Went for a ride today. First time I was able to down-shift with the Schlumpf hub! After numerous failed attempts, I did it. Up-shifting is not as hard as down-shifting but that’s me. Now I need to become proficient so that I can take this skill to less “safe” areas - at the moment I can only do it when I’m in a no danger zone (no cars, no road crown, visibility, etc).
Tech question for the Schlumpf owners out there: my wheel has some play, which I assume is normal. Is it the case with yours? And how much? I have about 2mm at the rim (easy to measure with the Magura brakes) on the 29" wheel.
Sound like you managed to get a tight one. I’ve had seven of them. They only get worse with use. If you ride enough you will get use to the side play and gear lash. I’ve had enough side play that I’ve used the rim brake to keep the tire from rubbing on the frame when traversing side hills. That was just about when I decided to trash it.
There should be no sideplay in the hub! My hub now is back at the Schlumpf workshop in Switzerland for the second time now because of side play issues. Florian Schlumpf told me, that there shall not be any side play and if one recognizes side play, the hub shall be repaired.
Interesting because he told me it shouldn’t be a problem to have some play. His secretary in on holidays at the moment, but I’ll be in touch when she’s back as they keep track of all operations done to the hubs. Mine is supposed to have been serviced not long before I bought it. So I’ll know for sure.
It’s hard to tell from the video which parts are moving and hoch much, couse the cam is solid to none of them. But when the hub body is wobbling sideways while the axle is solid, then it should not be ok.
Florian told me for my hub, that it’s not ok to have this side play and it should be repaired, but he also said, riding so will not cause any additional damage to the hub.
It’s a bit easier to see it if you go to the youtube page and make it full screen. I’m still waiting for feedback from Florian. Hopefully I’ll get some news today.
Completely unrelated question: anybody out there is using a Schlumpf hub with a disc-brake? How does it feel in high gear?
Yes, me. First I was really scared to use it in high gear. As with your feet, beeing in second gear you don’t have the braking force as you have in first gear. Now I think I’m happy, that it has less braking force, so the risk of braking too hard is reduced. I took me definitely som time to get used to it and I still hesitate sometimes to use it in second gear.
Thanks Eric, I can imagine there is something weird about the “multiplying factor” on the disc. In an ideal world, the wider hub (will we ever see it?) would have an in-board disc mount.
I spoke to Kris via email in August regarding the wide hub. He had no future availability date.
He also mentioned a potential problem in that the the geared hub would require a custom brake rotor to be manufactured in order to clear the non-removable bearings.
I hopefully solved that one by pointing out the fact that the readily available Rohloff Speedhub disc rotors use 4 bolts at a large enough BCD to clear the bearings.
I’d really like a geared disc hub with consistent brake feel between gears, where braking forces aren’t transmitted through the gear train.
I’ll keep waiting
I rode my G36 from 2008-2012 with a Magura rim brake and braking in high gear was dicey for me. I didn’t really trust it. Then when I upgraded to disc (160mm rotor) it was a different story completely. Now I can start off on an unknown downhill with confidence in high gear because I know I can safely slow down if it gets steep. A smoothly work disc brake is really a necessity for me to get the true potential out of the Schlumpf hub.
Pierrox, did you try the grey pads of magura’s rim brakes?
They are probably far to be as smooth as disc but they are smoother than the black pads (which are in a softer rubber).
I have them on my muni 29 and on my G36 and can feel a difference with the black one : more progressive, and the positive thing is that you don’t have any difference in braking force whether you are in low or high gear.
Aside from the brake discussion, I’m curious to know your technique for mounting in high gear. I can barely manage it on a downhill on the G29, couldn’t imagine it on a G36
It’s not easy to mount in high on a G36 but possible. Harder on uphill, easier on downhill. But I make it a practice to NEVER mount in high gear. It goes back to when I was learning to shift: by mounting in low gear, not only is it easier but guarantees you’ll practice shifting at least one more time. I still do it that way.
Just remember that you have almost infinite time to get going because the wheel moves so slowly at first. Hop up, get situated, and very gently take your first half-pedal. The second half-pedal is a little faster, and the third faster than that. After that you should be good.
It’s the first pedal I struggle with though! I tend to fall backwards Usually if I nail the first stroke I’m good, as you say.
I would agree with never mounting in high gear on a G36, but on a 29 it’s a bit more of a skill worth learning I think. Most of the time I want to hop on and shift up ASAP so I can join the flow of traffic!
I’ve found my most reliable mount is to stand on a curb with the uni off it, and put the cranks at exactly horizontal. Roll it forward, and get my front foot to slam on the front pedal so it continues doing so, while leaning all my weight forward. So I guess something similar to how I imagine freewheel uni’s need to be mounted.
This has probably been asked before, but I can’t seem find it. I’m trying to find the proper spoke tension to use for a 400 series Schlumpf hub and a Numbus Dominator2 29" rim. I will use 2,0 mm round steel spokes in a 3 cross pattern. I’m looking for a number here. I’ve read that for a 36" wheel, the spoke tension should be somewhere around 20-23 on the Park TM-1 (I’ve ordered that tension meter, so that’s what I’ll be using too). Is it the same for a 29" wheel?
Usually if I nail the first stroke I’m good, as you say.