Geared hub advice needed.

[cokernut]

I have just received a new geared hub and I am having great difficulty
in hitting the upshift button. Everytime I manage to hit it I am immediatley
thrown off the uni, possibly because I have slowed down so much trying to
find the button.
Any tips on technique would be appreciated.

[GizmoDuck]

Practice

There is actually not a lot more to it.

Some people hit the button with their ankles, others with the heel of their shoe. Some people rub it over the button, others give it a good kick.

[lunicycle]

fwiw (I’ve only had a GUNI the last week or so) what I’ve found helpful getting started so far is:

• going to a longer crank, which feels a bit goofy in 1:1 but definitely helps in making the shift to 1:1.5 and learning to ride 1:1.5.

• prior to shifting gears, position the foot making the shift as needed. for me that means moving the foot in towards the crank a little and positioning the foot further back on the pedal so my ankle is in the right spot.

• just as I shift up to 1:1.5 by giving my ankle a decisive flick inwards, I let off pedal pressure and anticipate the pause as the pedals slow relative to the wheel - the latter seems to help smooth the change, and have the legs ready to take the load .

• I pretty much do the same for shifting down to 1:1, but instead anticipate pedaling quicker just as 1:1 engages.

So far for me shifting up to 1:1.5 is lot smoother and more enjoyable. Shifting down to 1:1 seems like a lot of crazy spinning after the high gear. The main glitch hasn’t been falling off when changing gears, but making reliable contact with the shifter button, which isn’t a biggie as I just try to shift again next time around.

I’m using low shoes atm, I’ll probably get some mid’s/high’s so life is bit easier on the ankles shifting.

Apart from my usual riding I aim for a session each day of just riding back and forth changing gears, along with some easy runs in 1:1.5, trying to keep it smooth and getting a feel for how to control it etc. Takes a bunch of concentration atm.

My initial impression is that the jump from 1:1 to 1:1.5 could be too wide for a lot of off road use which is mainly what I do … maybe something more like 1:1.3 might be more useful during a ride, but that is probably due to my lack of experience on the GUNI.

[corbin]

@cokernut

I have just received a new geared hub and I am having great difficulty
in hitting the upshift button. Everytime I manage to hit it I am immediatley
thrown off the uni, possibly because I have slowed down so much trying to
find the button.
Any tips on technique would be appreciated.

I wrote a thread about this a while ago:

Schlumpf shifting techniques

Howdy, I have quite a few miles under my belt on my KH Schlumpf Nimbus 36, with 150mm cranks. I’m fairly proficient at shifting now; I usually up or downshift with one or two tries, and I (generally) don’t loose speed. Speeds at which I shift: I tend to upshift at 8-10 mph; I prefer shifting at 10 mph, and that is the usual threshold of when I decide I should shift. I tend to downshift at 8 mph; sometimes at 10 mph Up shifting at slower speeds is possible, but generally not efficient. It is …

[cokernut]

Geared Hub Advice

Thanks for the advice guys, already there is a big improvement.