Uhm how do you tighten the crank? you can’t use an Allen key on the gear buttons. I got my unicycle ready-made at home from the German Municycle.com. All I needed to do was screw the pedals on and put the saddle in place.
Not on the gear buttons. But on the hub bolts. Just be careful with the lever shaft.
This is heartening to hear. I wasn’t sure if I have some sort of Schlumpf learning disability as I feel similar, and I’m way under 9000 miles. Some days I can shift like a boss, but other days I’m hesitant and it may take many tries per shift. I’m more of a “kicker” than a “scraper” in my method. I should probably give the scraping method more of a chance, but it freaks me out as it goes against all my early training to keep those ankle bones away from the cranks!
I heard that, but in my case that would be only for Road (for which Rob’s Ride would qualify). I’m still totally fine on an ungeared Muni, but keeping up with Jacquie on road rides stopped being easy a long time ago…
That small amount of play is necessary in order for the gears to engage when you shift. It’s annoying at first, especially if you associate such movement with a constant nagging feeling that something is loose (as it would be on any other type of hub). But it has taught me to pay more attention to my power delivery; when I’m doing things right, I never feel the “gap” except when maneuvering or shifting. If I’m cruising, I mostly have constant forward pressure on the pedals.
With patience. It’s much easeir than it was learning to ride a unicycle in the first place! Pretend you’re sitting on a 43" wheel and that should help. Unless you’ve never ridden a large wheel like that. Even then it should still help. That’s what a big wheel feels like, only with that extra “kick” from the gearing pushing your frame forward. So it’s not exactly the same as riding that-sized wheel, but it’s close.
I expect the Silva guys will know what they’re talking about as they’ve worked with a lot of Schlumpf setups. They built mine (older hub, followed by replacement hub in 2012). Later, I modified my frame to add a crank-mounted disc. This involved way too much filing to get it all to fit, and a lower torque number than you’re supposed to have when tightening the cranks. But in my case, those cranks have never moved.
The Silva guys are smart, and they are likely in contact with Florian letting him know what they’re seeing and talking about best solutions.
Are you sure as M0871 is already existing !
No, I am not. But there’s a good chance that not all numbers are being used. For instance I know of a Swiss guy who got M0999. But he asked for it. So Florian got him that number.
Sorry I am unable to answer more questions. Silva Cycles currently is in possession of my hub. I asked them to please not to be in any hurry getting it back to me. It annoys me a fair amount to think I might have to live with a low torque number on my cranks. I am not a maniac, but I weigh 200 lbs., I do a lot of jump mounts, ride up and down curbs, do unispins, nothing crazy, and I want the Schlumpf to hold up under those conditions. So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Silva has a solution where the 40nM spec. can be met, and that maybe after 10 years of use, the spec. could also be met. Maybe I’m dreaming…
I’m about to enter the world of Guni thanks to Romain who sold me his older hub as he moves to the latest version.
I’m getting it with 29" spokes, the idea being to put it in my KH29" road uni.
But now I’m having second thoughts. Or let’s put it that way: I have different options. My other uni is a 2014 KH24" muni, and I have a spare Berm Master tire for it. So I was thinking it could make a good learning machine. The muni I do with it is more like XC in the woods near Paris, packed soil/gravel. Where the Berm tire would do as well as the Duro. And it seems less intimidating to start schlumpfing on a smaller wheel - correct me if I’m wrong.
With a second set of spokes, I could move the hub from the 29 to the 24 once in a while. I can lace and true a wheel, so that’s no problem. Now what spoke length would I need? Florian’s document about his hub suggests 230mm “roughly”, on the KH website, it says 227mm and on UDC.uk, the calculator comes up with 224mm…
What’s the right length? Anyone here has a 24" Guni? And in general, is it a good size uni?
I used 229 with an Alex dx32 rim. Worked well.
The revival of this thread has been the highlight of my week and one4all made this old curmudgeon literally laugh out loud. The excitement of new owners is palpable.
Silva Cycles did a great job on M0426 in my 36er back around the time they were building one for Foss and Peterson. I’m on my 2nd “The Todd” knobby tire. Couldn’t be happier with it. Wheel still true enough for Magura Hydro “rim” brake to not rub. Bronson runs a quality shop.
Do I regret my decision to go with a 36er and 137mm cranks? Not for a minute! Do I wish I could afford another for my 29er Knard mUni? Heck yes! I prefer mUni but don’t damage muddy trails. Luckily I’m blessed living within riding distance from The Parklands of Floyd’s Fork 8 foot wide smooth (car free) concrete representing 20 miles of the 100 mile Louisville Loop. My son’s soccer practice is held there twice a week for 2 hours of mostly high gear riding. Just did 27 miles at CycLOUvia (5 mile car free open streets) last weekend but the real reason I put it in a big wheel is the Mayor’s biannual (Memorial/Labor Day) Hike, Bike, and Paddle (car free) where the SAG truck is ever approaching so you’ve got to start in the front pack and upshift often to beat the last cyclist over the ~20 mile course.
Any news on this? My main muni bottoms out before the bolt is fully tight and I just continue to tighten it. With some loctite for insurance it’s never been a problem.
elpuebloUNIdo, I wonder why Silva noticed the problem after you returned the unicycle. Wouldn’t they have noticed ithe problem the first time? Did they tighten it to spec then?
I am almost positive that they did not tighten it to 40nM the first time, based on the comment I received saying that the second time the cranks hit the spacers at 18nM.
I recall that, somewhere buried in the Schlumpf general discussion thread, there was talk of disagreement regarding the 40 nM spec. Someone thought that kind of force could deform the aluminum. Depending on the forces placed on the interface, someone could get away with less that 40nM. Giving Silva the benefit of the doubt, they may have assumed that I was going to be riding the unicycle more gently. If I had been more gentle with the unicycle, the cranks might still be tight. I weigh 200 lbs, I was experimenting with the 165mm holes on the DH cranks, giving me more torque, I was jump-mounting, hopping in place, etc. Nothing crazy, but obviously more than 18nM could handle.
In retrospect, I wish Silva had not been in such a hurry to send out my unicycle. They referred to another Schlumpf build they were working on at the same time, and mentioned how they were “testing” it. I wish they had tested mine.
The good news is: Silva is going to (if a solution is possible) fix the problem now. The bad news is: I still don’t know how damaged the hub is after the loosening of the crank and the stuck shift button. If the damage is significant, the hub may have to be returned to Switzerland for servicing.
For the record, I was pretty upset for about a day, regarding what happened. However, the fact is, I’ve read the Schlumpf threads, and I am familiar with all the technical challenges associated with the geared hub, and I can’t pretend that being a Schlumpf owner is going to be all unicorns and rainbows. Silva is seeking a solution to the problem, and I hope it’s not a kludge. Despite my early problems, I’m still happy to be working with Silva; if I were on my own, I’m sure that worse things would result.
I am hoping that blue loctite is not part of the solution, not for a brand new hub.
The “main” mUni to which you’re referring; is that a Schlumpf? Bottoming out, then continuing to tighten…might have different results, depending on what you’re pushing against. Another rider suggested that further tightening might push against an oil gasket; I don’t have the hub in my possession right now, nor am I that familiar with how the hub is designed, so I can’t speak to that concern.
Silva told me (don’t quote me on this) this problem could be solved, but that it takes a machine shop (they have one) to redesign the spacers.
If there’s a stated specification for tightening (40nM), but that specification can’t be met, then we have a problem. At this point I’d rather be patient and willing to spend money on shipping, to assure that this new item works as it should, rather than pouring blue loctite on the problem.
Thanks for your interest…I’ll keep everyone posted.
I understand how you feel after I a recent problem with a new Spirit hub. I hope it gets sorted out soon so you can enjoy riding it.
The ‘main’ Muni I’m referring to is a standard nimbus hub. The issue is due to the spacer size that I have to use.
My interest in the new Schlumpf is due to the fact that the biggest issue I had with my version, was the constant finicky-ness of the hub. No crank stop and the overall ‘thrown-together’ vibe I got with the hub (though I know it’s not really thrown together).
These issues were pretty much all resolved with the new version, but now it seems that you have an issue with the biggest benefit of the new hub (I.E. the crank stop).
On top of that I see someone put one in a 19" uni and wonder why the hell I didn’t think of that?
I done thunk it…
In remains to be seen how the logic behind my “thoughts” on the 19" experiment pans out. This is more of a “just you wait and see” experiment. It didn’t take much “waiting” to “see” the first mess-up of the hub. Gulp!
I bought the hub directly from Florian. A previous post mentioned 70 were available, and that would suggest M0800 through M0869. Another post suggested that the numbers assigned to the hubs were not sequential, and that numbers could be skipped, so that might suggest the confusion about the numbers. I double-checked the number on my hub prior to making my first post on the new unicycle, so I’m pretty sure I’m correct that I bought M0871. So much confusion regarding this hub!
Play in crank movement
There is always some rotational play between the crankset and the wheel, in both gears. This is indeed by design. If you pedal continuously with a “forward force” on the pedals, you won’t notice the play since you’re always on the same side of it. But most riders (me for sure) need fore-aft balance corrections every now, which is accomplished by putting backpressure on the pedals. That’s when you go through the play. With experience, you get used to this play and you don’t notice it anymore. But if you pay conscious attention, you’ll still be able to feel it.
If someone says they don’t feel the play because they always put forward force on the pedals, I dare you to ride a freewheel unicycle and prove it.
On smooth pavement it may be possible to ride without feeling the play. But when it come to offroad, there are so much adjusting movements that I feel it nearly every rotation.
It feels kind of weird cause I trained myself to pay attention to any play for my whole unicycling life and now every play I feel rings the alarm bells in the back of my mind. But it’s not so much play that it would affect my riding.
You will finish by forget this little play, even on full muni rides.