RR: rabbit on a palomino

Monique Y. Mudama said:

The bike shop rented me a Palomino V. I'm actually eyeing the XV, which
has XT, but they didn't have one available for me to demo. Same frame,
anyway.

Eric and I headed off to Rabbit to test the bike. He was trying his new
multi-release cleats, too. (It turns out that shimano no longer makes
the SH50 cleat, only the 51 and the 55. So he's trying the 55.)

Long story short: I really liked this bike on climbs. When going over
rocks, waterbars, etc, I felt like I was dragging my old bike's rear up
everything. This bike's rear feels like it's climbing right up them
with me. Helping, even. I don't know if that's a fundamental
difference in the design or possibly just different settings.

On descents, I don't know that I felt a difference. It definitely
wasn't worse.

My body felt a lot more comfortable on this bike -- less cramped. This
is with an elongated stem on a small frame.

The only problem was shifting. In the smallest ring, I heard a lot of
clicking, and it really didn't want to shift into the middle ring, ever.
Lots of fighting. The shop tech said that's just an alignment issue, so
I will take it in tomorrow and then try again. I'm definitely not
buying the bike if the shifting issues persist, but if they can be
fixed, I'm pretty much sold.

Something cool -- At the top of the rocky climb part of the Overlook
trail, a guy who had been behind me complimented me on how I rode it.
Said I really nailed the climb. That's a new thing for me. Then, as I
was about to head out again, he said, "Nice bike!" ... and that's
definitely never happened to me before.

The shop will credit any rentals toward the purchase of a bike, so I'm
going to keep it overnight and play with it again tomorrow -- and if I
do order it, I'll keep the demo till mine gets in.

I got my Palomino in Feb 2003. By and large I've liked it a lot. It
climbs just as well and descends much better than my old HT. No
problems with Bob (Google my posts about it here). I would buy another one.
Some issues to keep in mind:
My first frame was warranteed because the seat post was slipping almost
from day one, probably caused by a bent post, related to the slack seat
angle (no issues w/getting it resolved by Klein). The new frame has a
steeper seat post, so this should be a bit less of an issue. But now I
look like a Major poseur because they gave me an XX frame even though
its got X/XV level of components.
I have not had issues with front shifting other than needing a harder
than seems resonable push on the shifter. My LBS did a modification
with a brass tube to guide the cable near the deraileur. Problem
solved. If you buy, I'll e-mail you pics.
Stand over height. I'm normal, to slightly leggy for a 5'7" male. I
can raise the front wheel about 2" before I have firm contact (but no
pain /-🙂 between my legs on a small frame size. I've had lots of
opportunities to hurt myself, but never have. I don't know if Klein has
a smaller size this year, or if you'd need it. Just see how you fit.
Try pumping the rear shock to the psi recommended for your weight. When
I got my warranty frame it had a Maverick all air shock rather than the
Fox coil assisted shock of the original. It requires twice the psi (185
for me). Doable, but annoying.
Sweet demo deal! Buy it if you have fun riding it.

Cheers,
Shawn

"Monique Y. Mudama" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Then, as I
was about to head out again, he said, "Nice bike!" ... and that's
definitely never happened to me before.

That's because you were on a trek before. Getting a Palomino instead
of kona [censored] is probably a pretty good idea.

JD

"Monique Y. Mudama" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The bike shop rented me a Palomino V. I'm actually eyeing the XV, which
has XT, but they didn't have one available for me to demo. Same frame,
anyway.

snip

Quoted message said:

The shop will credit any rentals toward the purchase of a bike, so I'm
going to keep it overnight and play with it again tomorrow -- and if I
do order it, I'll keep the demo till mine gets in.

--
monique

And now for an important question. What color is it?

http://custom.kleinbikes.com/mountain/options/larger.asp?image=../images/pai
nt/large/palomino/HawaiianLei_lg.jpg

I can't say that I like most of their color schemes. The Hawaiian's
beautiful, the x-ray's cool, but I think I'd probably just do red.

--
DTW .../\.../\.../\...

I've spent most of my money on mountain biking and windsurfing.
The rest I've just wasted.

On 2004-06-06, JD penned:

Quoted message said:

"Monique Y. Mudama" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Then, as I was about to head out again, he said, "Nice bike!" ... and
that's definitely never happened to me before.

That's because you were on a trek before. Getting a Palomino instead
of kona [censored] is probably a pretty good idea.

The Kona didn't really speak to me, anyway. I felt like I was riding on
of those old-style bikes with the huge "U" shaped handlebars -- but
that's probably just because the bars on the thing were way too wide
for any non-bodybuilder human.

--
monique