Another Klein Pinnacle

One day my partner came to me with the suggestion to take our bicycles with us on vacation. There her daily bike is very heavy and slow i straight away started to think about making her a very quick and light bike with the components i had lying around. That meant again a bike from the end of the eighties or beginning of the nineties and so my eye fell once again on a Klein Pinnacle!

After a short search on ebay i found a suitable frame with crappy paint so i could tinker with it without feeling guilty of removing the original paint. The frame arrived within a few weeks after purchase and so i started to strip the paint and mount the components.

The end result is very nice riding bike which is being used daily on fitness rides!

Specs:

Frame: Klein Pinnacle

Fork: Specialized Direct Drive

Headset: Shimano Deore DX

Stem: Kalloy

Handlebar: On-One Mary (finish stripped)

Levers: Shimano Deore DX

Grip: No name

Seatpost: IRD

Seat: Specialized

Seatbolt: Shimano Deore XT

Front brake: IRD Switchback

Rear brake: Pedersen SE

Bracket: Klein

Cranks: Shimano Deore DX 175mm

Chainwheel: Surly 36 teeth

Pedals: Specialize platform

Chain: Shimano

Cassette: Shimano 7 speed

Hubset: Shimano Deore DX

Quick releases: Shimano Deore DX

Spokes: Stainless

Rims: Araya RM-14

Rear derailleur: Shimano Deore DX

Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Racer 26"x1,5"

Updates

After having ridden my bikes for some time it once again became time to fine tune them.

Specialized S-Works steel:

I grew tired of the single speed setup so i updated it to a 7 speed configuration by adding a Shimano Deore XT rear derailleur and a Suntour barcon shifter. The tires were changed to a skin wall Panaracer Smoke and Dart set and Specialized pedals were installed.

Klein Pinnacle:

There i'm planning to ride more on the road, this because i made a bike for my partner, i added the Tom Slick 1.4 tires again. For comfort i also added a Seven titanium handlebar.

Klein Performance:

I found that the reach and the drop of the handlebar were too much for me so i replaced the 3TTT stem and handlebar with a short reach Nitto Dirt-drop stem and a On One Midge handlebar which also has a nice outward flare on them. Also i changed the seatpost to a Nitto Specialized S-Works one because i needed the IRD post for my partners bike. The pedals were replaced with some nice Shimano platforms because i use the bike more with sneakers.

Klein Performance

The past summer i have not ridden much. I just could not get me to go to a mountain bike trail mostly because they are quite far from my house. The area i live in is flat agricultural with the steepest and longest obstacles being the bridges across the waterways perfect for a new project a road bike!

In the eighties before i came in to contact with mountain bikes i owned a very neat Jan Janssen Tour de France road bike. It was equiped with a Shimano 105 groupset and came in a La vie Claire color scheme as sported by my hero of the day Bernard Hinault. My outfit was also from the La Vie Claire team. I loved the bike and rode quite a few miles on it before i sold it to buy my first mountain bike a Scott Windriver.

Being very happy with my Klein Pinnacle i decided that my road bike also should be from Klein so i started to scan ebay for one in a 60cm size. After a month or so i found one. It came in a bright orange color together with the original fork and pump. The problem that came forth was that the seller was not very willing to send it overseas so i called in the help of Noah to sort it out and, the fine man he is, he did so.

A few weeks later the bike arrived in a big box. Inside was the frame set but straight away i noticed the paint job was in far worse condition than could be seen in the pictures. There was only one remedy and that was to strip it to it's raw form. The stripping costed me more time than estimated but the result is very nice indeed. The fork i kept in it's tatty orange finish as a reminder that i'm not one of those shaved  and smooth looking roadies but a rougher mountain bike guy! The components i selected as a salute to the Jan Janssen tour de France, a Shimano 105 group set (1055) with box rims and skin wall tires.

The frame was advertised as a Klein Performance but when i looked closer at it i am more convinced it was a custom job. The color orange was not a standard color, the frame only has bottle mounts on the downtube and the rack mounting holes on the seatstays are missing.

Specs:

Frame: Klein Performance

Fork: Klein

Headset: Shimano 1055

Stem: 3TTT

Handlebar: 3TTT

Brake levers: Shimano 1055

Tape: Cinelli cork

Seatpost: IRD

Seat: Selle Italia Turbo

Seatbolt: Klein

Shift lever: Simano 1055
Brakes: Shimano 1055

Bracket: Klein

Cranks: Shimano 1055

Chainwheel: Surly 44 teeth

Pedals: Cranks Bros Candy SL

Chain: Shimano

Cassette: No-Name 7 speed

Hubset: Shimano 1055

Quick releases: Shimano

Spokes: Stainless

Rims: Campagnolo Lambda Strada

Rear derailleur: Shimano 1055

Tires: Challenge Strada

Klein Pinnacle part III

Ah finally the trees are growing green the summer is coming!

This winter i hardly touched my bikes, the shed was just to cold and the roads to wet to enjoy cycling or wrenching at all. But now the temperature is nice again the inspiration to finish the Pinnacle has returned. After riding the Klein on the road past fall i concluded that i was trying to copy the comfort of my S-Works by fitting the dropped bars but that it wasn't working at all. Further more the fitting of the five speed cassette was not to my liking at all. Change was needed!

So i went on ebay and found a very nice, smoothly shaped Suntour stem. It reminded my straight away of the sanded curves of the Klein. It also has a high rise which results in a comfortable riding position. After winning it for a very low price i received the package from Australia in a very short time.
Just before the stem i also won an auction for some IRD Switchbacks and had them posted to me from Canada. Amazingly the costs for sending a package from Canada was three times higher than a package from Australia! We live in a very strange World...

So the stem was replaced and the silver bar, that came originally on the bike, was refitted again just as the Dia Compe brake levers and the Shimano Deore XT thumb shifter. The cassette was replaced by the original six speed Shimano Uniglide  cassette. After putting on some new cables it was ready to go!

Specs:
Frame: Klein Pinnacle
Fork: Klein Spinner
Headset: Shimano Deore DX
Stem: Suntour XC
Handlebar: No name silver
Levers: Dia Compe 182
Grips: No name
Seatpost: IRD
Seat: Selle Italia Turbo
Seatbolt: Shimano
Front brake: IRD Switchback
Rear brake: IRD Rotary
Bracket: Klein
Cranks: Shimano Deore XT 180mm
Chainwheel: Surly 36 teeth
Pedals: Suntour XC Comp
Chain: Shimano
Cassette: Shimano Uniglide 6 speed
Hubset: Shimano Deore XT
Quick releases: Shimano 

Spokes: Stainless

Rims: Araya RM-400pro
Rear derailleur: Shimano Deore XT (short cage)
Tires: Panaracer Smoke II and Dart II 26"x2,1"

Klein Pinnacle part II

After thinking about which way to take the build of my Klein Pinnacle i came across a post on a vintage mtb forum about a converted Cannondale. The whole idea about that converted Cannondale was to make a bike in the spirit of the bikes made by Charlie Cunningham.  That meant talking an old u-brake compatible Cannondale frame and fit all kind of components on it that Charlie might have used. The result a Canningham! After studying the concept a bit more i also came across the Kleiningham which is the same idea but than with an old Klein frame!

So there it was the concept for my Pinnacle a Kleiningham. The problem straight away was that i do not own or want to own any of the components that are usually to be found on a Cunningham. What i do have is some very nice IRD parts and a stack of components to build a few bikes. The build was on!

The frame was stripped of it's paint and the fork refinished in satin black. The frame was sanded down for a few hours until raw but smooth. The rear wheel i had was 135mm spaced but the frame needs a 130mm spaced wheel. I changed some spacers on the rear axle and made it fit without the wheel needing to be redished. The catch was that a normal cassette wouldn't fit so i use five speeds. The rest is all standard.

Specs:
Frame: Klein Pinnacle
Fork: Klein Spinner
Headset: Shimano Deore DX
Stem: Nitto Dirt-drop
Handlebar: On-One Midge (finish stripped)
Levers: Shimano
Tape: Cinelli cork
Seatpost: IRD
Seat: SDG Bell-Air cromo
Seatbolt: Shimano
Front brake: IRD Switchback
Rear brake: IRD Rotary
Bracket: Klein
Cranks: Shimano Deore XT 180mm
Chainwheel: Surly 40 teeth
Pedals: Cranks Bros Egg-Beater SL
Chain: Shimano
Cassette: Shimano 5 speed
Hubset: Shimano Deore XT
Quick releases: Slow-release
Spokes: Stainless
Rims: Araya RM-400pro
Rear derailleur: Shimano Deore XT (short cage)
Tires: Ritchey Tom Slicks 26"x1,4" (use it on the road until next spring)