Klein Rascal Complete!

Spent the day today finishing the Klein Rascal. I was home yesterday waiting for the FedEx dude to drop off a rather large package with a higher than normal content value (I sound like a drug pusher...been watching too much Miami Vice!) and while I waited for his butt to get the job done, I built the wheels. Today, I did the rest....and yeah, I had all the parts to do it in my stash of goodies. Listen up Gary, this is why you don't sell bike stuff! Hoard it!!

Here the parts are hung, although the cables are absent. (Pardon my word choice in this post...if none of this makes sense, blame the rum and cokes.) I would have preferred to use the blue SDG shown here, but it just didn't quite look the part, and although I had a NOS black SDG, I was reluctant to dust it off, because the blue ones are much more common, and I'd like to use this bike off-road. In the end, I dumped the blue for the black...much better.


All cabled up and done, with the black SDG. The Thomson post is really the only non-period part on the bike, and there's a reason for it. See, Klein frames tend to take a dump in the same spot...cracks in the top of the seat tube, related to leverage caused by the sloped top-tubes and 350mm seat posts which don't provide the support needed to protect the frame. I want this bike to see dirt, so I chose a 410mm Thomson, so that I could have that extra 60mm of seat post mast inserted in the seat tube to protect the frame from leverage induced cracking. Here's to my little scheme working! (cross yer fingas!)

The frame dates from 1990, and while purists would say that means it needs 1990 parts, to that I say hogwash. Firstly it needs parts I like, and second it needs parts that would make sense on the bike. Imagine if you will, the life of a bike in the hands of any cyclist. That person may build the thing up on a certain date, but in the end, over the life of the bike, parts come and go, upgrades occur, and the build changes. To this end I say...just build these vintage things as they make sense. Dates are for calendars.

Deore DX for the derailleurs, cassette and thimbshifters, Deore XT for the hubs, Campagnolo Stheno rims with DT double butted spokes and brass nips, Control Tech stem, bar and cantilever brakes, and *gasp* Kooka levers. Yeah yeah...everyone knows I think Kooka stuff is garbage, and these levers are not the best things in the world, but they were cheap and came with the cantilevers so I figured what the hell. I've got a set of silver Real levers in a box, so if the Kooka crap lives up to its reputation, then I'll dump them for the Reals.

Paul Components Blue Balls seat bolt, and a close up of them crazy Control Tech cantilevers!

Cockpit shots. The Kookas are glitzy enough to make a mess of the flash pictures, anyway!

Jane's fancy swing set as backdrop.

Cockpit.

Ritchey Logic cranks and Z-Max tires round out the whole shpeal. Nice build if I do say so myself!

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And I know what you're thinking, Klein haters..."will it ever see dirt?"

Yes. Tomorrow morning in fact.