Can Anyone Recommend a Person/Shop in the USA to Build my Schlumpf 36er?

General
1

Now that I have received my Schlumpf hub, I am hoping someone can recommend an expert wheel builder I can hire to build my geared 36er (or just the wheel).

I had planned to go to Silva Cycles in Campbell, California, but apparently they’ve closed down. They seemed to be the most experienced and qualified entity I could find in the USA to build a 36er wheel with a Schlumpf hub. Does anyone know if the wheel builder from Silva Cycles is available for hire as a freelancer? If so, any contact information you could provide would be most appreciated.

Assuming Silva Cycles and their wheel builders are not available, can anyone recommend a good alternative?

Thanks!

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Former bike mechanic, bring it to a shop that’s known for wheel building in your area. They’ll need the frame to help true it but beyond that if you’ve got the 36" spokes and rim most good shops can do the rest

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No recommendation here but a quick Google showed me on a forum this place was mentioned as doing wheel building / running classes:

If you’re feeling bold I’d suggest firing these guys a message:

They’re not wheel builders but their blurb does say they know the best wheel builders all around the world as they sell their tools to them.

They could be a good place to get your need and point you to someone they serve as a customer of theirs

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I’d add that good bike shops should probably be considered to be shops that are familiar with building high performance touring/racing wheels, and should not come cheap for such a wheelbuild.
Most bike shops will build wheels, but some will be closer to what I’d call wheel shaped, than actually a quality job. Likley fine for a runabout bike, but probably not so much for a unicycle wheel that costs as much as a high quality bicycle.

Also, expect to take it back to them after a few hundred miles for a final tune too, once everything’s settled and relaxed under load. If they query that as a concept, find another shop.

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Does unicycle.com USA not offer wheel bulding service, If they dont they might be able to recommend someone that can for you.

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I am sure they do, but historically they’ve steered clear of working on Schlumpf hubs I think.

Perhaps they didn’t want to be the place people go back to for issues…

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@JoshBuilt can you help

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I’m not sure if Bronson’s still in the area, but if he is he’d probably still work on it for you. Silva Cycles was a side project for him anyway.

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Thanks for all of your responses.

Thanks @Sexy, I may have to do just that.

Thanks for the links, @mindbalance, that seems like a good idea.

Thanks for the tips, @mowcius, if I can’t locate/hire the Silva Cycles guy, I want to be sure I find the right shop and your suggestions are most helpful.

@m00ms Unfortunately, Unicycle.com will not build a wheel with a Shlumpf hub and the only recommendation they had was Silva Cycles! @mindbalance was correct and his reasoning for why they might not be willing to do it is likely to be accurate, as well.

@Unikev Thanks for thinking of someone that may be able to help!

@tholub Thanks for the info. That would be awesome if Bronson is still willing to take on side jobs building wheels! Does anyone know of any way to get in touch with him? If not, I’ll see if I can find him on LinkedIn.

I suspect other people in the USA also purchased the latest Shlumpf hubs. If you guys/gals are on this forum and see this post, are you all building your wheels yourselves? If not, who’s building your wheel? Thanks!

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If it’s a 32 or 36 spoke 3 cross pattern it’s nice to do yourself the first time.

Take it slow, follow a guide, double check your work, and you could save $75 USD by the shops rates around my house.

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I’m not sure I’d be recommending the Schlumpf as someone’s first wheelbuild, unless you mean to just fit the spokes and then get a shop to tension and true the wheel.

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Is it harder than a regular wheel? But even just lacing it up could save some money and let the shop do the tension and true.

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In technique no, but if you don’t get the tension and truing correct then it’s a very expensive hub to be overly stressing and potentially damaging.

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Just to be clear because I am learning. We are talking about a tensiometer and truing stand and knowing how to use them, right? To me it seems like a regular build. They all should demand care.

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Yes. there’s no real difference in the build.

Tensioning and truing, and de-stressing same as you’d do with any other wheel.

As an example though I’ve built quite a lot of wheels and never had a problem, but for my carbon 36" build it took me about three times as long as I was determined to get the tensions within the margin of error on my spoke tension meter, and get it as as true as possible.

A non-symmetrical hub also adds some complexity, especially with determining the correct spoke tensions for your specific setup.

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Cool cool makes sense.

And for me personally, I tend to trust myself and ability over a ~75$ effort at the average LBS in the USA where I am at, all things equal. Then there is the added complication of it’s not a bike and how they perceive that. But that’s just me. Building wheels seems super complicated, and it can be at times, but it is doable with a few afternoons of reading and learning. Just my 2cents.

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And you want to be on the low side of the max tension of the spoke as the flanges of the Schlumpf have a history of splitting under over tension. There might be recommended tension out there, can’t remember from memory.
Apart from this, yep it’s a regular build.

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Apparently this is no longer an issue.

Florian can probably give a max tension recommendation.

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I needed a full rebuild in 2021 and found and used Yojimbo’s Garage in Chicago. My wheel was perfectly set up. I highly recommend them. It was around $250-$300 to pretty reasonable IMHO. http://www.yojimbosgarage.com/blog/

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Silva Cycles was our goto recommendation originally, I do not have a list of builders but a good local bike shop could help you with the build. Unicycle.com does not offer builds due to liability issues and not being able to offer a quick fix if anything happens to the hub serviceability wise.

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