Klein Pinnacle — The One That Followed Me Home, Finished
Update – Solving the bike's history: Thanks to the Klein community, the bike's story has become much clearer. What I initially believed to be an early-1990s Pinnacle is now almost certainly a 1994 model, built in November 1993, in the rare Puget Morning metallic grey finish. The discovery ties in rather neatly with the original Wildlife Cycles dealer sticker still on the frame. Wildlife Cycles is based on Orcas Island in Washington's Puget Sound, making it entirely plausible that the bike was originally sold in the same region that inspired its paint name. It's a small detail, but one that adds another layer of provenance to an already wonderfully original bike.
----
Some bike builds begin with a carefully chosen frameset, a spreadsheet and a clear idea of the finished machine.
This one started with a five-dollar Klein in a community bike shop in Everett, Washington.
I stripped the bike down inside the shop itself. The frame and fork were worth saving, while some of the other parts were either bought, donated back to the shop or exchanged for components from my 1984 Stumpjumper. When the guy offered me the Klein for $5, I suggested $20 instead. Five dollars simply felt wrong.
There was another clue to its previous life on the seat tube: a sticker from Orcas Cycles in Washington. I know very little about where the bike travelled before reaching that community workshop, but it had clearly remained within the Pacific Northwest—the same part of the world in which Klein built its reputation.
The Mission Control problem
The Klein Mission Control cockpit was one of the most important reasons to preserve the bike.
It is such a distinctive part of the silhouette: the integrated bar and stem, the long reach and the unapologetically early-1990s riding position. Unfortunately, the bars were also slightly bent.
That temporarily put the entire project on hold. There was little point building an otherwise considered bike around a damaged cockpit, but replacing it with a conventional stem and bar would have removed much of the Klein character. The Mission Control was eventually corrected, allowing the build to continue as originally intended.
I paired it with new Shimano Deore LX 3×8 shifters, black Paul Component canti levers and understated Ritchey foam grips. A silver Origin8 one-inch threaded headset adds just enough contrast beneath the dark cockpit.
It is not an obviously extravagant collection of parts. Look more closely, though, and it becomes a subtly Gucci parts-bin build.
Middleburn in the middle
The crankset is probably the centrepiece.
It is a new-old-stock Middleburn RS-3 triple with a red anodised spider. The polished arms work beautifully against the metallic frame, while the red hardware gives the bike a small amount of colour without overwhelming it.
I retained the original Shimano Deore LX front derailleur. Partly because it still looked good, but also because removing it would have meant disturbing the internal cable routing unnecessarily. Sometimes restoration is as much about knowing what not to touch as it is about replacing things.
Deore LX became the theme at the rear as well. XTR might be the more prestigious option, but for me LX delivers around 90 per cent of the quality for considerably less money. The subtle blue-grey detailing also keeps the drivetrain satisfyingly matchy-matchy.
Two complementary shades of Nissen cable housing run throughout the bike, adding another layer of detail that does not announce itself immediately.
Making sense of Klein sizing
The frame is generally listed as an 18-inch Klein, although measured conventionally it feels closer to a 16-inch mountain-bike frame. It also has a top tube somewhere in the mid-50-centimetre range—yes, I am mixing mountain-bike inches with road-bike centimetres.
That relatively long top tube prevents it from feeling as tiny as the seat-tube measurement suggests, but it remains slightly small for me. The very long Paul Tall and Handsome seatpost helps visually and practically, paired with a black nubuck Turbo saddle.
The resulting stance is unmistakably period mountain bike: plenty of exposed seatpost, long cockpit and narrow straight bars.
Klein’s own geometry tables add some support to the confusion. The 1994 catalogue lists the 18-inch Pinnacle with a 55.3cm top tube, while contemporary Klein technical material acknowledges that its sloping frame shapes can make conventional sizing difficult to interpret.
Not a catalogue restoration
I still do not know Klein’s official name for this colour.
Depending on the light, it moves between metallic grey, graphite and something slightly warmer. The evening sun brings the metallic finish to life, but the frame still carries its marks, scratches and history. I had no interest in repainting it simply to make it look new.
This is also not an attempt to recreate one particular catalogue specification. The Mission Control cockpit and original LX front derailleur provide the historical foundation; the Middleburn crank, Paul controls, Nissen housing and long silver seatpost take it somewhere more personal.
The Halo H-Block tyres complete the bike as something intended for dry tracks, towpaths and local exploring rather than display.
Pre-Trek?
My current view is that the bike is likely from Klein’s pre-Trek period, although I am happy to be corrected.
The Mission Control cockpit, one-inch threaded arrangement, internal routing and frame proportions are all consistent with early-1990s Pinnacles shown in Klein’s 1993 and 1994 catalogues. Trek purchased Klein in 1995, so a pre-acquisition date is entirely plausible—but without confirming the frame’s serial number, I would stop short of presenting it as definitive.
Whatever the exact year, this is still a Washington-built Klein that was discovered in a Washington community bike shop, carrying the sticker of another Washington bike shop on its seat tube.
That feels like enough provenance for me.
A second life
This Klein could easily have been broken down for parts or left at the back of the workshop. Instead, it has been straightened, cleaned, rebuilt and substantially upgraded.
It is not perfect. It is not completely original. It is not quite my ideal size.
But it now has a coherent identity: restrained from a distance, special when you begin looking at the details, and still capable of being ridden properly.
A five-dollar bike that I insisted on paying twenty dollars for has become one of the most considered builds in the collection.
Either way, the Klein Pinnacle has its second life.
Build highlights
Frame and fork: Klein Pinnacle, original metallic finish
Cockpit: Klein Mission Control, Ritchey foam grips
Controls: Shimano Deore LX 3×8 shifters, Paul Component canti levers
Headset: Silver Origin8 one-inch threaded
Crankset: NOS Middleburn RS-3 triple with red anodised spider
Front derailleur: Original Shimano Deore LX
Rear derailleur: Shimano Deore LX
Cables: Nissen housing in two complementary shades
Seatpost: Paul Component Tall and Handsome
Saddle: Black nubuck Turbo
Tyres: Halo H-Block