Klein is renowned for having amazing paintwork with bright colors and using oversized “Aluminum Power Tubing” providing a lightweight and stiff bike. The innovator was Gary Klein, which started as part of an engineering project at MIT in 1975.

 

My mountain bike has the serial number BAT798. BAT was the 1990 prefix and 798 is a hexadecimal number which means it’s likely the 1944th model produced. 1990 was the first year they introduced the Attitude, which was their top-of-the-line mountain bike model. It was dubbed “The ultimate off-road racing bike”. Multiple coats of Klein’s Durethane paint process make the bike really stand out from the crowd, with its Bright Green, White, and Magenta fade. This color scheme was often referred to as Team USA or Dolomite.

 

New for 1990, Klein introduced the Mission Control 1 a one-piece handlebar and stem combination, crafted from T6 heat-treated aircraft aluminum (naturally!) with titanium hardware. The bike has the original oversized aluminum fork with box joints and an oversized “25” headset. Its inner diameter is more than 50 percent larger than the traditional 1-inch size. Internal cable routing was fairly revolutionary at the time.

 

Even though the bike has a complete Shimano Deore XT M730/732 componentry, the bike uses a narrow Dia-Compe 986 rear cantilever brake as they stick out less than the Shimano cantilever brakes, so you avoid clipping your heels. Good thinking! 

 

The general riding impression, from those who have never ridden one, is that the oversized aluminum Kleins ride is harsh, when in fact, that isn’t the case. My bike is very responsive when pedaling, climbs well, and is very agile when you need it to be, helped by it only weighing 23.75 pounds. The bike responds well to most situations. It is a pleasure to ride.

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Thanks to Mr. Moose for the help with deciphering my serial number.