Pedals and hub here 
Planning on getting a Ti-Nimbus frame as soon as they are out.
poor little rich kids;)
Im paying everything myself. Well… not everything… but im working for it 
I took the geared 36 out on the bike trail on Saturday for 20 miles(still taking baby steps getting back into the swing of distance unicycling) and my legs felt great afterwards. It definitely worked out my legs more, and there was an annoying headwind for some of the ride (which really affects the g36), but I had NO joint pain. Unicycling distances has always been associated with some slight leg pain, but riding this thing has cured that.
I also commuted to work on the geared 36 today(actually first time commuting to work on a Uni since about 6 months ago due to my knee injury) and once again it was a thrill! I am not sure of how long it took me to do the 7.5 miles, but it took me about an hour and 10 minutes to leave my house, unicycle to work, stash my unicycle in my cubicle, take a shower, change, and eat breakfast.
A few notes on commuting with it: Shifting is not that hard, BUT I am scared to shift in traffic, so I am always slow coming out of a traffic light and it takes me a while before I am comfortable shifting with cars behind me. It is a much more relaxed commute overall than riding a geared 29 was or riding an ungeared 36. I am still faster commuting to work on my road bike, but I think my new geared 36 will be my vehicle of choice for commuting for a while.
I think I said consumer.
Was Frank Bonsch’s hub with the club?
No. Frank’s hub didn’t exist at the time. Briefly, I had all of them.
You know, one of these days we must get the IUF to set up a unicycle museum somewhere. Those hubs should be there as part of unicycling history. I hope they retire gracefully!
Ken
Wow Ken, there’s an idea for your retirement 
And you should give guided tours through it. By that time you yourself are part of unicycling history which will be an additional attraction to the museum.
I thought I would post an update after doing about 200 miles on the geared 36.
I put a T7 handle on it recently instead of using the GB4s. I miss the control I had with the GB4s, but the T7 gives me more leverage for climbing hills which you really need in high gear. I get sketched out using the T7 on bumpy surfaces and came close to having a UPD over a bump that would have been no problem on a GB4, but the T7 really does help for hills and for tucking low on flats.
I find myself consistently downshifting now, and I am actually getting worse at upshifting for some reason. I took the uni out on the Custis trail here which is known to be a rollercoaster of a bike path and I was able to navigate it no problem hitting every downshift. It feels so smooth when shifting and I am still amazed at how cool it feels to ride in high gear up to a hill and then quickly downshift when it starts getting hard. I dreaded shifting with the geared 29er, but with the geared 36er I actually get excited at the thought of downshifting for a hill.
My max speed so far has been hovering close to 24mph. On flats I can do 20mph if I am tucked down and the path is smooth, but it gets hard to sustain it. I would say on average I go between 14-18mph most of the time.
My legs get such a workout from this beast too. More so than any other unicycle I have tried. I love that my muscles hurt during a ride and not my joints.
The KH/Schlumpf 36er is the best uni I have ever owned, I highly recommend purchasing one if you can afford it.
Same exact thing happened to me.
Wow! I haven’t really tried going fast yet. I let it go a little on one smooth descent on the way to work and hit 20.9 mph easily. The potential for speed is amazing!
I SO Agree!
This says it all!
—Nathan
Keith McKay had a homemade geared unicycle before you had your first Schlumpf. He brought it to the first UniNats in 2001. Red Menace 36 update
I’ll soon have a Titanium unicycle!
The ideal all-purpose unicycle
James,
thanks for some great posts about your geared 36: they rather upset my
view on the ideal cycle.
I ride a plain 29er and a 36, and although the 29er feels painfully slow
(especially if I’m with a bicyclist) it has the huge advantage that it’s easy
to throw around, and it does go in the trunk of my Mini (saddle off).
I’d been thinking a geared 29 would be a perfect all-rounder: easy to
slip on public transit, or the trunk of a car, yet capable of bicycle speeds …
Now you’re making me think that the geared 36er is the only way to go.
A Geared 36ers is for hardcore distance.
The 29er is more versatile and plenty fast enough. 2nd gear on the 29’’ is faster than I can run and I had the scabs to prove it.
I want the 24’’ muni-schlumpf.
Its cold and snowy with lots of snow on the roads so I’ve only had my new KH36 out for a few short rides. Fast and fun!
James, I’ll be down in DC for a week or so end of April, Early July. Lets hook up for a 36Guni ride!
Ro
The geared 29er was quite a fun ride. I would love to have both to try back to back to compare again. I think the geared 29er was slightly slower, but a lot easier on my leg muscles since the rotational weight was so much less. I had to spin fast and it still felt like I was riding a unicycle, whereas with the geared 36er it feels very smooth and the cadence is similar to a bike.
I think if I were to do some international traveling and wanted to pack a unicycle, I would bring a geared 29er because it would pack easier and be quite versatile. For most road unicycling though, the geared 36er feels like it is the king of the road. Both are great rides, but the geared 36er just has something special about it. It also has been giving my legs the workout of a lifetime. I never had such sore legs when unicycling before, but I don’t mind it because it just means I am building muscle. I do mind sore joints though, and so far I haven’t had to deal with knee pain.
Since you live in the bay area, you should talk to Nathan Hoover, Corbin, or Mike. They have geared 36ers and you may be able to try one out. They are a blast, and learning shifting is quite fun.
Great, I’d love to meet up for a ride. Keep me updated as the week approaches that you will be down here.
What handlebar set up are you using for your kh/schlumpf 36er, and are you using the coker tube or a 29er tube? I have been tempted to try out the 29er tube to save on rotational weight, but it doesn’t seem that reliable and I don’t want to have a flat while commuting to work.
Most of the snow has melted and I’ve had the chance to get out on my 36"Guni a few more times.
I was having some real trouble up-shifting, as others have mentioned, it seemed to be getting harder. Then I tightened that crank down harder and things got much better.
I started riding on 137mm cranks and it was ok. Then I cut my seatpost down more and shifted to the 165mm cranks. I’m digging these much more. I have way more control and can ride up many more hills in high gear. The tricky part about riding a guni isn’t the right-left balance but the forward-back axis: a larger crank gives you more power here.
I had a similar experience with my 29"guni (125 vs 150mm cranks) and thus highly recommend any new-guni’er start with big cranks.
The guni works your legs way more than a standard uni. I expect this will build up my legs and, after a few months, I’ll be equally comfortable (and faster) on small cranks.
I’ve had a few wipeouts on the new big guni (especially with smaller cranks), for a variety of reasons. I’ve got some hard-plastic kneepads that totally saved me in each. No injuries, or fear of falling, from any of them. Get some kneepads.
Finally, on the 29 vs. 36 guni question. A 29" guni is good for the road, good for trails, and great for traveling. A 36" guni is great for the road, ok for trails (haven’t really tried yet, still too wet here) and lousy for traveling.
-Ro
Once you get a 29er set it is pretty reliable. I typically ride thousands of miles without any problems once it is set properly. Blown tubes on the stretched 29er happen in the first ten minutes or they don’t happen at all. They are kind of a pain to set well, but I did notice a huge difference in weight and handling. Now I can’t go back to that Coker monster tube anymore. Practice and patience help with getting it set up right.
Do you have a good handle on your KH/Schlumpf 36? I used the GB4 bars for all my distance riding (ungeared 36, ungeared 29, geared 29) up until getting the KH/Schlumpf 36. I found I needed something a little further out with the geared 36, and although not perfect…the T7 seems to help make the ride smoother than the GB4s on the g36.