[QUOTE=johnfoss]
Robert took the brakes off because he wasn’t able to balance sufficient clearance with the flex in the “customized” frame.
QUOTE]
John, what’s it like riding at 36er guni w/o a brake?
It’s really not that big a deal. On shallow descents, you blaze. On moderate descents, you actually feel like you have more control than on a short-crank 36er, because you’re not moving as frantically; you can get up to 20mph fairly easily without feeling stressed. On steep descents…well, that’s what low gear is for.
Tom’s ahead of me on the “riding it downhill” experience. Small hills, or short and steep ones, no sweat in high gear. Beyond that, I’m downshifting. I would probably still downshift with a brake anyway though, as I don’t like going any kind of fast with the brake on.
I rode it about 40 miles on Saturday, almost all in high gear. I only used the low gear for a bumpy area downtown, and to give my crotch a bit of a circulation break.
The main point is, you don’t need a brake except for long or steep downhills, so if you don’t have any/many of those, you don’t need a brake. Plus it has 150mm cranks, which gives it good leverage to deal with the occasional steep hill in low. But for riding down Mt. Diablo (3400’ in 11 miles), the brake on my new Coker V2 was absolutely essential (and worked quite nicely)!
For reference, I went down Diablo on a geared 29er, and except for the 13% grade right at the top, I stayed in high gear the whole way, and only had a couple of turns where I felt I was on the edge of control.
I was way faster than the Cokers.
I’ve ridden Mt. Diablo twice on my Schlumpf 36er. The first time I was in low for the top/steepest 1/3 of the descent (summit to ranger station) and in high-gear for the bottom 2/3rds. It sucked not having a brake. I had to beg my unicycle to slow down for the curves so that I didn’t eat it. It was like trying to restrain a very strong,bratty, hyper-active child.
Going up, I was in low the entire time.
The second time, I spent much more time in low gear and rode much more conservatively when I was in high-gear. I would have been faster with my fixed coker with 125s.
A geared up 36er wants to go fast down hills, and it won’t take no for an answer.
When you say “low” gear, I’m assuming you actually mean the regular 1:1? Unless there’s a new 3-speed geared hub I don’t know about! That would be awesome actually to have a :5, 1:1 & 1:1-1/2 !
Out of interest, was it definitely flex in the frame? Just because I know on all the (original) Schlumpfs I’ve seen, there’s been a little bit of side to side play in the wheel, due to the extra set of bearings in the hub. This makes it harder to set brakes up perfectly. I’d guess the more beefy kh/schlumpf hub is likely to have less of this play.
Joe
Mine (new version) doesn’t have any side to side play. It’s rock solid in that direction. Of course there’s some play in the riding direction.
Finally got a chance to ride the Schlumpf/KH 24. Bumped into Terry, Jamie and Jim (training for Ride the Lobster) on the Venice bikepath and rode a few miles with them. Amazing speed for a 24 incher. Basic cruising speed is about 10.5 to 11 MPH pushable to 12 MPH if you’re in shape (I’m not - been out 3 months with a bad knee) and want to work. I figure 10 MPH on the trails is doable. I also think that with practice it’s possible to ride moderately rocky and techincal terrain in the 1:1.5 mode. We’ll soon see. On a good trail, going downhill is going to be an adventure, that’s for sure.
There’s gonna be some wicked UPDs on this thing . . .
JL
We know KH has been whaling on his prototype. Now it looks like you LA/SB folks are going to be the first, or among the first, good sampling of riders to really hammer this production version KH/Schlumpf Guni.
This is a cool moment in our sport, watching the very beginnings of a possibly huge innovation come into use.
Has anyone used a geared hub on a 20"? I mean, this opens alot of doors. Bigger gaps… Bigger stair sets… As far as rails are concerned, you don’t really need that much more speed. But the question is, will it be able to withstand the vibrations. Man I wish I had the cash to buy 2 of them. Both for 20", but the one would have a short life span.
I’m sure it is due to width more than anything else, and the wider KH hub will perform better on the large wheel.
corbin
is a Guni a geared Muni?
guni is any geared unicycle, doesn’t have to be a muni.
pronounced the same was as “Goonies”, which also happens to be an awesome team name for a registered Ride The Lobster team. 
A geared 20" would not work (or not for long). Those things you are talking about would apply a huge force to the hub, which is not what it is designed for. From the website http://www.schlumpf.ch/uni_engl.htm -
“This hub has been tested on both roads and rough terrain with drops up to 1.5 m. However, due to variables such as rider weight, skill, riding style, and terrain conditions, it is not possible to warranty this hub as fit for a particular level of terrain difficulty or drop height. While intended for mountain unicycling, it is not appropriate for agressive freeriding (big drops) or trials.”
-corbin
Shifting questions - I have only just begun to learn how to shift on the fly. Does anyone have any tips? I have been just trying to scrape my heel over the button as I spin the cranks, but only seem to hit it right about 1 in 10 times. Is it easier to just try and do a quick tap as your heel moves by? My pinned pedals with 5.10 shoes don’t give me a lot of play in my foot movement. I’m sure this will come with practice, but any pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Can you shift when hopping in place?
It is hard to describe my method but I believe that when the crank is in the 2 or 3 o’clock position i turn my foot inwards and let my ankle hit the button. I may be wrong on the point in the rotation when I do it. I believe that both David Stone and KH also find shifting with their ankles easier (but they are also using 125mm cranks). The 150s require the heel so it seems harder to shift (for me at least).
This works for me most of the time, but the heel method might be better because every now and then when I click the button in it wont shift right away so I may not be applying enough force to the shift.
I don’t think you would want to, but technically the answer is “no” because the cranks have to rotate 1/16th of a turn or so to engage the gear shift, but you could hit the button in while hopping (but this is only part of the shift process) and then try to pedal out of it. This would mean you would be hopping in place, hit the button, try to pedal (but the wheel wouldnt move right away until the cranks rotated 1/16th of a rotation) and then once it locked the gear in place you could pedal away. It just seems a lot harder than shifting while riding slow.
I rode a bunch with 140mm cranks on an original Sclumpf, and now am using 125mm cranks on a KH/Schlumpf. I shift with my ankles (I wear Active Ankles, so I have some more width there), and I find it easier on 125mm; with 140mm I had to move my toes to the pedal to shift.