My current bikes : A trio of Kleins

[fisha]

I've had mountain bikes of various makes over the years, and my favourite of old which I no longer have was a Gary Fisher Marlin:

but ever since seeing one in the flesh many years ago, there was only really 1 brand of bike that really drew my attention ... Klein.

So it started off with a Klein Palomino ... I wanted a full suspension to go along with the hardtail, and found a good deal on someone selling this. Has seen a lot of upgrades over the while, but its just fab for my proper off road needs :

Then, my old Gary Fisher hardtail finally gave up the ghost ... so i hunted around and found a Klein hardtail frame ... now kitted out as a fast, light , rigid steed which was used for commuting mostly with slick tyres. I no longer commute, so i put the chunkies back on and use it for general use. Its a great clean feeling to have no suspension and such a direct feel to the bike.

I also have/had a Trek 1400 ...

but with the 2 Kleins, although it was a great bike, I really wanted to complete the trio. Klein road frames are a bit thin on the ground these days, but I managed to source a new, original stock frame and swapped all the Trek 1400 parts over onto it ... still needs a chain, but its looking like it'll be a nice bike all round :

So finally, i have my trio of Kleins ...

 

[Aperitif]

Nice view from your lounge window fisha - not many people got wild beasties wandering about in their back gar...oops!

I like the road bike colour - very 'rich and full flavoured'. No cages for the 'klein bottles' though

 

[fossyant]

Very nice bikes....

Watch the saddle on the roadie - pointing down !

 

[fisha]

i've only just built up the roadie today. it aint got a chain on it yet ... i've still to adjust it all and actually ride it !

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

You must have knackers of steel

 

[fisha]

how do you mean ?


took the bike out a couple of days ago. gave up after a few miles as the stem from the old trek i used to build up the Q-Pro was too long and making the ride just wrong. Thought it was pointless carrying on and so pulled up at the parents house.. Luckily my old man had another stem which was shorter and after fitting that, the general fit of the bike is great.

Took it for a 25mile spin today. A couple of points i noticed:

a) its ruddy quick
its an extremely direct feel of putting the power down and traction gained
c) it is completely unforgiving both on the front wheel and the rear ... soooo stiff all round. a brutally harsh ride.


However, i just absolutely love it. Just needto get used to how stiff the ride is as you go along. May consider 25c tyres at this rate. ( its got 23's on at the moment )

 

[John the Monkey]

Lovely looking bikes - the Trek and Klein roadies have quite a traditional geometry, unless it's the angle in the pics...

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

how do you mean ?

From personal experience, they are not the most compliant of frames.

 

[fisha]

From personal experience, they are not the most compliant of frames.

after being out on in a few more times, i'll refer back to my point (c):

c) it is completely unforgiving both on the front wheel and the rear ... soooo stiff all round. a brutally harsh ride.

In general, yeah, the Kleins ( certainly the Attitude and the Q-Pro ) are about as uncompliant as you can get, but the flip side is just how direct and tight they feel. When your out of the saddle, and are cranking down, there is just no sideflex and you really feel the power running right to the wheel and the bike propelling forward. I'd say the Attitude's rear triangle is notably stiffer than the Q-Pro, but that the Pace forks on the mtb go a long way to softening the overall ride. The carbon forks on the Q-Pro show zero signs of even the slightest flex/twitter as they run along.

I dont mind it, but I think it'll take a bit of time to get fully used to it ... especially on cornering.

 

[stevenb]

Id say you must be rich owning 3 Kleins.
Lend us a tenner mate...
Nice fireplace too