbs a hell of a lot of energy. Then the surface breakdown literally opens small holes in the surface, increasing the surface area and removing lacquers, and serious oxidation can set it. There’s a world of difference between red light and blue light/UV in terms of its energy - and interestingly, the high energy wavelengths (UV) do not penetrate glass. Your frame is a clear indication of why we should encourage children to wear sunscreen. This is a nice article on the effects:

https://www.q-lab.com/documents/public/ ... icles.aspx

The inadequacy of red pigments in the 1980s and 1990s in response to energy absorption is the main reason that the red-tone Kleins do tend to fade while the green and blue ones do not.