Klein Mantra Vintage Bike
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Klein Mantra Vintage Bike
13 Comments
  • 10 0
 Klein's had the best paint jobs ever.
  • 3 0
 I still have my 1998 Manta Race. It climbed like a ferret up a trouser leg. But going down?. Mt friends always were waiting at the bottom. Sometimes they would come back up to meet me with their first aid kits at the ready. It was so truly shite (as was I no doubt) downhill and when cornering on lumpy ground (so much wheelbase HA change, meant optional steering control).
One of the nurses in the local hospital joked about keeping a bed free after my 3rd visit, having been ejected OTB.

13 years after my last offroad ride on it, I tried mtn biking again on a BMC Trailfox. Not the latest geometry by any means, but it was trans-formative. Suddenly I could do things I never could despite lack of skill.

But for some reason I still love the Mantra and am going to resuscitate its craped out bits so I can ride it on nothing rougher than graded dirt road.
  • 1 0
 Had one.
Killed me on a descent. I still suffer.
'Needed to press my sternum to the saddle and lift my feet to keep the tail down.
Climbed like a squirrel though.
A "Super Model" in its time and like so many SMs, it did little more beyond looking good.
  • 1 0
 Good ole Mantras. I have had and or still own many of these ranging in year models and purposely bought them lol. Yes incredible paint jobs and incredible climbing. I currently own 2 models,1997 Mantra Comp and 1998 Mantra Pro. In the process of retro moding the 97 to a new SRAM 1x11 drive train with a Marzocchi All Mountain AL fork. Still ride them hard and they make quite the conversation piece when you unload one at the trail head.
  • 4 0
 Ah the old unified rear triangle design. Don’t miss that one to much.
  • 1 0
 I dunno, the Pipeline was pretty sick
  • 1 0
 I had that bike, it climbed like crazy. Thing is, that unified rear triangle was hell bombing down, the bottom bracket moved as much as the travel, the pedals were all over the place.
  • 1 0
 I had a Trek Y-SL200 at the time that also had a URT design, same idea on those.
  • 2 0
 yah but this bike was crap.
  • 1 0
 2/10, pivot not high enough.
  • 1 0
 Back when HA were steeper than STA
  • 1 0
 Look! It's a Selle Italia Flite with a bike attached to it!
  • 1 0
 "Downhill Bike"







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