Just in case any Klein fans haven't seen this:

MyHistoryOfKleinRoadBikes

Performance model was offered with at various times with Victory, Ultegra, or Chorus or DuraAce.

My Quantum Pro is still my best bike and main ride at 21 years old and I have hardly any motivation to get something newer.

Built it up from a bare, unused frame: 1998 model in 2003, picked every single component... replaced almost all of them since then too.

$200 ! ! ! ? ? ?

Now, it is more than awesome. What's better than awesome? Awesomest?

Nice link, and thanks. My Performance was pre-drilled on the ST for a direct-bolt Suntour Superbe Pro FD. The BB is press-fit, so I never bothered to see what brand it was, but it's symmetrical.

Which made it difficult to think about. Why Superbe Pro, and double, on a "touring" setup? Very little range in that. Just two more challenges in building this bike, which was, without a doubt, THE most challenging build I've done.

1-Shifter mounts. I'm no machinist, but that would have helped.
2-Shift cable routing. All I can say is WTF?
3-BB (luckily, it was like new) Left it alone.
4-Finding a triple crankset for a symmetrical BB. I'd been lucky to remember a previous build with RSX 7-sp.
5-Finding and shimming a compact triple FD to fit the odd ST diameter (I used brass), FD is a 7730.
6-27.4 seat post (again, thanks to @nesteel)
7-still working on fenders. 28's won't fit with fenders.

It was worth every bad word I said while I built it.
I can easily understand why Klein owners keep them and update the components as needed. I ride Thunder Ridge each year, and a guy on a "chameleon" orange Klein has been there 6 years in a row, and went from 7700 to 7800 and now is at 9000 in components. He climbs right up that mountain. That's one of those bikes where people riding by ask "is that carbon?"

Gary's dumping of waste & toxic paint near his shop earned him a Super Fund site demerit ..

I had a guy say something like that when he arrived at a stop point after a sprint. He scans my bike and says, that is aluminum!!!???

I didn't know that.

Right. 92 maybe 93. I've got some barend shifters coming.
I'm retiring my touring bike to someone moving to South Dakota so it's down to the Dale and the Klein, two bikes i could never touch when I was their age. I must say they held up better than I have..😆

I know what you mean. One of the braze ons will not unscrew. I tried pulling and twisting. No go. I rewrapped the clamps with rubber tape. The front forks had no braze ons so the clamps are nesssesary. I like having them so they stay with all the care I can bestow to the frame.

Only 175. My Dale came with 180 on the 63cc frame.

My old touring bike. It's a Nashbar frame. The only components that stayed: the seatpost, the wheels and the levers, shifters and the handlebars reamerged after trying a butterfly for a year.

Enjoy that lovely Klein for many years and tours!

I rode and loved, mostly, a ‘92 Klein Performance ordered from Chehalis as a frame set. More than 35,000 miles over eleven years with so many club rides, lots of centuries+ including meeting my now-wife on the STP, two 3-week credit-card tours in Europe (one was our honeymoon) and more around the PNW. It is a phenomenal touring bike - extremely stable with a substantial load, and it never felt out of place in fast rides, either.

It’s my adult son’s bike now and better fit for him, and the deep candy red paint still gets compliments. The “mostly” part was the too-small size (should have gone for 62cm), limited tire clearance and slightly harsh ride. Thankfully they’d gone to 130mm rear spacing and conventional lever mounts so upgrades over the years were pretty easy.

Here’s when younger and more flexible me first assembled it with 7-speed Suntour friction, but always with those Ritchey triple cranks (Chehalis supplied the correct BB length for them). It soon got my still-favorite Sachs Ergo 8-speed brifters as in this (sorry, non-drive side) shot in Italy.

Thanks guys. It's great to join the Klein Klub. The rivnut got recrimped, the clamps put in the parts bin, the saddle got replaced with a Brooks team pro and the DT got swapped to Suntour barends. I'm still deciding about the suspension seat post and I'm in no rush to change the tape. It does look a little like something I dug outta my first aid kit😂 but I can live with it for awhile. Oh, the FD was pretty rusted so it sports a unknown brand new one.(sunrace?) I know it's not a typical touring bike but I think it would be just fine with a smaller granny when or if I take off for an extended tour.

I know many of the Pre-2000 Kleins have funky steerer tube dims and/or headsets and stems. But I’ve also read that some Kleins have bottom brackets that are wider than 68 mm or press fit.

Anything else? Funky seat post dimensions? Are most 90’s road bike Kleins 130 mm rear dropout spacing?

What pitfalls await someone wanting to build up a vintage Klein frameset?

The Klein Navigator was only made in 1998.