Bummer! So is that the newest version with the longer shafts?
I got the @&$# shaft
Yeah, I get your pun. They got the money. I get to keep the shaft. No one really wants the longer shaft back. It’s a couple of pounds of scrap metal right now.
bungeejoe: That is so sad! You had about the same mileage on yours as mine did when it failed. Granted mine didn’t fail as spectacularly as yours, but I believe if I’d ridden it any further it would have! I’m still waiting, patiently, for my replacement…
I don’t actually think he was making a pun, but is this hub the new version with the longer ISIS axle? They had made the axle longer to get around the issue with non KH moment cranks that would tighten down and hit the frame.
I had the longer shaft version (ha ha) as well, but is sounds like the problem he’s having, along with a few of us, was the smaller inner hub bearings. Florian says they’re now building the “newer” version with the larger bearings and that rather than repairing damaged hubs with this issue he’s replacing them with newly manufactured hubs with larger bearings (check out the website). I can’t wait to get mine back! (drooling!)
Oh very cool. Well, my geared 36 has about 700 miles on it and it has shown no wear at all. I’m hoping it continues to function properly as it has so far, but it is great to know that Florian is replacing these damaged hubs. He is a great guy.
It is a huge bummer that people have had bearing problems, but Florian has been working through all the issues. I for one have mailed four hubs back to Switzerland (I own three). But, even with that, the hub is totally worth it. I have been riding my geared 24 a few times a week, and it is just amazing to take on the trails at high speed. I literally think it is a new genre of mountain unicycling; high speed downhill muni. Hopefully I can make some movies sometime soon to illustrate what I’m talking about.
–corbin
some movies of high speed muni on the geared 24 would be great Corbin!
also it sounds like you are still happy with your geared 24 after the trip to Africa, is that correct?
I’m fairly sure my hub will end up going into a 24 once it’s all sorted, so would be great to hear how it’s gone for you as I’d reckon you’ve probably done the most miles on a 24 GUni.
We had 4 geared unis in Africa (two 24s and two 36s) and they all were awesome. No problems of any kind and man did they take a beating. I now have almost 1400 miles on mine and it is great. This is my older hub - the newer one had the bearing problem and is still in Switzerland.
—Nathan
Yeah, I love the geared 24. I think it is my favorite unicycle. For me, it was perfect for the Africa trip. I could keep up with Nathan’s geared 36 most of the time, since the bumpy hills limited how fast one could safely ride.
Louise doesn’t like the geared 24; she feels it is slower than the ungeared coker, and would have preferred a coker on the Africa trip (but, it would have made traveling for two months very difficult).
I also still like the geared 36; it is perfect for any kind of distance riding. I would have rather had the geared 36 for the Africa tour, but it wouldn’t have been possible with all our traveling (that, and I wanted to ride the same thing Louise was using, and she doesn’t want to ride a geared 36 – it is just too fast and scary at times).
corbin
Is it too early to call dibs on her hub?
Currently, I only have two hubs (one is in switzerland right now)…I was thinking of using the third as a backup in a 26" frame.
corbin
You think you have problems? I only own two and one is in Switzerland. I need some more so we can keep up with you on Muni rides now.
awesome Corbin, and it’s great to hear the four GUni’s had no probs on the trip.
Also has anyone (who went on the trip) posted a summary thread since returning, with some pics and story etc? sorry if I’ve missed the thread, I’ve been looking out for it as it sounded like it would be a great uni adventure.
I’m hoping to write something up…soonish. I also still have to go through all my photos. I just posted a Madagascar video (not fast paced riding, but interesting, none the less).
corbin
Hey,
Regarding the bearings - it looks like one of the reasons for premature wear on the bearings was that we were too conservative in how tight we recommended the knurled bearing had to be clamped (ie. we recommended it to be tightened too much), resulting in the typical wear you get on a uni with overly clamped bearing housings. It wasn’t the only factor - hence why the new hubs are coming with larger triple bearings - but was a big factor nonetheless. The assembly manual has been updated with that change. You should find that only slightly more clamping than with a normal bearing housing is OK to keep the knurled bearing from turning (5-6 Nm). Feedback on this would be appreciated if you have a torque wrench and can quantify the minimum torque rating to prevent slippage on the knurled bearing side.
By the way I second that with Corbin having so much fun on the geared 24. My personal favorite is a geared 26 because I find that a 2.3" tire has lower rolling resistance in second gear, and the type of trails I’d take a geared uni on are suitable to the 26’er (e.g. all-mountain trails versus pure technical freeriding). If you typically ride with fit mountain bikers, this is an awesome setup for being better able to keep up, especially if your rides are split up by dirt road connectors between singletrack.
Kris
I had a feeling that this was part of the reason. I never had this issue with my geared 29 or 36, and I always just tightened the knurled side a little more than I would on a regular hub. I would always make sure that the wheel still spinned freely. You really don’t need that much torque to keep the gear from slipping. I use a multitool and hand tighten it (note a basic multitool does not have a lot of leverage, which is good).
I also find that the crank bolt torque specs seem a little too high, so I don’t go to that spec either.
Thanks for the response.
I managed to screw up my crank bolts by torquing them up to 54Nm, just to be on the safe side… So I agree, 55Nm is way too much for the crank bolts. I keep them at 50Nm now. They do keep coming loose though, so I retighten them about once every two weeks.
I use 25-30 ft pounds, which is 33-40Nm. I think 50Nm is too high, and deforms the soft aluminum. I haven’t had problems with my cranks coming loose.
corbin
Hey,
Thanks for the feedback on the axle torque rating. I’ll change this in the assembly manual.
Kris