Yeah, I loved most of my steel bikes. Rode them exclusively for a while, other than a few full suspension bikes I had.
But I just bought my first aluminum mountain frame in almost 2 decades, and I have to say I'm so impressed by how far other materials have come in the ride quality dept.

As for KHS< I really wish i'ld held onto this bike. KHS Aero Comp frame, Reynolds 853 main triangle. It was great.

 

KHS Montana was mountain biking magazine bike of the year for 1996 if I recall correctly.
Good bikes back then indeed.

Their fade comes b/c they use off the catelog frames. Look at their dh, enduro bikes. Is the same as bikesdirect.com. Their ebike is also still using the pregnant battery hump. Zero development.

 

I worked for a KHS dealer back in the mid 90's and we all loved their bikes. I even owned one of their steel hardtails for several years, great riding steel frame. But we couldn't give them away to customers! They just didn't sell which was a shame because they really were great bikes.

 

But we couldn't give them away to customers!

I always thought that something about the name KHS made it sound cheap. Not sure if was the "K" in the name like "K-mart" or being a type of tla - initial based or something else but, imho, the brand name didn't hold enough recognition (IBM) or swagger (HBO. MTV) to grab you. Weird, I know.

Edit: nice bike btw.

 

They made some great True Temper steel frames back in the day. There were a lot of great True Temper frames in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I typically rode Tange Prestige and Ritchey Logic steel frames back then, but I understand the True Temper frames were supposed to have a similar ride. I still ride steel bikes, but now my steel bikes are Reynolds 853 frame.

 

I still have my '93 KHS Montana Pro in pieces in the basement. Loved that bike and it was my first true mountain bike. It came with a XTR/XT mix, Rockshox Mag 21s and rode great. The forks are toast and I took it apart to rebuild but just never got around to it and it's super hard to find a reasonably priced 1" steerer now a days that takes cantis.

 

I still have my '93 KHS Montana Pro in pieces in the basement. Loved that bike and it was my first true mountain bike. It came with a XTR/XT mix, Rockshox Mag 21s and rode great. The forks are toast and I took it apart to rebuild but just never got around to it and it's super hard to find a reasonably priced 1" steerer now a days that takes cantis.

I might have one. It’s a Judy XC.

 

I remember them as having the lightest production bikes. In 93 with XTR and a rigid fork, they were claiming 19.5lbs.

 

Rode and raced a team st back in the day… great bike !
It cracked and the company gave me a Alite to replace it, still have the frame in my basement.
I don’t think KHS ever got the respect they deserved as the above poster said

 

I had a ProST frame that I raced for a couple of seasons and then turned it into a singlespeed with a White Industries eccentric hub. Great frame, KHS always had nice geometry and the True Temper tubing was sweet. Never cracked mine but damn, the elastomer kept making fart noises no matter how often I took it apart and cleaned it and slathered it with Slick Honey.

I agree, KHS (which stood for Knowledge Health Strength if anyone was wondering) did not get the respect they deserved.

Grumps

 

I had a 93 mtb, I think the model was pro. Everything was great except their geometry on tight steep woods: short wheelbase, steep angles, low bb. It came w/ a RS 21. I really liked the feel from the small diameter tubing but in my trails, it did not work.

 

The shop I worked at carried Marin, Iron Horse, Kona, and Breezer bikes. I never really heard much about KHS so I'm glad to hear they made frames that were better than the brand would suggest.
Other than great paint jobs and craftsmanship, what would be a difference in ride quality between a mass produced (but higher end) steel bike vs. a small US builder?

 

The shop I worked at carried Marin, Iron Horse, Kona, and Breezer bikes. I never really heard much about KHS so I'm glad to hear they made frames that were better than the brand would suggest.
Other than great paint jobs and craftsmanship, what would be a difference in ride quality between a mass produced (but higher end) steel bike vs. a small US builder?

If all things are the same (geometry, tubeset, ect.) there isn't any difference. I owned 90's made steel Fuji, KHS, Trek, and Bontrager frames and there was some difference mainly due to geometry and tubing size. All four used True Temper tubing but the Trek used oversized so it was the stiffest and heaviest and the Bontrager used slightly different geometry and fork offset so it rode a little different. But all four were good riding bikes and were well made.

 

I found a photo from a local race years ago, it really puts it in perspective how far bikes have come though. Those skinny steel tubes !

 

Good call on singlespeeding it, bet it made a great one. That bike was a great climber , had a steel Jamis around that time too. I think the KHS rode better, maybe it was the hockey puck elastomer!

 

Those skinny steel tubes sure are skinny on those KHSes. They looked anorexic when they came out compared to the large diameter alloy bikes of the time too.

It was a weapon as a singlespeed. My wife has a Team ST too, the elastomer was replaced with a cut down fork spring by the original owner. I currently ride a Funk La Ruta titanium softail, I'm a bit of a softail tragic!

Grumps

 

That's a beautiful bike. I've had a few steel Khs bike they rode really well. I wish I kept the Khs Team frame