Originally Posted by
dddd
The Klein Performance is an unusual frame, it has rack mounts, long chainstays, is very stiff and has very steep headtube and seattube angles.
It can be ridden like a race bike, you can more-closely draft a lead rider due to the steep headtube angle, but a following rider might touch your rear tire.
The weight distribution puts a lot of weight on the front tire, which calms the steering but might cause you to lose rear wheel traction on a steep, wet surface.
The chainline is forgiving, again due to the long chainstays.
Overall it's a pretty good bike. Tire clearance on the models having the tubular Henry James fork crown isn't great though, and rear axle spacing is fixed at 126mm.
I liked it enough to upgrade to 10s, putting a 10s 12-30t Shimano cassette on the un-modified 7s Ultegra freehub.
The ride quality does not seem harsh with 25mm tires.
Great color and comments about the Klein Performance and how capable it is at (almost) everything. I once heard that Gary Klein liked using a Performance for criterium races when the surface might be slippery.
Yours also looks like a similar ‘92-ish vintage judging by the shift bosses, but mine is definitely spaced at 130mm. I used it with 8-speed cassettes most of the 11 years I rode it, and my son has Shimano 9-speed on it now.