Mountain Biking - Bought a new MTB but now confused (Framesize)

Hello there, new forum member here and my first post. I found this board about a week or so ago and did some research for a new MB. Seems there are a lot of knowledgeable posters here too! Anyhoo...

I ended up getting a Kona Nunu, with a size 16 frame. The person I had hoped would be at the shop and had helped me the week before wasn't there (Big Bear accident), so I ended up just going with another salesman. I made sure to ask if the bike was the right fit (I am about 5'6", with a 29" inseam w/o shoes, 30 with). He pretty much said I would be fine; he also mentioned that he noticed that I had a larger torso proportionally to my legs (at least he put it kindly!). So I bought the bike and took it out for a cruise. Also, he basically said if I could stand flatfooted and have some room I would pretty much be ok.

So I was pretty much fine with the bike. Then I read in the manual about standover height and space between and this got me thinking whether or not I got the correct framesize. The Standover height of the Nunu is listed as 28". With shoes I have about an Inch and a half of space, but I noticed it is kind of a tight fit. My last bike was a Specialized Hard Rock with a 14" frame, sometimes I felt a little scrunched but it did quite nicely.

My question is, am I overanalyzing this? I'm pretty sure I made a decent choice, but I am the type of person who is always second-guessing myself. I called the LBS back and asked them, they actually said with 29-30 inseam that 16 may be small. So I am a little confused, if I could get some feedback I would really appreciate it. Thanks (sorry for the long post!) Oh, and I also went searched on some old posts and went wrenchscience.com too (said 15") but thought I'd also try here. For rides, will be doing just a few trails, nothing too extreme, maybe a few jumps and drop-offs here and there but not too much. And also some street cruising for fun.

mtb4fun, um I like a smaller frame, and Im 5'-8" and have a inseam of 28, a 16 seemed just fine to me.
Kona's have a nice sloping top tube, so you should have lots of room.

Scoob

if you've got several inches between the top tube and your nads you should be alright. I actually prefer a slightly oversized bike. I don't like being scrunched in a tight cockpit.

This is a very contraversal subject.
As we can all read from professional material such as David Brown web site,
there are no ONLY TRUE rules in choosing the correct frame size.
In my opinion, the most important is the FEEL. That's the priority. For example: When I was riding a "GIANT" bike in one of the stores, and size was suggested by the salesperson, I feeled very unsafe, since the handle bar was too close.
Then I bought a used bike, set on it, rode it, and was VERY pleased with the position. Later, I looked at the frame and found out it was 59 cm! While my height is 5'9, 59 cm is supposedly should fit people way over 6 feet tall.
So, go figure.
Buttom line, if you don't really feel comfortable on it, I would suggest to try other sizes.

Originally posted by mbt4fun
My question is, am I overanalyzing this?

Yes, but it's not unusual to have second thoughts. Based on everything you've mentioned thus far the bike sounds like it's sized properly. Any comfort issues can easily be addressed with a different stem once you're comfortable with your seat height and saddle set-back postion.

Enjoy the ride.

I think you're fine. Short legged/long torsoed people (including myself) don't really fit the "standover" criteria. Sidenote: this is why I like a frame with a very low top-tube.

I put a lot more emphasis on feel as well. The reach is important. If the frame is too small, you'll feel like you're hitting your chin with your knees. Too long and you feel like you're stretched way too far.

If the reach is good when you're seated, then it'll be fine!

Congrats.

Now, "WE WANT PICTURES" (unwritten bylaw of the forums) You can't get a new bike w/o sharing pictures.

L8R

With so many different designs of bike, you cant say that any "size" of bike is correct. You need sufficient standover to be safe, and 3-6" is usually safe. Then you need sufficient reach from saddle to bars to be comfortable. Set your saddle up fist (layback and height), then see if the bars are OK. If they are not, you have 2 options.
Get a different length frame.
Get a different length stem.
Most frames can handle some variation in stem length, but at the extremes, this can affect the steering response. I use an 8cm stem where the shop would normally sell with a 10cm. +- 2cm seems to be OK in terms of handling.

Thanks everyone for your replies! I went for a ride last night and I think I'll be just fine, although I was pretty tired by the end (and I only rode like 15-20 or so miles :eek: ) Guess I got to get myself back in shape! I'm glad I asked the question though, just to get everyone's opinion. Thanks again, I'll try to post a pic of the rig soon. For now this is from another website.http://www.konaworld.com/2k3/bikes_low/2k3_nunu_72x700.jpg


:beer: