This thread just gets better and better. With a car, you could toss some munis on the roof, and we could mix up the offroad and geared distance stuff. Some good muddy muni that time of year. Just an FYI, if you target December, bring some long-johns and water-resistant riding gear. There’s a much better chance that the multi-day forecast will be back-to-back rain than back-to-back sun.
And then, there’s always the Chilly Hilly.
Depending on if you guys don’t mind cramming into a few tents in my yard and taking me up along with you when you leave I can provide a rest point in Portland on the way up and back. I’ve always wanted to see the Red menace in Action.
To make it shift on the fly would involve machining a keyway into the through-axle, so that a pin of some kind could lock the axle to the hub shell. That same “pin of some kind” would also lock the hub sprocket to the hub shell. It would be an either-or engagement, similar to Schlumpf. But at the moment, with the chain system I can’t envision how to disengage the jackshaft from the cranks, even when the hub is locked in 1:1 mode. In other words, in direct mode the hub sprocket would simply turn freely on the hub shell (at whatever the gear ratio happens to be).
The 6 current available ratios are: 0.83 (20t/22t underdrive), 1.00 (20/20), 1.22 (22/20), 1.44 (24/20), 1.67 (26/20), and 1.96 (28/20). Takes about 15 minutes to disassemble, change the ratio, and re-assemble.
Yes, it’s here in my shed waiting to be ridden more!
Pete
By the way, past inventors have utilized a jackshaft approach, such as Keith Macay of the UK. I merely refined the design.
The more I look at the options, I think this is the sort of GUni I’d like. What it lacks in ready availability it gains in maintainability. What it lacks in push-button shifting it gains in flexible gearing options.
Any advice on how to go about building or getting the more intricate bits of something like this built? If one wanted to commission a build like this would Dave Stockton still be the guy to go to?
Hrm, apparently not.
“11 May 2008 – LiveWire Unicycles is on hold indefinitely and not taking orders. Thanks for your understanding!”
For the record, I think he is from Australia, and his last name is spelled McKay.
And shamefully copied by me.
Bump, cause it got mentioned in another thread and I’ve never seen it so I searched it out and thought it might do with a bump.
Somone should put a jackshaft on a schlumpf.
Tom Holub has mentioned this a bit, and it is quite an interesting idea. You’d have to modify the hub quite a bit. I doubt anyone wants to devote an extra Schlumpf hub to trying it out.
corbin
I’m sorry, I think I missed something… why would you want this? I’ve never heard anyone say their Schlumpf was too slow…
I have to agree with Maestro. Now that I’ve got over 800 miles on my Schlumpf, I am pretty comfortable at speeds around 20-21mph (approx 33kph). The unicycle wants to go faster on descents though, and pedaling faster is no problem since I’m only doing roughly 140 rpm at 21 mph. I am just chicken or whatever.
I think that in order to need a higher gear, I would have to be riding at something approaching 30mph/50kph. I don’t see that happening, at least, not this year!
—Nathan
Hi Nathan, please wait until tomorrow to celebrate your 50th ! Cheers.
Didier
Ah, good question! The reasons Tom and I talked about it wasn’t for faster speed on a 36’er wheel. It was for faster speed on a smaller wheel, like a 700cc road wheel, with a road tire. A jackshafted schlumpf to give you two speeds on a road specific machine with less rolling resistance and more tire options, and a lighter wheel set.
The tire on the 36 has to give us lots of resistance.
corbin
Wait, what? I’m sorry, I think I missed something… Someone who likes riding a unicycle is asking a fellow unicyclist why they’d want to, ah…er…
Stop thinking so hard. Go ride instead.
Don’t forget that Tom is a 29er snob. I think the idea is that you can use any wheel size you want, and have the choice between two gear ratios that are not dependent on wheel size.
So you could have a 29er that behaves like a 36er schlumpf or even vice-versa. From a gear-ratio perspective, it makes the physical size of the wheel irrelevant.
I’d worry about 2X the slop…
I can do both at the same time. Don’t be jealous! 
Ah, yes, but can you also post on the forums with your iPhone/mobile internet device?
Yep,
At school i was always on this site and finally they blocked it.
So now i get on my BlackBerry and look around and post when ever! 
