It's 1992 and I'm working for a very well known UK accessory importer, when I get the call to go and look over a potential new store to potentially open as an account. I arrive at the store in Hazel Grove (Stockport area), to find it full of Kleins. At this point I'm in love with MTB's for the first time, but was never able to afford/justify it to myself or my girlfriend!
Wind on to 2004, I'm working for Cannondale, and while on a dealer road trip around Holland, I find this baby hung up in the warehouse. It's a 1993 Attitude in Gator Fade, with matching Rock Shox Mag 21 forks, Mission Control bar/stem combo, Magura Race Lines, Gripshift X-rays and a couple of odd pieces like the Coda crankset. The most unbelievable thing though, is that it was brand new and had never been ridden.
From that point, it still took me another year to convince the dealer to part with the Klein, though it was well worth the wait and the sum of money that exchanged hands.
Since then, well to be honest, it still hasn't been ridden and seems to spend most of its time in storage as I don't have enough room at home, and is still waiting for me to get my act together and source a front mech plus some period tyres/wheels, saddle, and seatpost to finish it off.
One day I'm sure I'll get around to it. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself...
Over to you
Got an interesting bike that you'd like to tell the world (or that subset of the world that reads BM) about? We're not too bothered whether it's singlespeed, geared, hardtail, rigid, FS or whatever - it just has to be something unique. We're looking for bikes that have had a lot of time invested in them by their owners. Send us a pic and some words about what it is and why it's like that and we'll run the best ones here...
1991 Manitou FS Retro Bike: A blast from the past as Peter McCarthy builds his dream superbike
Rob Lee's Iron Horse Azure Record Breaking Bike What bike for riding over 200 miles off-road in one go? Current South Downs Double record holder Rob Lee used this one
Daftpunk's Seven Sola Member's Machinery BM member Daftpunk experienced the perils and pitfalls of custom framebuilding, but it all came good in the end
Nicolas Vouilloz's Lapierre X-160 Member's Pro Machinery Multiple World Champ Nico may be semi-retired, but he's still fast as you like - we sneak a look at his bike
Sheldon Attwood's Spot Brand SS Member's Machinery Want to set a bike apart from the herd? Custom paint and subtle colour-matching is where it's at
Ian Leitch's IF Deluxe Member's Machinery Ian Leitch rode across two continents on his Independent Fabrication Deluxe. And as if that wasn't hard enough, he stopped off on the way to do some solo 24 hour races
The Highland Hacker Member's Machinery Montgomery Wick presents an adventure in bike archaeology
Jim Barrow's Kona Hei Hei Member's Machinery Some people buy a new bike every couple of years. Not Jim...
