Monday, March 27, 2017

1994 Klein Attitude in Sea & Sky

I still remember the day I came back from a run and fired up ebay while stretching and saw this NOS frame flash up. I almost couldn't believe it, seemed too good to be true. But, I hit the BIN and luckily the buyer didn't back out. That was nearly six years ago and I only just now managed to build the bike up, nearly 23 years after it was originally made!!!

The build here is pretty straight forward M900 XTR with a couple small flourishes like Ringle SuperDuper Bubba hubs, Twister QRs and Moby post. The remainder is more or less a catalog build with Klein Instinct grips and Death Grip tires.





I always thought I prefered the linear fades over the metallics, but getting to spend some time with this bike, my Painted Desert Adroit and another Burgundy Blue Adroit I may be coming over to the MC2 side all the way. Not only are the bikes themselves better to ride, but I really think the colors are much more elegant. That said, my Team Storm Adroit is still firmly perched atop my Klein pecking order :)









Surprisingly this bike came out only 0.2lbs heavier than my equivalently sized Adroit. I was expecting the bike to be a full pound heavier, but I guess those Ringle wheels are quite light.



The richness and depth of the Sea & Sky paintjob really comes out in sunlight. The arts department at Klein was really on a roll in the 90s, there simply wasn't anything else on the market to compete.

Fun fact, I had to turn down the housing end caps by hand in order to get them to fit in the cable inlets, I guess the Shimano parts used back then were thinner than the Aluminum caps I get today.



The cable inlet and exit features on these frame are so exquisite. While people lust over the welded on inlets on the MC1 bikes, these are a work of art to anyone who has ever stamped tubing or an other metal for that matter.


While I would love to keep this bike and get a Burgundy Blue Adroit to have the complete lineup, I can't really justify keeping a lineup like that around these days. So, this bike will move on to a new owner who will hopefully keep it in good condition for years to come!