So far there has been great response and a lot of happy riders on the new KH/Schlumpf geared hub. This hub was a lot of work to conceive and produce and Florian and I are very happy that it has been received so well.
However, two riders have managed to break the planet carrier inside the hub. In both cases the breakage happened due to aggressive braking in 2nd gear. As you know, some of that has already been talked about on the forum.
To reduce the risk of this happening to others, Florian would like to replace the planetary carrier in all hubs that have been sold so far with a stronger version. Everyone will get the replacement but first priority will be given to those riders who want to have the replacement done before Ride the Lobster. All hubs made in future will have the stronger planet carrier.
If you want to take advantage of this, please email Florian (florian@schlumpf.ch) before you send him your hub. Hubs need to be sent to Florian directly.
Thanks for your understanding. It is tough to issue a recall after so much work went into this, but we want to make sure that it is absolutely reliable for everyone.
If any of you know riders who have this hub but don’t regularly read the forum, it would be great if you could send them a link to this notice.
Can the repair be done in Nova Scotia? Does the wheel need to be unbuilt and rebuilt?
With RTL only three weeks away, I can’t imagine anyone will be willing to unbuild their wheel, send it overseas, have it repaired and rebuild their wheel.
The wheel would need to be unbuilt and the hub shipped to Switzerland. I think it will come down to individual riders decision on whether they think it is likely they could break the planet carrier in a similar fashion. We don’t know the torque threshold that broke it in the two cases it happened, except that it was from some quite aggressive riding. It is only a risk in 2nd gear, not first gear.
Is there a time frame that we must mail our hubs to Florian if we want the repair? If we do not mail in the hub does it void the 5 year warranty? With Ride The Lobster approaching and some long summer travel plans, I wouldn’t want to take apart the wheel until August/September timeframe.
There is no time frame and it does not void the 5-year warranty. If you choose to keep the hub as-is for the summer, just return it when convenient for you.
That is great news - I might be sending mine in. That is a bit pricey to have to rebuild the wheel and pay for shipping both ways - the pain of being an early adopter. Ouch! But I’m glad you are putting the offer out there!
Have you had anyone else complain about the cranks getting really close to contacting the frame when they are tightened. My right crank has less than 1mm to go before touching the frame, and if i have to tighten one more full turn it will be rubbing on the frame. I haven’t taken it off to see if it is a crank issue or a hub issue, but it doesn’t seem right to me. I’d love to hear if anyone else had a similar issue with the KH/Schlumpf hub.
Wish i could efford a geared hub but neither the less great work 