Earlier this year I had the rare opportunity to meet Gary Klein, go on some rides with him and tour his warehouse filled with old prototypes and other cool stuff. Since then I've kept in touch and can now offer you a small yet very cool insight into what went on at Klein in the days past, and what is in the works for the future.
   

Question

Is it true that the Rascal was a Top-gun?


Gary

We attempted to file Trademark status on Top Gun and got squashed by Paramount Pictures. I never did figure out how their movie could be confused in the trade with my bikes. I didn't have another name in mind to call the model, so my general manager came up with Rascal and we used that. I never really liked the name though.

So the short answer is yes, they are the same frames.


Question

Was the Attitude a Top-Gun with the Ride Control System and thicker tubes?


Gary

Basically, the Attitude was the upgraded Rascal with our aluminum fork and special headset and bar-stem.


Question

Was the pinnacle a slightly revised mountain Klein from days past?


Gary

The Pinnacle was a nice all around frame. The Mountain Klein was popular, but I felt that the chain stays wanted to be shorter for tight handling and climbing traction. I didn't want to lose a bunch of stiffness. So I needed to downsize the 1-inch square chain stays of the Mountain Klein somehow in order to obtain more tire clearance closer to the BB. So I used 1 inch round tubing, and started forming it into a smaller square section where it needed to bend. That worked out pretty well. I liked the bike especially because you could still mount racks on it and use it to carry things in the woods or tour with, as well as race on it. It did not have quite as short chain stays as the next generation though.


Question (from fan)

Do you have a personal collection of your bikes at home or "just" what is standing around in the warehouse? I somehow have the feeling that those in the warehouse are somehow forgotten and not as "beloved" as we treat our babies...

Gary

I only have my regular riding bikes at home. The Mantra, Q-Pro, and Adept. The bikes in the warehouse are not forgotten, but they also are not ridden regularly anymore.


Question (from fan)

I really would like to know if it for him still is a passion to build such bikes (did he ever build them himself, i.e. welding, cutting etc.?) or now more a business? Is he a Klein freak?

Gary

I have built quite a few of the bikes myself. Currently, I only build prototypes, and make some repairs.

Question (from fan)

Given the nonexistent innovations since he sold out to Trek in mid 1995 I always wondered why he just doesn't get started all over again with a true custom shop? Engage again in making products that set the standard in function, weight and looks and foremost with a cost is no object attitude. (As a successful example Seven Cycles comes to my mind). I 4m sure that there are tons of innovations Gary Klein could still contribute to the biking community. I dream of opening a Klein (or whatever they may be called then) catalog once again (like I did in 1996) and just gaze at the unreal bikes this guy makes!

Gary

We are trying to make the plant more of a custom shop and have been making some custom frames.
I would like to enlarge upon that in the future.

Question (from fan)

What about a "Classic Kleins" department in your company (just as Mercedes Benz has too) that caters to the needs of these who collect vintage Kleins? I could imagine that they offer repaints in the original colors, with the old logos, repairs of damaged frames, etc.

Gary

Our classic Klein department is the service department. We try to fill the needs and make the repairs that we can. But some things such as the Strata fork that have been out of production for awhile will be very expensive to get everything back together to make just one more. We would need a reasonable volume to make the cost reasonable. I think we are doing a lot more original type repaints than we did in the past.


Question

Was the mantra designed around short or long travel fork?

Gary

Short travel.

Question

What gave you the idea to do the Ride control system (mc1 fork and super size headset)

Gary

Wanted to make aluminum or carbon fiber forks. For that I needed a larger steerer diameter to make it work.

Question

Would you ever try the zip-grip approach again? or similar?

Gary

Yes, it could work, we just did not spend the effort required to test and develop before we launched it.
I still think it would be a nice feature.


Question

What is your favorite Klein ever??? HT or FS or road??

Gary

My Mantra.