Klein Bicycle Corporation 2000 Quantum

Price Paid:  $1100.00 at SuperGo

Favorite Ride:
Markleville Death Ride

Bike Setup:
Stock with Ritchey pedals and Fly seat.

Summary:
You'll never know how sweet a ride it is until you own one. The whole "harsh ride" myth of aluminum does not apply to this frame. I replace my Cro-Moly frame a few years back and couldn't be happier. Long rides leave me feeling renewed. The paint is the famous "Purple Haze", which curiously was not available on the more expensive models. It changes metallic color with the viewing angle - purple/dk green to orange and even some blue - it always get compliments. The welds are smooth, with continuously swaged aluminum, ovalized and thinned at strategic spots - not a simple double butted design like all other aluminum frames. It climbs easily, is all day comfortable and will make you think your speedo broke (I can't have gone that fast!)

Strengths:
Paint, finish, fork, frame stiffness and comfort, cable routing. Keep hoping to wear out 105 components, but they keep working. Rolf wheels spin good and fast in wind (but could be lighter).

Weaknesses:
Seat wasn't my favorite, but was better than most.

Similar Products Used:
Tried Steel, Aluminum, and Carbon (trek) bikes, but only owned steel and uncomfortable aluminum before this. I think you don't really know a bike before some epic rides.

Price Paid:  $1300.00 at Scheels all sports

Favorite Ride:
Central Minnesota

Bike Setup:
stock, I lost the seatpost, so I replaced it with a trashy steel one, look pedals

Summary:
I purchased this bike as a closeout from the year before, so I got a pretty good deal on it. The bike is light and responsive, and very smooth when it's tuned properly. The 105 group set is definately the weakest poiny. I once took my bike in to a shop, and the mechanic said the frame was undermatched by the components. I'm cheap and don't intend on upgrading this bike.

Strengths:
Light and responsive, very fast

Weaknesses:
shimano 105 components aren't the best thing in the world

Similar Products Used:
some lemond

Price Paid:  $1400.00 at the bike dept.

Favorite Ride:
turnagain pass

Bike Setup:
full dura-ace with dura-ace wheels, carbon seatpost(syncros)

Summary:
this bike has been a complete joy to ride. great accelaration, hill climbing and decending characteristics. with the carbon forks and seat post(upgrade)long distance rides are only limited by my condition. I keep looking for an excuse to get a titainium or carbon fiber bike but I can't find one.

Strengths:
great allaround bike whether touring or racing. beautiful paint and internal cable routing

Weaknesses:
haven't found any

Similar Products Used:
carbon eclipse,de rosa,kestral 300ems, 1982klein

Price Paid:  $1699.00 at Pedallers

Favorite Ride:
Long Point Peninsula 12.5 mile perimeter ride

Bike Setup:
I'm 6'2", 260 lbs, recreational/fitness rider.
57 cm frame, double chainring, 12-25 cassette.
St

Summary:
To sum it up - this bike is super efficient, it would make a great race bike, especially for shorter romps like crits. When I ride and the hills beat me down, I can only blame myself - the bike isn't wasting a thing. I like that.
Every pedal stroke surges me forward. I can actually tell when I'm not spinning circles because the bike starts to buck a little everytime I stab at the pedals. Compared to my old bike and other bikes I've tested, this bike is a dream come true. You know a bike is good when you triple the number of miles you normally ride in a year.
I love the way the bike looks (my landlord wonders why I stand outside staring at it). Klein currently has the best production paint in the biz.
Full 105 group - none of that painted over cheap component cheating that C-dale and others try to pull.
The AL frame doesn't have that nasty, cheap, buzzy feel of cheaper AL bikes. But potholes or broken/patched pavement will make you wish for a suspension seatpost.
The Rolf Vectors are sweet - they look great, they are super efficient, relatively light, aero, and I haven't had a single problem with them in over 1000 miles.
Is it perfect? Not quite - I wish it was the 2001 or later model, because of Klein's new command geometry which is a little more all purpose - this bike is designed for pedalling through corners, quick sprints, and fast cornering - I'm not a racer (yet) so this is all kinda wasted on me.
The 105 group had some problems - the second largest cog was f'ed up and chewed up a chain. Walked several miles home and ruined a set of cleats and took about 3 years off my shoes. Pedallers, my fav. LBS, was great about it and fixed it right up (new cog, DA chain, no cost to me), but it shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Strengths:
-Strong, efficient frame
-Rolf wheels
-Great paint
-stiff Icon fork matches stiff frame for ride
-full 105 group
-decent ride quality for AL, not buzzy

Weaknesses:
I'm getting picky here - these are mostly minor complaints (except the bad cog, which is part Shimano's fault):
-ride quality ain't steel (or carbon, or Ti, or knotty pine or . . . )
-rear cassette chewed up one chain already-defective cog
-poorly designed one-bolt Icon stem (swapped out)
-not crazy about the crit geometry (slightly high bottom bracket) - Klein scrapped this in favor of his new "command" geometry on his 2001+ road bikes.

Similar Products Used:
-Trek 2200-heavier, poor ride quality, overpriced
-Cannondale R600-loved the paint (gloss black graphics on a matte black frame), but C-dale left me feeling cheated on components (their "performance"

Price Paid:  $1700.00 at Bike Store

Favorite Ride:
78 Mile Bike to the Bay

Bike Setup:
Stock

Summary:
Fast Accelerator, great in the hills, ride is definitely not too harsh.

Strengths:
Paint quality (called the 'awe factor), components for price. Really fast!!

Weaknesses:
As mentioned above, I found that the tires were highly prone to debris punctures and tears (moved to Verdesteins for a faster ride). Also mentioned, the seat is horrible so make sure you bargain for a seat of your choice upon purchase. Adjustments I found were tricky- once you find the sweet spot, life is good. Until then, prepare for some pain. Try swapping stem lengths, seats, seat heights, and bar widths. Eventually you will get there if you bought the right sized frame.

Similar Products Used:
First "Real" road bike