Parts availability for discontinued Klein bikes?
Dave
anticipate riding for many seasons. This model has been retired as of
last year and it looks like a strong possibility that Trek may retire
the entire Klein brand soon.
This concerns me because the Palomino has bushing pivots with some
proprietary wear parts that are intended to be replaced periodically
(frequency of service is unclear, but definitely less than the lifetime
of the bike). Do you think I'll be able to get replacement parts two
or three years down the road? I'd prefer not to order the parts now,
since the pivots contain a lot of parts that likely won't need
replacing, but if availabity is a real concern I'd rather be safe than
sorry.
How good is Trek about providing parts for discontinued bikes?
Mike Jacoubowsky
> anticipate riding for many seasons. This model has been retired as of
> last year and it looks like a strong possibility that Trek may retire
> the entire Klein brand soon.
>
> This concerns me because the Palomino has bushing pivots with some
> proprietary wear parts that are intended to be replaced periodically
> (frequency of service is unclear, but definitely less than the lifetime
> of the bike). Do you think I'll be able to get replacement parts two
> or three years down the road?
Not likely to be a problem; Trek has been really good about taking care of
frame issues in the past, whether for a Trek, Klein, LeMond or Fisher.
Still, it makes sense to pick up whatever bushings there are that are unique
to that frame only (I don't recall if some of the bushings are used in Trek
models as well, but any that are would most likely be available for quite a
few years down the road).
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
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Diablo Scott
>>I have a Klein Palomino full suspension MTB frame that I like a lot and
>>anticipate riding for many seasons. This model has been retired as of
>>last year and it looks like a strong possibility that Trek may retire
>>the entire Klein brand soon.
>
>
> Not likely to be a problem; Trek has been really good about taking care of
> frame issues in the past, whether for a Trek, Klein, LeMond or Fisher.
> Still, it makes sense to pick up whatever bushings there are that are unique
> to that frame only (I don't recall if some of the bushings are used in Trek
> models as well, but any that are would most likely be available for quite a
> few years down the road).
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
> www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
>
Mike - no comment on the "retire the entire Klein brand soon" bit?
Mike Jacoubowsky
There are a small number of dealers (like ourselves) who do very well with
Klein. But there are a whole lot of dealers who don't know what to do with
them, don't understand that you can make a really nice frameset out of
aluminum if you care to, don't realize that aluminum isn't "yesterday's
news", and generally think that all aluminum bikes are alike. As a result,
Klein's numbers are dwarfed by big-Daddy Trek, and even by Fisher & LeMond.
There was some talk of making Klein available only to a select number of
dealers this year, but they backed down from that.
The future? Tough to say. Present frame platforms realistically have two
years more life to them before they seem dated, so there's not a whole lot
of reason to discontinue the line anytime soon. Plus, Klein gives them a
platform where they can experiment with new things that later get added into
the Trek line, such as ZR9000 tubing and the "SPA" elastomer road bike.
Klein has also been where they've perfected new ways to add graphical
pizzazz to bikes. So there are definite reasons to keep the brand around,
even if it doesn't sell in huge qtys.
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
"Diablo Scott" <diabl...@terra.es> wrote in message
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Dave
talking about) is that Klein will be gone within two years.
Here in Los Angeles, there are perhaps half a dozen Klein "dealers",
none of which AFAIK have Kleins on the sales floor. So basically in
one of the country's biggest bicycle markets, its impossible to test
ride a Klein. To me, its hard to interpret that as anything but a sign
of impending demise.
Mike Jacoubowsky
Which is really a dealer issue, in my humble opinion. What is it about
Southern California that they don't have the demand for Klein that we have
up north? I don't get it. As you say, you're in possibly *the* largest bike
market in the country... you'd think it would support more diversity than it
does.
But my perspective is perhaps a bit skewed and not representative. There's a
part of me that believes that I could go anyplace in the country and get
people interested in road bikes. After all, when we started, there was only
one other shop 'round these parts doing much road-bike biz at all, and
people often derisively referred to us as "that road bike shop" at a time
when everyone else was selling nothing but mountain bikes. Never could
figure that one out... nearly all of the riding people were doing was on
roads... roads... road bike... kinda makes sense doesn't it?
But getting back to Klein, somebody has to be into understanding that a bike
can be more than the sum of its parts, that it's OK to sell something that
isn't the answer to "What's your cheapest bike with Ultegra components?" You
have to show a Klein to someone, explain what makes it cool, have them ride
it. They won't sell by themselves (other than to people who are mostly
attracted to their understated-elegance in graphic design).
I would very much like to see Klein continue. Right now, one of the driving
forces for the brand has been sales in Japan. Don't ask me why, I don't know
why, but for some reason they go nuts for Klein in Japan.
--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA
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