R800 to Cafe Racer!

[kickflip]

I love this philosophy. Like cast iron skillets and leather saddles, performance comes from a little simple maintenance. What wax are ya usin’?

I forget sometimes.....to reply to people directly.....please see above.....

 

[kickflip]

I tend to clean and wax my bicycles quite a bit also. It's a given that if it was wet enough to get the frame dirty that the wheels come off to be cleaned along with the inner fenders. I'm sure that everyone that I ride with would find that excessive. They can't even keep air in their tires.

Well that made me smile! (the air in the tires bit).....

 

[black lightning 1987]

The only thing i am pondering, indeed was pondering from the beginning was whether or not to remove the unused cable guide on the down tube. Running 1 x 8 i wanted to see how it felt, although i would be reluctant to add a front mech anyway, thankfully the gearing is ok (for hill country) and i can always swap the chainring or cassette accordingly.
That just leaves that cable guide.....sitting there with nothing to do.....

I would leave the cable stop intact.

 

[kickflip]

Thanks black lightening 1987!
You are the only person to comment on that particular aspect of the build.....
I was only looking at it (the cable stop) last night.....thought to myself.....'you need to ask yourself one question.....do i feel lucky'?
Hope you get the 'quote' and for now, you have saved ARTEMIS from possibly catastrophic 'tinkering'.
That's got to be a good thing.....

 

[letsbike]

I'd keep the stop too, and of course top off the air in the tires.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Thanks ever so much for the comments.
You should go for it! With the Super V.....
You are right though - you have to want to do it and 'be present' to undertake a project like that.
There are times of course, when you have to complete a stage entirely before stopping in order to achieve the desired result, but I didn't set myself any time targets if I could avoid it. That way, I never got frustrated or impatient and I was always excited to come back to the project.
The paint fade thing can look incredible. I think you would have to say Klein (bikes) were the masters at it, but I think those skills were lost when they sold to Trek.....
I suppose you could always try. If it doesn't work to your satisfaction, you could always strip and polish.....
Thanks again and good luck if you go for it. You must of course, document the entire thing!

Re Klein: I have an Aeolus that has a beautiful green/blue flip flop paint job. It was made after Trek bought the company but the bikes were still made in Chehalis at the time. I think my bike might be a 1995 but I don't have the catalogs handy.
As to the clear coat, I'd agree. I had a CAAD9 CX that had clear over polished and it was showing lots of problem areas when it was only a few years old. It will be easier to maintain if left bare.
I hope you kept contact information for the previous owner so you can show what you made out of the bike.

 

[johnny rocket]

brilliant build

 

[kickflip]

I'd keep the stop too, and of course top off the air in the tires.

 

[kickflip]

Re Klein: I have an Aeolus that has a beautiful green/blue flip flop paint job. It was made after Trek bought the company but the bikes were still made in Chehalis at the time. I think my bike might be a 1995 but I don't have the catalogs handy.
As to the clear coat, I'd agree. I had a CAAD9 CX that had clear over polished and it was showing lots of problem areas when it was only a few years old. It will be easier to maintain if left bare.
I hope you kept contact information for the previous owner so you can show what you made out of the bike.

Yes, I think you have to concede - Cannondale and Klein made the most aesthetically pleasing bikes, but Klein takes top spot.
I saw a collectors 'stable' of Kleins a couple of years ago.
Mind bogglingly beautiful.....so much colour.
I can't even imagine the 'value' in that one room.

 

[kickflip]

brilliant build

Thankyou, very kind of you to say so.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Yes, I think you have to concede - Cannondale and Klein made the most aesthetically pleasing bikes, but Klein takes top spot.
I saw a collectors 'stable' of Kleins a couple of years ago.
Mind bogglingly beautiful.....so much colour.
I can't even imagine the 'value' in that one room.

Now that aluminum is out of fashion I should pay more attention to Klein listings. Perhaps there's a bargain out there somewhere for me.
I looked up the color of my Klein and it's called sea and sky, which describes it well.

 

[JohnnyD]

Now that aluminum is out of fashion

What heresy is this?
After many many years of working on aircraft with carbon, and other fiberous composites. I still won't buy a carbon bike. Despite their strength to weight advantages, if properly layed out, composites are still highly prone to impact damage that causes delamination and weakens the structure. Ask youself this question, why are the major stuctural components of aircraft, especially commercial and military, still made of aluminum or titanium.. Just my skeptical two cent opinion mind you.

 

[letsbike]

With paint that cost $1800/gallon, it's no wonder they were pretty.

 

[kickflip]

Now that aluminum is out of fashion I should pay more attention to Klein listings. Perhaps there's a bargain out there somewhere for me.
I looked up the color of my Klein and it's called sea and sky, which describes it well.

Beautiful animal!
I always liked the two-tone/fade (whatever you call that) colours.

 

[kickflip]

With paint that cost $1800/gallon, it's no wonder they were pretty.

Oh my goodness!
I never knew that.....but good point.
With the smooth welds and everything, i always thought Klein's were more like works of art than bikes.
I must confess.....having scratched the Cannondale 'itch' with the cafe racer, i am starting to crave satisfying the Klein itch.
I wouldn't remove the paint from a Klein (i couldn't).
If i can find a good one, which might be tricky, i would be tempted.....
If you know anyone selling?.....just saying

 

[kickflip]

What heresy is this?
After many many years of working on aircraft with carbon, and other fiberous composites. I still won't buy a carbon bike. Despite their strength to weight advantages, if properly layed out, composites are still highly prone to impact damage that causes delamination and weakens the structure. Ask youself this question, why are the major stuctural components of aircraft, especially commercial and military, still made of aluminum or titanium.. Just my skeptical two cent opinion mind you.

Nice comment JohnnyD.
I'm no engineer and i know very little about such things, but whenever the debate rages regarding carbon, my bottom line is always.....'in a bare knuckle fist fight between aluminium and carbon.....aluminium wins EVERY time'.....

 

[letsbike]

Klein has never been a bike brand that has been on my radar, but my interest was piqued so I went looking. Believe it or not they must have sold a bunch because I found twenty of them within a couple of hundred miles. About the same as the Cannondale brand, although most of the Cannondales are newer models. Here are a few of the pretty paint models. Most are of a more contemporary paint palate.

 

[JohnnyD]

Nice comment JohnnyD.
I'm no engineer and i know very little about such things, but whenever the debate rages regarding carbon, my bottom line is always.....'in a bare knuckle fist fight between aluminium and carbon.....aluminium wins EVERY time'.....

I will remember that the next time.

 

[kickflip]

Klein has never been a bike brand that has been on my radar, but my interest was piqued so I went looking. Believe it or not they must have sold a bunch because I found twenty of them within a couple of hundred miles. About the same as the Cannondale brand, although most of the Cannondales are newer models. Here are a few of the pretty paint models. Most are of a more contemporary paint palate.

I would have to say both (Cannondale & Klein) were incredibly innovative (and we should bear in mind this was the most innovative era of mountain biking so to stand out gives you some idea of how incredible both brands were).
For me, Klein edges it in the 'aesthetics' category.
Whilst groundbreaking and indeed fascinating at the time, some of their designs however, were (with hindsight) slightly.....'sketchy'? Further, although the frames were immaculate, they used after market suspension (as opposed to developing their own).
I'm thinking more of the Mantra here - like riding a bloody kangaroo at times.....
Cannondale however.....well for me their innovation has stood the test of time.
The Gemini STILL looks current - that slack geometry is everywhere.
And then a couple years ago someone invented the term 'gravel bike' (in order to tempt us to spend yet more money)......and here's the thing.....some gravel bikes have what is effectively a Headshock suspension unit.
They act like it's a new thing, but Cannondale were doing it decades ago.
First Headshock bike released 199? (someone might be able to enlighten me/us).

 

[JohnnyD]

I would have to say both (Cannondale & Klein) were incredibly innovative (and we should bear in mind this was the most innovative era of mountain biking so to stand out gives you some idea of how incredible both brands were).
For me, Klein edges it in the 'aesthetics' category.
Whilst groundbreaking and indeed fascinating at the time, some of their designs however, were (with hindsight) slightly.....'sketchy'? Further, although the frames were immaculate, they used after market suspension (as opposed to developing their own).
I'm thinking more of the Mantra here - like riding a bloody kangaroo at times.....
Cannondale however.....well for me their innovation has stood the test of time.
The Gemini STILL looks current - that slack geometry is everywhere.
And then a couple years ago someone invented the term 'gravel bike' (in order to tempt us to spend yet more money)......and here's the thing.....some gravel bikes have what is effectively a Headshock suspension unit.
They act like it's a new thing, but Cannondale were doing it decades ago.
First Headshock bike released 199? (someone might be able to enlighten me/us).

1992-93 the fork was refered to as Delta V suspension fork. In 94 it became the Headshok™.
Gravel, down country, trail, all mountain, etc.. are like most biking riding style terms are made up by some overpaid marketing monkey. If they throw enough poop out there something is bound to stick and people will flock to it. Gravel bike makes it sound tough, vs slight sturdier road bike with wider tires, or drop bar mountain bike. Most people stil call drop bars curly bars around here, and the bikes they are attached to, ten speeds!