masi61

I’m sorry, could you clarify what an “AMA” would be?

I get acronym confusion quite a bit. I work in the medical field so when I read “AMA” I think against medical advice…

VtwinVince

I think American Motorcycle Association. Anyway, a bike I'm most sorry I got rid of was an early Klein TeamSuper.

woodway

In this context: "Ask Me Anything". Comes from r e d d i t where noteworthy people join sub r e d d i t s and answer questions in somewhat realtime.

(Sorry for the spaces, seems the forum software is setup to filter out the name of another popular forum. Pretty lame, as if it will make any difference. Putting spaces in will probably get me in trouble somehow)

JohnDThompson 

That was my first thought as well!

cb400bill

The real reason is not lame, at all. We were being inundated with porn links that lead to that website.

Ironfish653

I don’t know about making the KLEIN brand a “‘mid-line TREK, but with flashy paint “ kinda misses the point of the original brand.

KLEINs had the high-zoot paint because they were super-premium bikes, and built with tons of style. The kind of style and presence that would make you stop and go “What IS that?”

I compare my classic Cannondales to Ferrari (or Porsche) , then my KLEIN is a Lamborghini. It’s not as focused a performer as the ‘Dales, but the details and panache of the execution is what really puts it over the top. Here’s the BB on my 89 Pinnacle, which is one of the ‘base models’: Three internal cables, with under-the-stays U-brakes? Yeah, and the cable for the RD goes through the brake post That’s nuts.



Badging all the aluminum models as KLEINs would basically make it the Mercury to TREK’s Ford. It’s depressing; like what happened to GT and Mongoose

t2p

we often described Cannondale as the 'BMW of bicycles'

t2p

one of the guys in an off-road group I sometimes rode with in the early 90's had a Klein Adroit

that bike was almost too sweet to ride off road

t2p

t2p

mstateglfr 

Overall, aluminum frames are not considered performance oriented and they will not be considered that moving forward. There are very few aluminum frames that are at all spec'd well- a few small builders, CAAD13, and I guess the Emonda 5. Even the Emonda 5 is a stretch as its a 105 group so hardly high spec(though obviously still quality).
Point is, aluminum isnt coming back as a high volume race material or as a material on a bike to stretch and try to attain.

Yes, Klein was a quality brand 3 decades ago. 3 decades. Trek bought the brand in the mid90s and 10 years later killed it in the US. So as it stands, Klein as a brand is gone. I just thought itd be cool to have the brand around still on what it was known for- aluminum frames.
Trek sells the Emonda ALR, Checkpoint ALR, and Boone as frames- if they were rebranded as Klein, yeah I would think thats cooler. I would even give a second glance at them for the price Trek wants.
If Trek released a limited edition of Klein road bikes with DA and Ultegra, sure I bet they would sell. But thats a limited release and there are enough deep pockets for that to work. I just think it would be neat to have the brand back with aluminum frames, easy serviceability, and cool fade paint. Domane 2, 3, 4, and 5 bikes with Klein logo and paint? Yeah thatd be cool. An Emonda ALR 5 300 series tubing with Klein logo and paint? Thatd almost actually motivate me to purchase a new bike, and one owned by Trek even.

Perhaps its better to be Mercury to Trek's Ford than it is to be simply killed off and never seen again.
Or perhaps its better to burn out than fade away in the minds of consumers.

DiabloScott

We called them the "poor man's Klein".

Writenride 

Well, in R----T-speak, that means, "Ask Me Anything." Otherwise, Against Medical Advice would be apt as well. Especially on certain social media.

As I side note, one of the reasons I enjoy Bike Fourms is the company. Your acronym deciphering really made my night.

Writenride 

I can't think of a more important resource on cycling history, engineering, and fun on a website than Sheldon Brown's. It would be a great tribute if there was an honorary cobblestone etched with his name on the route between Paris and Roubaix.

Ironfish653

I think it'd be ok to just let it go. KLEIN was a boutique brand, and it still carries a lot of cachet, especially in vintage MTB circles. Making it TREK's mid-level aluminum line would dilute that, badly. Kinda like what happened with GT; they were one of the biggest brands in 1990s MTB, then got off-shored, and came back as a budget brand that you find at Dick's Sporting Goods.

The frame technology that made KLEIN and Cannondale so groundbreaking in the 80's is commonplace now; and the radical designs that made KLEIN distinctive were passed over by evolution or dialed back by corporate ownership, so it's harder to support the premium nature of a boutique brand like that.
Maybe if they'd brought it in as part of the Project One custom program, but it would still just be a TREK with fancy paintwork.

madpogue 

My Schwinn tandem and two Specialized MTBs are rigged that way. Not sure how else you'd do it. Actually, a few of my MTBs have the top-tube / down-the-seat-stay RD cable routing, but none of them have chainstay-mounted brakes; go figure....

Reminiscent of the last "Packards", which were rebadged, and extremely thinly disguised, Studebakers. Sometimes it's just better to "stick a fork in it (or not?), it's done". Come to think of it, some of the "great" brands of the past are better honored as memories, rather than re-hashes.

greatscott

What's weird there is nothing on the internet about him since 2019 where he was at a BMX boothcat the big bicycle manufacture show in Vegas, after that nothing, which i find odd if he were still alive, there would be some sort of news on him, but there is absolutely nothing that I could find since 2019; even Wiki has nothing on him, and no reports of his death either. Not sure how someone of his stature in cycling history could disappear off the internet unless he died and it went largely unknown.

DiabloScott

Some people know how to retire, and some just can't let go. Gary is the former type.

Exactly - Kleins were a luxury brand because they were high quality frames with unique features including fancy paint jobs. Trek bought them either hoping they would stay that way or that Trek would incorporate those features into their own products. A Project One Trek Klein-clone could still be pretty cool, but they wouldn't make enough sales to make it worthwhile. The die-hard Klein fans kind of hate Trek, and their opinions matter to the other Klein fans.

madpogue 

This. Plus, "disappearing" from the Internet says nothing about what happens to any actual person, regardless of that person's stature. Take any randomly-selected elected official (whose role in everyday life is, arguably, more important than that of one athlete) who bowed out of public life 3-4 years ago. For most of them, the online trail is cold. The Internet is not the real world, despite what today's spyware... er... "social media" providers want us to think.