embankmentlb

I-phones!

miamijim

3 of the 4 I've owned over the years.

carmic0

Totally agree, I have 95 Quantum in excellent condition and get plenty of compliments from steel lovers (like me).

RobbieTunes

I say yes.
khatfull had two beautiful ones.

RobbieTunes

I dunno, but I have an N64 you are not going to get.

bici_mania

In my mind it will.

ksryder

I get nostalgic for some Goldeneye from time to time & kind of wish I still had mine. I was a killer back in the day before I had, you know, a job and responsibilities.

My video game skills pretty much stop at the N64 era, the games today are so complex they feel like work plus I'd rather use that time and energy on something useful.

D1andonlyDman

So in other words, Schwinn Paramounts from the 1970s aren't collectible because Schwinn also made the Varsity and Sting Ray?

embankmentlb

I have found that in some cases I enjoy second tier bikes more than top end bikes. Athena & Victory are in many ways are better than C-record for everyday use. Aelle is more robust than 753.

DiabloScott

I know you're not exactly comparing Schwinn and Klein; but for emphasis - Klein's peak production year was about 20,000 frames with 250 people in one shop. One year Schwinn cranked out 400,000 Varsities. So if one of the elements of a "Classic" is small boutique production then Klein had it until at least 2002. And Klein never made a low-end road bike - they had no models with cheaper alloy frames, no models with groups below 105 or Centaur, and no hybrids (although they offered a Quantum flat bar with triple 105 group).

Aelle was a budget tubeset, clearly not "low end". Same for Athena and 105 groups - these concessions sort of define the lower boundary of high-end bikes in my mind. And once again, Klein made ZERO road bikes below that level.

Giacomo 1 

Yes, Paramounts are collectible, but in general, Schwinns are not...

If you read my post again, I said all of them produce a high end model, but that doesn't make the brand itself collectible. They all have way to many low end models. But all Colnago's are collectible because they are all high end. Same with Maserati's or Ferrari's, or Rolex's and Breitlings or Gibson's or Fenders. Nobody questions their exclusivity, quality, re-sale or collectibility.

DiabloScott

I don't mean to be picky here, but you seem to be ignoring the fact that Klein made ZERO low-end bikes and doesn't belong in that list.

Even the Waterloo Kleins like the OP's were among the highest-end aluminum bikes of the time - equivalent to Trek's Madone series of carbon fiber bikes. The 2004 Q-Pro XX sold for $4000, and Klein's cheapest road bike that year was $2,600.

So if there's a reason that Kleins are less collectible or valuable, it's not because they cheapened their brand.

Yeah, I think those bikes are collectible and valuable because collectors with money used to see them under Euro superstars in Miroir du Ciclisme and Winning Magazine when those collectors were first getting into cycling.

Giacomo 1 

Well, you are right factually, but I think the sale of the brand to Trek, a mass producer of bikes, devalued the brand. They also made a heck of a lot of MTB's, which in many parts of the cycling world, are looked at as unserious, throw-away kids bikes.

gomango

I have seen one of Keith's and it was perfect.

He builds up bicycles like few others.

Six jours

I just feel the need to point out that Athena & Victory are better than C-Record only in the sense that if they are damaged or stolen, you won't really care. Otherwise, I call shenanigans.

Six jours

At any rate, WRT the thread topic and "collectability" in general...

When I first saw the Bicycle Guide article and the Porsche poster, I wasn't interested in anything that wasn't an Italian steel racing bike. So I skimmed the Klein stuff and moved on. All these decades later, though, I remember those Kleins with something akin to affection and wouldn't mind having one myself. I'm certainly not obsessed with them, but can absolutely understand why someone would be. And that's all it really takes to make something "collectible".

Hell, I had an Apple IIe at the time and spent my spare hours playing Wizardry on it. I can't be the only one who looks back on that with fondness and who would enjoy having an original IIe and a copy of Wizardry to play on it. Again - collectability.

embankmentlb

Not really better but less fussy. There are those pesky cobalto stones that fall out never to be replaced and odd sized wrenches for the deltas. The need for a jeweler's screwdriver to adjust anything.

bici_mania

I think something was lost when Trek absorbed Klein.

I have thought it was simply the bias in my own mind. The fact that the result was like that of the Lemond brand, the Klein name died shortly after, is one of the reasons why I have come to despise Trek as a company though the other reasons are much more significant in my mind.

Still, for me personally, Klein bikes of either era are on the short list of 'must-have'. Having come to develop such an affinity for steel, another steel bike on my must-have list would be the only reason I would pass on a Klein.

bici_mania

Wished I had known. I just got rid of about a dozen IIe's. Most of them still worked, I tried giving them away locally but had no takers.

DiabloScott

You do see a lot of people talking about "Pre-Trek Kleins" as more desirable - that's one reason the OP's Q-Pro isn't quite a classic. But I've never talked to anyone (except you) who said that selling out to Trek makes the Pre-Trek Kleins less desirable.

Colnago makes virtually nothing anymore, and contracts the design and manufacturing of its current bikes to half a dozen different places in Europe and Asia (including the largest producer in the world)... doesn't make the Master Piu any less collectible.

Gary Klein sold the name to Trek in 1995 but all the production stayed in Chehalis - the only thing Trek did was put Icon components on some of the models and boost his dealer network by a buttload. The soul of the frames was all Klein until 2002 when Gary wanted out of the bike business and Trek made a half-hearted attempt to keep it going in Waterloo.

Giacomo 1 

I don't believe that I delineated between pre-Trek/post Trek models. I just said that in general, the sale to Trek devalued the brand as a whole.


I think bici mania above, agrees with me on that to. So now you know two of us!

kaliayev

It may have not devalued the name, but Colnago has had it's share of quality issues in the past. Especially in the late 70's to early 80's when they started to use sub contractors. I saw one of these sub par Colnagos that the owner of my LBS bought sight unseen from a "friend". Other than the nice Campy components hanging from her I would definitely say the workmanship/paint was low end.

embankmentlb

+1 on that!

gaucho777 

Although I am not a fan of large-tubed aluminum frames, Klein are definitely collectible in my book. I also agree with @diableScott that Klein did not have any low-end models. (Not that I'm sold on the argument that having lower end models makes the high-end models less collectible, either.) I always considered Kleins as being like Cannondales, but higher up the food chain and with cooler paint jobs.

***
Btw, I have a nice Klein fork (Klein logo on flat crown, Columbus tubing, Suntour superbe tips, original black paint, for ~57cm frame) I am not using. At the risk of breaking any "for sale" rules, I'd like to see it go back on a Klein frame that is missing the original fork. I believe it may be an early 80s Quantum Pro fork, but not sure how to confirm. If any Klein owners reading this thread need a fork, shoot me a PM and maybe we could work something out.

DVC45

I have their Performance model. It is probably their low end model. It is my best riding bike.
I can only imagine how the higher end model's ride quality would be like.