$35 Klein
 

I am in the market for a small 26” Mountain Bike for my nephew and responded to a local ad showing a late nineties Specialized HardRock and a price of $35. The seller messaged me back and said no the Specialized had been sold the $35 bike was a Klien. I figured it had to be worth the gamble and told him I’d be happy to buy it. Here is the bike, looks to be a Rascal as it has a 1” headset and dropouts facing other than rearward. Parts look to be a 50/50 mix of original and not. The graphics are well aged but the paint is quite good. The BB spins butterly smooth and I am a huge RS Judy fan, I have a full shop set of tools to service late nineties early 2000s RS forks. Its also about the most functional as is bicycle I’ve ever purchased, new tires too.

This is the same price I paid for a cheap 70s PanWorld ten speed just a few weeks back. Go figure.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f1de577da.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b6699b86c.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9c30e7425.jpeg

Nice find, I never turn up Klein deals like this.

That's one of the best scores I've heard. Awesome bike, not flashy these days but a fantastic ride with some of the best components ever made. XT top mount thumbies forever!
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Looks like a responsive ride!

The newer Judy fork (if it's the "Hydra-coil" variant) is one of the best in terms of it's easy serviceability using nothing but some new oil and perhaps a pair of seals. The rubber gaiters/boots on these are made of really tough, long-lasting rubber, and which prevents stanchion damage, extending the service interval of the entire fork.

The tires even look to be in good condition and the Matrix rims would seem to indicate one of the bikes produced after the Trek acquisition.

Great score!!!

That is definitely a great score, if your nephew likes it.

Wow, that's incredible! If it happened to me it would be my new "gravel bike"!! :) (I think I'm your nephew's size...)

With your interest in Judys, you're probably aware of the recall on certain versions from around 2000-2001. It's a safety recall, and RockShox is now owned by SRAM, so it's still honored. I got a brand new fork for a 2001 Hard Rock I flipped around 5 years ago.