Origin of the Klein Bike
Klein Bikes are named for their namesake and designer, Gary Klein.
He began designing aluminium bicycle frames as an M.I.T engineering student back in the 1970s.
He then went on to become the President of the Klein Bicycle Corporation.
In 1995 Klein Bicycles was bought out by the Trek Corporation.
Trek only continued to produce Klein branded bikes until 2005, and it is not clear whether the Klein Bikes name will be resurrected.
However, they are still popular in Japan.
Klein Bikes really came to the fore in 1993 with its highly regarded (and mass produced), Quantum Pro aluminium frame.
The Quantum Pro had been specifically designed for road racing and boasted an integrated headset fork with threadless aluminium steering shaft for a head-set type stem.
Klein Bicycles led the way in the Cycling industry with many of their innovations.
Bicycle frames became cleaner and less cluttered with the emergence of the Klein Bicycle frame that saw the brake and shifting cables hidden inside the frame tubes.
Other innovations saw Klein develop off-road bicycle frames that were constructed with a system fondly known as … Mission Control. This new design eliminated the need for clamping bolts and excess parent material because of its unique one-piece welded stem-bar combination.
All of Klein Bikes frame technology was swiftly adopted by – and revolutionized – the rest of the bicycle frame manufacturing industry.