Having never ridden a Guni that is shiftable on the fly and hopefully soon becoming a Schlumpf Guni owner, I’d like to have a better understanding of the possible risks associated with riding these types of unicycles. As such, my questions are:
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How common is it to inadvertently hit the shift button and wind up in neutral?
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If the hub is tuned properly, is it still possible for the hub to malfunction and wind up in neutral without inadvertently hitting the shift button?
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If the hub is not tuned properly, is it possible for the hub to malfunction and wind up in neutral without inadvertently hitting the shift button?
I very much appreciate any and all feedback on this topic that you can provide.
- in my case, it is already a chalange to hit the button if i wamt to.
Never managed by chance.
One can adjust the buttons position if there is a problem.
2/3. never happend to me.
But the thought comes up every time im going full speed in hi gear…
I had problems with the hub slipping in the frame at hi gear.
Self made problem caused by to liquid oil.
It leaked …
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I have a 1st generation hub.
Inadvertently hitting happens sometimes while mounting and is no real problem, because you have time to decide to dismount or try to keep going in 2nd gear.
Only once I had freewheeling: I switched down to 1st gear in order to stop, heard ‘clack clack clack’ and landed ‘ok-ish’ just next to the feet of my boss. I think the shifting shaft was bent. I corrected the shaft myself some times.
Didn’t happen to me, but I heard that others had the problem with a broken hub, ask them if it’s true.
There is play in the hub and it feels so normal that you don’t realize when a crank gets loose. When it gets loose it can pull the button and lead to a full or half shift. Where half could freewheel?
I didn’t have loose crank shifting, but it was near by.
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Can‘t really say because I bought KH Spirit cranks (the curved ones that add Q-factor, thereby protecting the knob from being hit unintentionally) precisely to avoid this. With them on my 100mm wide Schlumpf I never hit the button accidentally. With zero Q cranks on my 125mm wide hub (ungeared) of the 36er I hit the cranks regularly with my heels. So, if I had a 125mm wide Schlumpf with zero Q cranks I would prolly accidentally shift quite often. Curved cranks are a good way to go, if you wanna be on the safe side (though only with 100mm hub as the Q-factor would in my opinion become too important with a 125mm hub.
My hub didn‘t have any malfunctions yet, but I think I‘ve done less than 200km on it and only yesterday started to shift on the fly. So I can‘t really make a meaningful comment on your questions 2 and 3.
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I only have 550 km on my g36 and I have not once had it slip into neutral due to hardware or human error.
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It can happen sometimes, but this should not be really common. Other than when jumping on the uni, I can’t remember accidently shifting. If you want to be sure you won’t shift by accident, you should wear some soft shoes. You won’t be able to shift with them, so no risk to inadvertently hit the shift button 
If the hub is broker, it can happen. If your crank are loose, it can also happen. If your bearing caps are loose, it can also happen. If everything works great… It should not happen.
Definitely. If the buttons don’t have play when pressed, then they can make the hub go freewheel. When adjusting your setting, you have to ensure the buttons still have space behind them when pressed. Otherwise, you may end on your butt
BTW, this is why having a loose crank makes Schlumpf hubs go freewheel: the crank pulls on the button, making the shaft travel some distance, but not enough to engage the gear. Et voilà! Freewheeling time 
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Much thanks for all your replies. The information you all provided is extremely helpful and most appreciated. 
