I'm not really a Klein fan. We used to make fun of them down at the LBS, along with C-dales. We called it Beer Can Tubing, and they always dented (at least the ones I saw)...
...That was until I went to the Mount Snow NORBA in 1994, and saw Tinker Juarez race his Nightstorm Attitude. I was 14, and watched from the top of the first dirt road climb. When Tinker came up that sucker in the big ring, bike lengths ahead of the field, I thought something biblical was going to happen. 40 days and nights of rain, parting of the red seas... you name it. It was like he was tearing a hole in the fabric of space and time with his legs.
He didn't win that day, Tomes did, but afterwards I went to the Klein tent to get an autograph. There, in all its east coast muddy glory, was the Nightstorm Klein, adorned with every piece of purple componentry available.
I couldn't believe something that beautiful could have been abused so bad.
For me, that was what bling was all about. The Experimental Raleigh Tomes was riding was cool, along with Juli's GT, but the Nightstorm Klein seals the deal as
the definitive retro bike.
Tinker didn't race for Klein the following year, and I never saw a pic of the Nightstorm Klein until I found this site and took a look at Carsten's, which is now our BOTM. Also, one just got outed over at MTBR VRC, but the website is down right now. It has the matching rigid fork. Unbelievable.
I still dont care much for them, too expensive them and even more expensive now! But I'm glad other people have them and are sharing pics.
