My bikes: 1992 Klein Attitude backfire

My Klein story starts back in 1994 when I was looking for a replacement bike for a M600 Cannondale, the Attitude was on the radar as one of the local lads in our local riding scene had a beautiful backfire model.

A candy red Attitude was for sale in Leisure Lakes bikes and the deal was done. Spec wise it was built at a price, so had a Sugino crank, Specialized tyres and a LX level group. Slowly it evolved and gained Campag rims and Hope hubs, X-Lite levers with Xtr brakes and XTR mechs, all in it was a crazy sub 20lb bike. I used the Klein for everything, commuting, XC, jumping and just mucking about on but as our riding evolved suspension was the only way forward and the Attitude had to go.

Wheelie! 

My original 1993 Attitude in Candy Red

My Attitude with my friends Backfire Rascal

I've always converted the Klein brand, Gary Klein pioneered many things that we now take for granted such as cartridge b/b's and headsets, oversized tubing and internal cable routing. The quality of the bikes was and still is second to none, the welding and finishing are amazing with the paint quality more akin to a prestige car than a bicycle. In 1995 the Trek Bicycle Corporation bought Klein  and slowly dismantled the brand until finally shutting it down completely in 2009. Maybe this last point is why the pre-Trek Kleins are now so desirable and able to command such strong resale prices?

Fast forward to 2016 and I've always had an eye on the market for a Klein but I did have a wish list. First of it had to be a 92 or 93 model for the smooth crown on the oversized fork rather than the welded crown of the 91 model. It had to be the 18" size. It had to have the original fork and mission control bar/stem. Lastly I really wanted the Backfire paint job, there are lots of amazing Klein paint schemes, but for me the Backfire was the one. 

The bike I found was for sale in the USA, it ticked all the boxes wish list wise but had a mix and match group, the deal was done and the bike delivered. The biggest problem was that the crank blinded on the anti suck plate and would hit the chain stay, so I had to do a bit of spec juggling between bikes to get the Klein somewhere near how I wanted it. 

My long term plan for the Attitude is to evolve the spec until I am completely happy with it, but moreover is to actually use it, this isn't going to be a garage wall decoration!

My bike has also just been featured on the Singletrack World website in a feature called 15 bikes we wished we owned, read the feature here:

also check out:

www.oldklein.com

www.kleinspainted.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klein_Bikes

bikes: The Kirk Revolution

Retro Bike: The Kirk Revolution

Kirk Revolution DX

There always seems to be a lot of negativity regarding the Kirk in retro circles, I often wonder if this bike snobbery is down to Kirk being marketed by Dawes and was it because it was sold in stores like Halfords? I guess the brand is just not as desirable as anything coming out of the USA of the same era, but whatever the reason I will champion the humble Kirk!

I first became aware of the Kirk Revolution in the early 90’s when the popularity of mountain biking really exploded in the UK. This era was defined by lots of innovation, granted not all of it was good, but there was a strong drive from bike manufacturers to explore bike design and move the market forward.

The Kirk is a good example of this 90’s drive, the e-stay design was very much of the time (Alpinestars, Rocky Mountain, Nishiki, Haro etc) but it’s USP was that the frame was made in the UK from cast magnesium. The literature at the time explained that only one and a half cubic metres of sea water is needed to provide enough magnesium for one Kirk frame and every frame was die-cast in just 40 milliseconds at 650°C under 650 tonnes of pressure, in the world's largest hot chamber facility. That's pretty ground breaking stuff, even by today’s standards.

So as a piece of MTB innovation and history the Kirk is pretty unique. The Kirk was the first magnesium mountain bike and it was designed and made in the UK. Now they are getting pretty rare, so I thought maybe one would be worth saving and including in my collection.

The first bike I got hold of was a cerise ‘200GS’ model that I slowly converted to the more desirable DX spec. In the mean time I got hold of a black bike (400LX) and my idea was to see which was the best one and sell the other, I ended up selling the black bike and keep prettier cerise frame and convert it to DX spec.

Kirk no1, 200GS bike standard and in need of TLC

in the workshop for a clean

converted to DX spec but note the cheaper, curved cro-mo fork

Kirk No2, with added 1993 LX chain set and rear mech

Kirk No2

Back on ebay I found another cerise bike, but this one was a genuine 1991 ‘DX’ bike complete with the Reynolds 531 fork, so for a bike to keep hold off this is definitely the right model. The bike is very close to factory spec with the original Regida Laser 400 rims, DT spokes with DX hubs. The spec differs from the catalogue with the Zoom stem (it came with a Dawes branded stem) and purple alloy bar (which I fitted), tyres (originals should be Conti Baja) and saddle (should be a Turbo), but those parts would have been changed anyway.

Kirk no3, genuine DX bike, note Reynolds fork

One thing I have noticed between the DX frame and the GS frame is that the DX frame has proper split cable guides and the rear brake cable outer also splits in to 2 pieces. The GS (and 400LX) bikes don’t have split cable guides and the rear brake takes a continuous outer. I’m not sure why, its just an observation.

For more information on the magnesium Kirk head on over to www.kirk-bicycles.co.uk

From the archive: 1998 Marzocchi Mr T

MR T

No, not that one!

The Mr T was Marzocchi's first full production dual crown fork for a mountain bike. The Mr T was in effect a stop gap model that basically used a Z1 fork with stanchion extensions on the top to create the dual crown look, while the works riders got the hand made Super T.

The Mr T also used a new forging for the lower leg that utilised a 20mm through axle design and an I.S. disc brake mount that were both excepted standards for years. The lower legs were also used in the Z1 Duel model.

The lower crown was the same as a Z2 with the lips machined of and was placed over the stanchion join, with the crown fitted with the join at the top. The upper crown was an all-new CNC design that lived on for years on both the Super T and Jnr T models. The upper extensions had cut marks on the outer stanchion and also the inner rods so that the fork could be trimmed down to suit frames with smaller head tubes.

To service the fork was easy, the upper stanchion piece would just unscrew leaving in effect a Z1, with the only difference being 8mm allen key foot nuts opposed to the 15mm foot nuts of the Z1.

Catalogue spec:
Travel: 105mm + 5mm negative travel design.
Spring Type: Cr-Si coil spring in each leg. 3 different rates available.
Damping: Dual hydraulic Bomber cartridges with adjustable rebound.
Crowns: Forged alloy lower, CNC alloy upper.
Adjustments: 15mm preload, infinite rebound.
Stanchions: 30mm Easton alloy with butter smooth finish. Two piece design.
Steerer tube: Easton alloy.
Sliders: Aluminium gravity die cast. Special drop outs for through axle.
Disc brake mount: New 98 standard mount.
Brake Arch: Alloy, forged, CNC machined with optional cable hanger

Mr T

Lower legs

MR T!

pre-load and rebound adjuster

on the work bench, with a stanchion separated

On the cover of DIRT with Tim Ponting

Tim Ponting

exploded diagram MR T 1998

brochure page

from the archives: The Marzocchi DH3

The 1995 Marzocchi DH3 was a 3" travel air sprung and oil damped down hill monster in a world full of rubber sprung and rubber damped suspension forks.

In a pre-Z1 world the DH3 was the most aggressive fork Marzocchi produced and was raced around the world by racers such as Rob Warner.

By today's standards, it very heavy and with just 26mm stanchions it is very spindly, but the ride quality is still very good, especially with the coil spring upgrade fitted.

Some DH3's had a compression knock, this was due to the build up of internal pressure when the fork initially moves. The simple solution was to drill a relief hole on the side of the damper rod about 7mm under the head.

We made a service guide which you can follow here, however the 26mm genuine forks are no longer available.

This is what Marzocchi said about it at the time:

DH3

The DH3 fork is designed specifically for downhill biking. The forged, reinforced crown, the forged T6 stanchions and the extremely rigid brake arch, combined with extended travel and controlled damping, absorb every type of shock without undermining stability.

The oversized tubes make the DH3 one of the most rigid forks on the market. As on the other models, the practical 6-position adjuster knob means the MTB can be adapted to any kind of terrain.

The DH3 was developed with disc brakes in mind, and consequently various adaptors are available

brochure page

exploded diagram

brodhure

.

My bikes: Cannondale Delta V 2000 1993

back in 1993 I bought a Cannondale Delta V (92 model) from Peter Darke Cycles in Sunderland, this was a fantastic looking bike but this was the early days of full suspension and the rear end bobbed somewhat ...

I kept the bike for a while but decided to move it on to go back to a rigid M600.

Moving forward to 2014 I spotted a top-of-the-range Delta V2000 1993 model frameset for sale on All things Bikes and I decided it would make a great addition to sit alongside my M800 Beast Of The East

Spec as follows:

Bar: Ritchey Force Lite NOS
Shifters/ levers: XT
Grips: Onza
Seat Post: Ritchey Logic
Saddle: Flite Titanium
Brakes: XTR
F Mech: XTR
R Mech: XTR
Chain & cassette: BBB
Chainset: XT
Pedals: BBB
Wheels: Ritchey with DX hubs
Tyres: Ritchey > Updated to Panaracer Smoke and Dart

Updated with Panaracer Smoke and Dart