47 years on the Unicycle, 10 years on a 36er, and now, will be in a higher gear for the very first time tomorrow. 137/150 cranks Are currently set at 150. Oh yeah, and I’m 6’3 with size 13 shoes and 230lb.
Any advice from those with experience? Trying to shift, versus starting out in high gear? Tips and tricks for avoiding UPD’s?
I typically ride 15+ miles at a time and have a running or “tap and dive roll” high speed UPD every 400-500 miles. My head says I’m ready but my body may prove otherwise…lol.
Fire away with advice and ridicule. Appreciate you!
If your schlumpf is on a 36, you will have little chance to get a feel by starting in high gear (except if you fine a road going down and a post to help you get on the uni).
The best scenario IMHO is to find a quiet stretch of bike path or a long parking lot and get acquainted with the feel of the shift up and down at low-ish speed.
You will be surprised and dismount/destabilize at first but then you will understand the posture each shift requires.
Be patient and do not give up (but you know that already as a unicyclist ) as it is a fun tool !
I have medium experience with Schlumpf (only rode borrowed ones sometimes), but that may make me qualified for this.
I find it much easier to shift, mounting in high gear is hard for some reason. Even on a 19" with Schlumpf, I find it harder to mount it in the high gear, compared to mounting a 29". On a 36", even when mounting at a lamp post, starting of in high gear will be very tricky.
Shifting has it’s own learning curve, so UPDs are inevitable. So practice them somewhere safe, and at slow-ish speed. (It’s easier with some momentum though, so you have to find the “easiest” speed for you).
For some odd reason, it helps me to not look down when riding in high gear, I think my brain sees a wheelsize, and will translate that into the inputs that wheelsize should need. In high gear, that obviously won’t work. When I’m used to a geared uni, I can then start to look down with no issues, but when I’m on one for the first time in a while, I have to “readjust”.
Where did you get a schlumpf hub? Is it a recent purchase. I did a lot of searching for one, and I even called a couple uni shops who, at one time or another, sold these hubs. But, I came up empty handed; no one seems to sell them and I was unable to find any further info. Any info from you would be appreciated.
I heard somewhere or other on this forum that Schlumpfs are out of production right now because there’s no one to make them. If my memory serves me correctly, June 2021 was the estimated time until the next batch… that could be entirely wrong, though. Regardless, the only option is to buy used right now.
You’re right. The hubs were only a side project of Schlumpf. And since they have their books full of ‘regular’ orders, they do not find the time to produce some. Florian sold the whole bicycle gearbox product range to Haberstock Mobility a few years ago and the last thing i know from the unicycle hubs is, that he is looking for partners to outsource the production or maybe even sell the whole branch to another company as he did with the bicycle gearboxes. So I would not expect any new hubs to enter the market within the next months.
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) as it is a fun tool !