I was just getting ready to go out for my 6th guni ride when I noticed a squiggly piece of metal hanging off my hub. Upon close inspection, I noticed visible ball bearings and then I began to weep. My brand new Schlumpf appears to be out of commission and I’ve only had it for a week. I still need to write to Florian, but here are some pictures. Was hoping others might be able to provide some insight.
Not sure what insight I can offer… but it looks to me like it’s borked 
STM
I really feel for you. The expense and anticipation of getting these GUNIs setup is immense and to have it break down after 6th ride is truly a bummer. I hope you get things resolved quickly. I wrote KH when I was having a problem with mine and he was way more responsive than florian. Good luck.
i think something happened where your crank/framebearing might have carved off a peice of metal off the side of the bearing. Maybe your frame has a sharp inner edge that could have caused it?
thats what i thought…
but man that sucks, hope you get it all solved out.
Is it safe to assume I hold the record for the fastest hub break? I built the wheel on the 20th and it was done for by the 24th.
It seems like every day there is a new Schlumpf problem thread.
Are they really that bad? Do they break that easily?
looks like the bearing cage,it holds the ball bearings at even spaces around the bearing,unusual to have that fault but my guess is it’s an easy fix if the bearing surfaces are not scratched or gouged.You have only had it for a week …thats got to hurt.
I just took another look and there doesn’t appear to be anything that would have carved off any metal.
Anyone have a close-up picture of the knurled side of their hub I could see?
I think you got it! The top photo must be the bearing cage.
Totally bummed because I was going to do a mt. bike race on it this weekend.
A Schlumpf hub adds a high degree of mechanical complexity to what was previously a simple system. That complexity is located right in the place where the strongest forces are applied. You have to be prepared for the hub to be a little finicky, and a lot more prone to failure than other unicycle hubs.
New Schlumpf? Borked or no, where do I get me one of those??
Bummer about your hub. I haven’t heard about one of these cases not being resolved though. There is hope.
Z
dude, that sucks
I know your pain, my geared hub is in for repairs now too - mine took 6 months to break.
ro
Hello Perry, That is a horrible fail.
If I see it right, looks like the end retaining the bearings is sheared off. In six days? Wow, what kind of riding encouraged this fail? It must be a defect. I hope it’s a muni guni and it saw a good amount of action in those six (cold) days. Still, to cause a fail like this, you’d have to have more than blown out a few muscles or joints or your own in that period.
If your right leg dominates your riding, was the fail on the right side of the uni, or what? I’m wondering if a fail like this indicates that the wheel build should prefer the clamped bearing be oppose of your dominant leg side of the uni to reduce the stress? Not sure it would matter.
Hope the repair comes swiftly.
Hmm, I was just going to order one of those sexy hubs. And I think I will anyways, it doesn’t seem to be a very common thing to happen. What frame is it exactly that you had it in?
I’m following all these threads of broken KH Schlumpf hubs and wonderiong if . . . . it is worth it all. I like to go fast and far like the rest of us, but seems to negate one of the unicycles major attributes: simplicity.
Ok, so if I have a broken one, I’m gathering that to send the broken hub to Europe for repairs, one has to remove it from the wheel first. . . unlacing the spokes, yes?? I guess that means that the two skills of GUNI riding and wheel building are linked if you have one of these hubs.
Too bad there isn’t some way to develop local (USA) expertise and basic parts and service right here without having to go to Europe. . . I suppose this is the curse of having such a tiny worldwide market that is interested in this product.
Not that I want this to happen, but at what point does Florian get tired of repairing all these hubs and decide to redesign them or quit making them?
That said, I still really want one.
B
Aw, Perry, that sux. I think I’ve at least got the record for most repairs (it’s only 2, but has anyone else had to send back two hubs for repairs?).
The good news is that Florian is really great about fixing hubs when they turn evil. The bad news is that you still have to ship the damn thing back to Switzerland. It’s not like that’s cheap in and of itself. And taking apart the hub, etc – what a pain (I know! Really I do).
I’m glad that you didn’t get hurt as a result of a catastrophic fall from the gears messing up. I’ve had a few such falls and will not ride a guni sans helmet, even in low gear. Why take the risk?
I hope you get the replacement hub fast!
(I accidentally typed ‘hug’ in the previous sentence. I hope you get a lot of hugs, too. You know I’m good for one.)
I’ve broken my hub twice. Once before RTL my bearings failed and towards the end of the race my bearings were failing again. I sent my hub
Back right after the race and I haven’t gotten it back yet. So far, the repair turn around has been unfortunately slow, but I bet florian has been really busy.
Kevins hub failed in the same way as this one while in a standard kh frame, so there may still be a design problem that needs to be worked out.
Corbin
Any update on this? I am curious as to what the problem was.
me too.
I sent the hub back to Florian last week, but I haven’t heard anything yet. Based on the pictures, he said it appears the large diameter bearings had completely disintegrated.
I’ll keep everybody posted.