Back in the 80's, Klein introduced lightweight high-end bikes that had a paint job (urethane, I think) and that was unmatched. They basically took the fat tube aluminum construction trend that Cannondale had pioneered and pushed the envelope by adding wild fades, and color saturation, and paint "depth" that was unheard of outside of the custom car circuit. The bikes were fast and expensive. Klein got into trouble with the EPA due to stricter VOC regulations and shut down their Washington state based operations soon after. Now that bikes are primarily manufactured in countries that are more lenient about environmental regulations, the move towards the sort of paint jobs that made Klein famous has made a small resurgence.
Edit: I may be wrong about which company pioneered fat tube AL frame construction.
Last edited by cale; 08-30-12 at 10:23 AM.