1994 Klein Attitude Sea & Sky w/ Strata

Well it just goes to show you never know what you're going to find.  A good friend tipped me off to this bike, and after a quick drive out to Arizona I came home with a gem!!  It's a 1994 Klein Attitude painted in Sea & Sky, but with a couple of twists.

This must have been a custom order because the previous owners name "Sheila" is debossed into the paint just like the other decals.  Most importantly this Attitude came equipped from the factory with the Strata fork typically reserved for the Adroit.

Overall this bike is in amazing condition, I doubt it saw much off-road and it shows.  There are a couple tiny scratches, nicks and some very minor chain suck. 

The equipment is a full M900 kit in near mint condition.  The bike is an amazing find and I still wonder how it is that bikes like this one and the Moonrise Attitude are out there in this condition, unridden, unused and so early perfect!!

Klein Family Reunion

I thought some of you might enjoy this, so here is a quick lineup before a couple bikes go to their new owners.

This just makes me smile!!!

1992 Fat Chance Yo Eddy Team Violet

Here's a quick photo update on the 1992 Yo Eddy restoration project.  For those of you following along this bike came to me in all black, and pretty beat up black at that.  It was repainted by Russ Pickett at Airart and now received the full M900 XTR parts treatment. 

The fact that the bike is a 1992 (based on the serial number) qualifies it for the M900 gruppo which debuted in 1992.  It took a little while to complete a full M900 gruppo and although the parts are not NOS they are in near mint condition.  I even managed to find a rather rare 12-28 rear cassette, which in my opinion looks much better than the 12-32 ones you find more often.

Everything on the bike short of the seatpost is M900 XTR and it's starting to look great.  For some reason every bike I build with the M900 gruppo just looks so much better than with another gruppo like M735 XT or other.  It just works so well!!

I'm really looking forward to receiving the few missing pieces (Front brake cable hanger, NOS Panaracer Dart & Smoke Comp tires and chainstay protector).  Aside from the XTR the bike received a near NOS Answer Hyperlite bar in black along with a matching black Syncros seatpost and NOS turbo saddle.

This is really shaping up to be a very special build!

Shiping day once again...

Phew... it was a long couple days, but another load of shipments is out for delivery.

Adroit for Renzo, Specialized Stumpy for Gregory, Adept for Tum, Adroit and Attitude for Jon.  Next up are the Attitude for Iver, MC1 for Andre and a few miscellaneous tid bits.

1992 Klein Adroit Gator Linear Fade

Well, simply put this is quite possibly the most amazing bike I've ever owned!!!  The 1992 Klein Adroit with a matching MC1 bar/stem combo and the fabulous Strata fork.  It really doesn't get a whole lot better than this.

 

The Adroit was Klein's halo bike and is considered among many enthusiasts the most coveted rigid mountain bike, period.  There are of course many-many other equally amazing bikes out there, but for some reason if you mention an Adroit with Strata fork on any of the VRC forums people virtually turn their heads.

 

The Strata fork is really what sets this bike off and makes it so special!!  The Strata uses larger diameter tubing than the standard Uniklein fork offered on the Attitude which makes it both lighter and stiffer.  To add a little strength and provide some vibration damping Klein applied Boron Carbon Fiber panels to the crown area.  The same treatment is applied to the seat stay on the Adroit frame.

The Adroit first came out in 1991 following the success of the fuselage concept debuted by on Attitude model.  The major differences between the Adroit and the Attitude were the Adroit's 2" oversize down tube, larger top tube, larger 1 3/8" seat tube to accommodate the 31.6mm seatpost, Strata fork, Boron Carbon-Fiber applied to frame and fork and lastly the drilled out drop outs.  All these features resulted in a lighter and further stiffer fuselage.  This bike is absolutely amazing.  Even thought it's been ridden hard and put away wet it's still ready for more punishment.

By today's standards the bike is definitely no the cutting edge.  Lack of any suspension, disc brakes and other modern innovations make it seems a little archaic.  However, the ride is really something else - if you're in the mood to have your fillings shaken loose that is.  It is stiff and uncompromising, on a long downhill you hands feel numb and your body works extra hard to absorb the onslaught of shock and vibration.  However, as soon as you point it up a hill all your work and energy are effortlessly translated into forward motion.  The Adroit is a very nimble and capable climber.

It's taken me a very long time to find this bike, they are rarer than hen's teeth and this one will be staying with me for a long time to come!!

1994 Klein Adept

Here is another very interesting Klein, the Adept.  Effectively Klein combined some of the best pieces of their other bikes with a 700c wheelset and made an excellent touring bike (an early 29er if you will).

The Adept uses the same oversize headset, Mission Control bar/stem and sealed bottom bracket and most of the tubing from the Attitude model.  The oversize 2" downtube is borrowed from the Adroit, while the dropouts are from the Pinnacle.  Combined with a customized uniklein fork that accommodates 700c wheels and the result is one killer touring bike.

The Adept was only available in 1993 and 1994, and this specific example is from 1994.  The color is Candy Apple Red and it's simply amazing, almost looks like it's dripping off the bike.  The paint has a richness and depth unlike any other.  A quick ride to work and back (even though this bike is waaay too small for me) leaves me with a wonderful impression of the long term touring capabilities of this frame.  The Shimano 700cx (equivalent of 600 Ultegra) components are simple and easy to use but not all that sexy.

Unlike other XS Attitudes and Adroits that use a full wrap around cable guide for the rear brakes the Adept only has a tiny little tube to provide the same cable routing.

It seems as thought the Adept is a commonly overlooked and really misunderstood bike (if a bike can be misunderstood) in the Klein line up, but I for one would welcome a larger one into my stable as a daily commuter.

1993 Klein Attitude Gossamer

This is a very unusual Klein Attitude.  The frame is a 1993 model, built in late 93 and painted in 1994 (using 1994 decals) as a part of a very rare batch of Gossamer custom paint jobs.

 It's rumored that Klein would deliver custom painted bikes for an order of 10 or more.  The Gossamer paint scheme along with a couple others (Graffiti, Storck, Pearl Black and Cosmos *I think*) were some other examples.  So, logically this bike may be one of the 10 bikes like it in the world.  Coincidentally I used to own a brand new XS version of this same bike back in 1999/2000.  So, arguably I've owned 2 of the 10 Gossamers in world, not bad.

 

The paint effect was achieved by first painting the bike with a gray base coat, then while the paint was still wet it was swiped with the smoke from an unlit acetylene torch to achieve the wispy bands of gray/black (hence Gossamer).  Then the entire thing was covered with a pearlescent blue clear coat to achieve a very unique effect.

 

Needless to say this is a very special bike, especially considering it is a complete fuselage and in a very desirable Medium size (many of the accounted for Gossamers were XS or XL).  The build is not very exciting but that can be easily remedied.  I plan on building it up with M900 unless some other interesting options come up.