Kitsky

Yea I got my Hounder in today and am setting it up. I watched the video a few times though and understand it. I started setting up the bike and ran into this arent the brakes to be on the outside of the handle bars......

atbman

Yep. I suspect the brakes are in that position because the bars protect them while they're being carried by whoever delivers it. Just slacken the allen bolts clamping them to the bars and pivot them forward (underneath the bars, not over the top) and then re-tighten.

alan s 

Probably going to want to rotate the levers or bars so that the levers are in front. Looks like the bars are swept forward, so probably rotate them.

CACycling

Looks like you need to rotate the bars. Make sure you go through the bike thoroughly. I cleaned and packed the bearings (rear hub had some metal shavings in it) and greased the seat post as well as the cog lock ring and freewheel threads. Took a bit to get the single-pivot calipers adjusted but they work fine. I also replaced the tires with some inexpensive, kevlar-belted ones from Performance and swapped out the BB for a Shimano one. My son is using it as his college commuter and has pretty much parked his car since he got the bike.

Steely Dan

yeah, it looks like a matter of rotating the whole bar 180 degrees rather than rotating the levers around the bar.

Kitsky

LOL thats what I ended up doing
sadly I am going to be returning it as its a titch to big X_X

Surrealdeal

Either that or rotate the seat and ride it backwards with your hands behind your back.

AdamDZ

Why do you think it's too big?

Kitsky

Ok when I stand over the top bar my lady bits are resting on the bar * I was however bare foot*
I will try to get pics to show what I am saying...

CACycling

Kitsky

Egads not that way

lostarchitect 

Just helpful advice: If you weren't sure if you needed to rotate the bars or not, you might want to have the bike set up by a bike shop or a knowledgeable friend, just to be safe.

Andy_K 

For future reference, it looks like the bars are sweeping forward a bit, so you'd probably want to rotate the bars and not the brake levers. The bars should sweep back.

ThermionicScott 

How often are you going to ride it barefoot? When I straddle my Bianchi Premio barefoot, my "man bits" are resting on the top tube as well.

SlimRider

Were your tires on and fully inflated?

Kitsky

My bike shoes are pretty thin so still not a lot of clearence. To be able to get on comfortably and off I am going to have to have a 52cm.

Yep tires on and fully inflated....

rumrunn6

wait do I understand correctly? are we all waiting for pictures of lady bits?

Andy_K 

I'd probably go with a 49 if the standover is bad enough that you feel like you need to return it. The standover height on the 52 is less than an inch lower, but it looks like the 49 has more slope in the top tube so you get a lot more standover without the bike being much shorter from seat to bars. The seat-to-bars dimension (effective top tube length), oddly, seems to be very nearly the same on the 49 as it is on the 52. The only risk real in going with the smaller size is that the seat post might be too short, but it's relatively cheap to get a longer seat post. You could use the Hounder you have now to figure out whether or not that will be a problem by adjusting the seat to a comfortable height, putting tape on the spot when the seat post meets the frame then removing it and making sure you have at least 5 cm between the tape and the minimum insertion mark on the seat post.

FWIW, you should have the saddle high enough that you have just a slight bend in your knee at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

hueyhoolihan

that headtube in the pic looks awfully short already, maybe 50cm or so...

CACycling

How tall are you? For comparison, my 5' 9" wife rides a 54cm road bike and the bike I pictured earlier is a 58cm. The pic shows it adjusted for me to test ride (I'm just over 6') and didn't change much when adjusted for my son (6' 1").

AdamDZ

If your um... crotch area touches the top tube just slightly the bike may not be that big, but it presses hard then yeah, likely too big. What's the frame size and what's your inseam? Measure your inseam carefully.

Kitsky

Andy, there might be a clearance of 1/4 of an inch between my bits and the bar. I am more worried that should I stop fast or get on wrong I am going to be hurting my pelvic bone. The way I had the seat *at the lowest setting* my legs just had a slight bend when peddling fully extended. Also the seat was about half an inch lower than the handle bars.

I am 5'7

I am not resting on the topar just brushing against it.

SlimRider

I say, just get the next size smaller and forget about it...

Kitsky

Yeah I think so, I have nearly broke my pelvic bone once before and do not want a repeat of that incident....

AdamDZ

Yeah, it sounds like you should get one size smaller so you feel more comfortable with the bike. There is no point riding a bike if you don't enjoy it.

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