Beginning to get more confident with my 24" Schlumpf - I only ride once a week so progress is slow.
Went for a ride with UniDreamerFR yesterday and we exchanged a lot on Schlumpf unis. I got home with that question: do all of you guys ride with handlebars? I don’t have any on the 24", and am considering them - though I love the simplicity of a “naked” uni - as it seems to help in high gear.
Yes. I ride with a T-handle all the time now (in combination with a Zero saddle). But even pre-Zero saddle I used a T-handle with my geared uni. It seems to help a lot with control, plus the kind of riding most people do with a geared hub lends itself to a T-handle anyway.
Broken hub (?) - New Gen M0848
Well, I have finally captured the problem on video, although it is not as obvious as I thought it would sound on video. Check it out here - the noise it makes just before the dismount happens as I switched to high gear (and the hub went into freewheel). That happened early in my ride yesterday.
https://youtu.be/EkytSZs_YVY
Not convinced? Ok, this is how my hub worked by the end of the ride:
https://youtu.be/ko5enTmyuOw
So, looks quite clear now that there is a serious issue with my hub, but I’ll ask here before I send it back: any check I should do before sending it away (perhaps for the whole summer:()?
Quick summary of how the problem developed over time:
- from 2nd ride, had issues when shifting to high gear. Not systematically, but every now and again, hub would enter a freewheel mode, making a rattling noise while switching to high gear.
- Problem seemed to occur when applying pressure on the back pedal while shifting into high gear, although I could not repeat it systematically, so probably more complex than that
- yesterday, same problem again, a couple of times during the ride (as usual I would say)
- then, got worse: on a downhill, I heard a bad noise from the hub while braking in high gear (strong pressure on back pedal) and felt a bit of play at the same time.
- then again, progressively worse and worse during the ride. Freewheel and rattling noise happened more and more, and for first time since I got the hub, it happened even while riding in high gear as opposed to just while switching into high gear
- finally, as captured in the 2nd video, there is basically no high gear anymore.
Glass 1/2 full? the low gear still works perfectly well :o
PS: I know the hub can move into freewheel for a split second, by design. It has happened to me too, but that is a very different freewheel mode - does not make any noise and there is no “resistance” felt from the hub, unlike this “rattling freewheel” which does make noise and throws me off every time (lasts longer in general and it is not a “smooth” freewheel, if that makes sense…)
Teddy
Check that your right hand gear shift button is not wound too far in on the shift axle. It may be preventing the hub from properly engaging in high gear. Easy way to test it is to carefully undo the little grub screw inside the button, and wind the whole button out a few turns. I always set my buttons so that even when the gear was engaged, you could push in the button a tiny amount.
Hope you get it sorted out!
Mark
Thanks for the suggestion Napalm. What you describe is what I do too, and I did it yesterday before the ride.
Perhaps I should mention the checks I do before every ride:
- tighten the crank arms to 40-45Nm with a torque wrench
- tighten the shift buttons so that, when engaged, there is a bit of play (perhaps 1-2mm) and so that disengaged, the back of the button is flush with the crank arm
- tighten the bearing caps with relatively firm hand pressure but making sure the wheel turns freely
Up until now, I have done these 3 checks before every ride, as I am still learning to know the hub and how quickly/slowly things loosen with time.
Teddy
T-handle off-road?
Would you consider that to be applicable as well for crosscountry and muni?
Shortly after receiving my 19" geared unicycle, I swapped out a seat/shadow-handle from another unicycle and started using it on the 19" gUni. After taking it, with that setup, on a couple XC rides, I’m ready to buy a dedicated handle setup for it. I was able to use the leverage of the handle to make it up the steepest hill to date I’ve ridden. While going fast, in high gear, down a somewhat-uneven trail, I found it helpful to stand up very straight and support a lot of my weight on the bar ends, because this weight could be relaxed more easily when traveling over bumps. If I’d had too much weight in the seat, I’d get bounced right off the gUni, or I’d be forced to slow down under those conditions. For my setup, I removed the seat grab handle and have two sets of bar ends, one facing backwards, one facing forwards. I’ve never felt any awkwardness regarding getting caught on the bar ends during a upd. At least one of my hands will typically stay on a bar end, during a upd, until I’ve cleared the seat. I understand that for technical mUni, many riders don’t want to be encumbered by bar ends; most riding, even on trails, however, doesn’t qualify as technical mUni, and I’m guessing that, as more riders get used to bar-setups, we’ll see more of them. Hill climbing is a huge part of my local riding conditions, and bar ends really help. One enthusiastic vote for bar-ends on a geared unicycle!
So I would like to know if the new 2016 Schlumpf hubs are any good for Muni riding and do they work if one is to ride in the rain?
I had a Schlumpf hub back in 2011 #266 and the bearings seized up after an off crossing a river ford (it was only 1" deep!)
Because if this I sold my Ti Muni?Guni and walked away from Mountain Unicycling! (all Unicycling)
I have just ordered a new KH 24" and would like to have a gear hub if they work all year around be it Sun or Rain?
See you out on the MTB tracks 
Kiwi Pete
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Schlumpf hub issues
Hi all.
So after many years of flawless performance, ive run into problems with one of my hubs.
Problem cropped up during the 10k race at unicon. 
It works well, in 1:1, no friction, no noise, but on attempting to shift to high it complely freewheels.
Forward, backwards, no engagement at all. No crunches, no grinding, nothing.
Oddly it has since engaged into gear, but i really dont feel safe to ride it
So looks like a trip to schlumpf spa might be needed
My questions
How does one go about doing this?
Email / phone schlumpf, or send it in
I think my hub was bought in 2011, so possibly out of warrenty
When sending it in should i send
Whole uni
Wheel
Or hub only?
Thanks for the help
Pete
Pete, have you tried repositioning your buttons/cranks? One of the friends’ hub got similar issue (just being able to ride in high gear and freewheeling in low gear) during the Unicon and it turned out that button was too much in (or actually crank out in that case).
Good to check before going to spa.
Hello all. I have the opportunity to buy a 1st generation Muni hub that has been recently serviced. What are some of the caveats to these early hubs? Also, when they are serviced, does it generally mean they are more than likely not going to give out in the near future? It is prebuilt into a wheel by silva cycles, so I wouldn’t think the flange failure due to spoke positioning should be an issue.
Thanks,-J
Which serial number ?
M 00032
Main possible issues : external bearings durability, risk to break the planatery grear in strong braking
If it has been serviced by Florian would these still be issues?
I suppose my main concern, after reading all of the reports of broken hubs, is having to take apart the wheel to have it serviced soon after purchasing it. Granted, I’m sure there are plenty of riders who have had no problems whatsoever from their hubs.
Bearings Will remain an issue because replaced same specification esprccialy if you ride muni
I am now the proud owner of M00032. Hopefully the bearings will last a while with good attention and proper maintenance. If anyone has any tips for lengthening the life of the bearings they would be very appreciated.
On the same subject, the bearings that go bad are the larger diameter ones on the same plane as the flanges of the hub, correct? Or are they the knurled and non knurled ones that go in the holders?
I plan on using the 27.5" mainly for commuting to and from class on campus and some longer distance trips to the beach, rail trails etc. It seems the best way to prevent damage is to keep the earlier hubs clean, oiled, and dry with all the proper torque settings, correct? Thank you for all the valuable information from this thread.
Also- could someone point me in the direction of a thread with info on disc brakes for earlier schlumpfs?
For those with GUnis, specifically G26ers, what tire are you running? I’ve had my G26er for about 6 years and up till now have always used the Maxxis “Ardent” 2.25 folding bead, mainly because the hub is heavy enough without adding a heavy tire to it, and the Ardent is super light. I’d found that it was great for most MUni and moderate technical, but not for drops more than a foot or so. But since the Surly “Knard” came out, I’ve been running that tire, which is almost as light as the Ardent, but the difference in volume and rolling over rough terrain is dramatic and it’s also surprisingly fast with low RR. Anyone else running this tire on their G26rs?
I do!
But I’m not a hardcore muni rider, my G26+ is a “do everything” machine.
When my loop is manly on pavement I put about 30-31 PSI and it rolls very well.
When I am more on a muni ride I ride it at about 17-25 PSI
I’m very happy with this machine but I’m thinking about putting my Geared hub on a bigger wheel, I’m hesitating between a G29+ with the knard 29x3 120TPI or a G36
my actual 26er would become a single speed pure muni machine.
I’m surprised you didn’t try the knard on your g26 yet, terry.
I keep psi near max for everything and find that it still rolls over stuff great but also is faster this way. Not sure when the 26 x 3 Knard came out, but if I’d known about it sooner, I would definitely have used it from the get-go. Btw, with my KH frame there’s only about 1/8th" width clearance on each side, but it’s enough. Conversely, when the Knard was installed on my 26er Oracle, there was tons of room to spare in all directions. Kinda like the look of the KH, no wasted space!