new Klein rascal size and cable liner questions

[eshew]

I finally picked up the Klein rascal I've been searching for my wife. I was told it was a small and took it on faith that it was. Doesn't seem to be that small though. The wife is 5'2 and the bike seems to fit me quite well which is just going to get me in trouble Can anyone educate me on the size?

Also the rear brakes are all screwy. Obviously the po thought v brakes were a good choice but I think canti's are the only choice. I need to run some longer cable liner through on a new cable. Where can this liner be found?

Thanks for the help guys!

[emoe]

Flip the bike over ... the underside of the bottom bracket will have the serial number.. the first two digits are the size. My Rascal is a bit older and uses thin teflon liners inside the tubes and then you transition to standard cable housing.

[colker1]

Klein sizing is different.. a 19in will fit like a small medium. I like the color.. a lot.

[eshew]

I've got the bike sitting down at my storage garage (ie parents) at the moment. I didn't have room to bring it and the dog. But I did take a peak at the serial and couldn't gather anything from it. I wasn't looking that hard though.

I did some research on the cable liners and found some on ebay for around $20 shipped. They don't look like much but I don't want to run naked cable against the seat tube and risk ruining the paint. It looks like as the rear brake cable comes out it should touch the seat tube and run through the cable guide centered above the brake posts.

Honestly I'll have to take a long hard look at the bike. Size wise it's going to be too large for the wife who I purchased it for and it may be a bit tight for me but that could be fixed as it's really not that far off. Plus I'm used to the 20" cannondale Beast which is a bit large for my 5'10 frame.It was a busy weekend and I barely even rode the bike, just pedaled it a bit on almost flat tires. Had to get the XC rig sorted and didn't want to toss both bikes in the back of the grand Cherokee and risk some pedal rub as the paint on that bike is immaculate. Just a small bit of chain marks and some chipping on the drive side dropout.

Regardless I think it's time to start shopping for some canti's unless someone here has some they want to get rid of...

[pinguwin]

This bike was designed for cantilevers and unless you have a Klein adapter (very hard to find) or cobble one together (call biketoolsetc.com and ask for parts for Klein adapter, he'll know), use cantis. They are very easy to find. The way you have it set up currently with the v-brakes, you'll get poor performance.

Don't buy the liners from the person on ebay. For $20, you can buy 75 feet of liner. It's just 1/8" nylon tubing available from any industrial supply house. PM for more information if interested or do some searches here on the forum. FWIW, your bike is a repaint and the bike is what Klein called a 20" or a medium, suitable for someone 5'8" to 6' or so.

[bradkay]

It is very important to make sure that you keep 4" (100mm) of seat post inside the frame. Basically this means that the bottom edge of the seat post comes in below the bottom of the top tube/seat tube junction. Failure to do this can result in the upper portion of the seat tube tearing off, taking a chink of the top tube with it. From the photos, I believe that pinguwin is right: that looks like a 20" frame and so should fit you. If the wife is 5'2", then you want to find her an 18" frame, which can be recognized by the brake cable wrapping around the seat tube via a "macaroni noodle".