Comments on: De-Klein. No 2006 Klein Palomino

by: foo rider yo

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:35:38 +0000

“Palamino is gone for the same reason the Mantra is gone. Klein has no original FS concept. (Sweetspot/Maveric)”

That is not necessarily true. Think of the popular bikes and suspension designs and there is a alot borrowed ideas out there.

Cannondale’s Prophet and Rush line is just a rehashed single pivot.

Turner has no original designs too. He used to use the Horst, then switch to Faux-Four, now he’s using the DW link. None are his ideas or unique, yet his bikes are cultish in following.

Specialized didn’t have an original idea either and they bought their idea from Horst, which first appeared on AMP bikes.

So the decline of Klein has little to do with their lack of a unique suspension design.

Trek has just chosen to focus their marketing and research around their many other brands like Gary Fisher and Trek itself. There’s only so many Trek brands that a bike shop can carry and support and in the end Trek just chose to shelf Klein.

by: dbruce

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 00:44:03 +0000

Palamino is gone for the same reason the Mantra is gone. Klein has no original FS concept. (Sweetspot/Maveric)

by: Administrator

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 15:17:43 +0000

I spoke to a Trek/Klein rep at the Chicago Bike Show yesterday who basically confirmed that the elimination of the Palomino from the Klein line was due to the patent disputes over the suspension similarities to the Turner ML-7 in the bottom brakcet. Seems it was easier and cheaper to let the Palomino go, than to fight for it in court.

by: SOGOAK

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 18:49:21 +0000

I noticed this too. I was just on www.kleinbikes.com. Not only have they eliminated FS, there is no more menu of gradient fade paint. There is a sentence speaking to special order paint, but I think that is purely one-off custom. They added a history section that is pretty cool.

I love my Pulse Comp. The pros outweight the cons for me. The big differnce is the standard headset. I spent the extra loot for Chris King, it looks trick and is a permanent solution. The Cons- Major-My early run frame has a non-replacable derailure hanger, so if I toast that hanger, it’s going to become a single speeder. At which point I will consider FS or hope like hell I can get an Additude…

The other con is the lack of internal cable routing, but I don’t care about it.

I beleive Trek adopted Klein’s alloy(possibly vice versa), but they haven’t adopted the special gradient tubes and stays. The rear triangle on a Klein HT is harsh, but Uber effecient. I know the modern Trek and Fisher bikes are like Chevy and Pontiac. I hope they don’t kill off the “handcrafted science” like Bontrager frames…

That is the problem when big fish gobble up little ones.

Klein lovers maybe forced to buy Chevy or look to custom shops for the next breat ride.

by: Tod

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 02:53:36 +0000

I also bought a Palomino last year after riding Fuels, Cakes and pile of others. Mine, a leftover 2004 V, has been great bike and I am likewise disapointed that the plug has been pulled on the model. I work Saturdays at my LBS and we have a lone orphaned 05 Palomino in stock. I keep looking at it and thinking I should buy it and stash it away so I can ride mine without worrying that I cannot replace it.

by: DaveP

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 14:27:09 +0000

I own a Klein Mantra and a Mav ML7… I almost bought the Palomino but was not at all happy with the Klein implementation of the Monolink system, the seat tube was at a VERY odd angle. The early Mav’s were built by Klein so get one of those and be happy.

The ML7 is such a great ride that my Mantra is now hanging on the wall in my study as ‘art’…..