How It's Made - Schlumpf Hub

The Schlumpf geared unicycle hub was one of the items on an episode of the How It's Made show.  I don't find the manufacturing process particularly fascinating for this product, but it is entertaining to imagine the people who will see this.  Most probably only know unicycling as something done by a kid on the driveway or clowns at a circus.  The footage of Kris Holm should impress them, but then the concept of a geared unicycle has got to be kind of mind blowing.

Schlumpf Inspection

As I mentioned in my last post, my Schlumpf hub is beginning to make a bit of noise and is feeling less smooth.  It's a sealed system and I there's not a lot of maintenance I can do on it, but today I inspected it.

First I took my wheel off my frame so I could spin the bearings by hand.  I immediately noticed how dirty things looked.

Wanting to clean things up, I removed my cranks:

After going at it with Q-tips, a toothbrush, and paper towels, things look much better:

But unfortunately after turning the axle and bearings by hand, I confirmed that the issues were internal and there was little I could do.  It sounds and feels like bearing issues to me.  It doesn't matter whether I'm in high gear or not.  It has a 5 year warranty, so I have many years left.  It probably makes the most sense to just keep riding it until the bearings get worse and can no longer be ridden.

Knee and Schlumpf Issues

EDIT 2012-07-06:
I stumbled across this post and thought I'd mention I haven't had any further issues with my Schlumpf hub.  I think the noise/vibration I perceived in the bearings wasn't anything.  Maybe a bearing holder was on too tight?  In any case, I have had no problems since originally reporting this.

I hadn't ridden since the Albany race two weeks ago.  I wanted to rest my knee/IT band and have been doing a small amount of daily exercising and stretching to hopefully make it better.  Plus the weather had been colder and uninviting lately.

But this weekend we've had temperatures in the 60's and 70's, so it was time to get out.  I rode at Whiting and Webster this morning.

Unfortunately my left knee started bothering me around the 5 mile mark, as usual.  So my ride was shorter than I like, at just under 8 miles.  I did manage some good climbs, though gave up after four tries on my relatively new nemesis hill on the Red trail at Whiting.  Last time I was able to climb it, but it wasn't in the cards today.  Same with one hill in Webster Park.

The leaves are now falling and the trails are covered.  It can be a bit nerve racking riding fast and not being able to see the hidden roots.  But none got me this time.

At some point during my ride I must have been off my uni and spun my wheel to position my pedals to mount.  The spinning wheel didn't feel completely smooth.  I think I could feel some vibration through my frame and seat and into my hands.  It looks like my Schlumpf geared hub is acting up.  I think the bearings are no longer spinning smoothly and it looks like more grease is leaking out than normal.  Usually it just looks shiny near the seals, but I actually see some grease. This sucks.  The hub has a 5 year warranty and it will likely need to be sent back to Switzerland.  The turn around for this kind of thing can be months.
The good news is, I have my original 24" wheel ready to go for just such a problem.  So I won't be completely out of commission, just without my high gear.  Plus, if I have to send it back, doing so as we get into the winter months is probably the best time.
The other bad news is I'll have to remove the hub from my wheel in order to send it back, but the possibly good news is that I have been thinking about getting a 29'er.  If I do, then I may have been moving my geared hub into a new wheel anyway.
I'll have to investigate the problem closer before I pursue the warranty fix.

Muni at Whiting and Webster Park - 2011-10-09

Schlumpf Maintenance

It is commonly known amongst Schlumpf hub owners that their crank arms will loosen fairly quickly over time. It's been a few months since I last checked mine, and sure enough they needed tightening.
It's recommended to torque them to 25-35 ft-lbs. I aimed for 30, but worked my way up from about 15. I'm always nervous about over-torquing. I was surprised to find I was actively tightening at about 20 ft-lbs. I had even used blue loctite in the past. It clearly did not hold.

For any Schlumpf owners who may stumble upon this post, I recommend you push the back of your wrench with one hand to keep the hex socket seated well while you tighten. I've rounded one of the Schlumpf bolts in the past.

I also added another 2.5 ml of grease to my Schlumpf. It naturally leaks some out over time, and it felt like it was time.

Family Ride

For the first time I rode with the entire family with me on my uni.

We rode in the area neighborhoods, about 4.4 miles. But the fun part about it is that I'm not slowing us down, thanks to my geared hub.

My average speed was 8.8 mph, and my top speed was 12.6 mph. I even had to slow down several times for the slow poke... who will remain nameless. Good thing she wasn't on her unicycle. Wait, have I said too much? ;-)

Road Ride With Kyle and Ben

Needing some exercise, I got Kyle and his friend Ben to ride their bikes with me through some neighborhood streets.
I rode in high gear the whole way, cruising along. They rode their BMX bikes and we matched speeds well.
4.5 miles.

Selling Grease

I wanted to buy some grease for my Schlumpf hub. Long story short, I bought more than I needed with the intention to sell it to my fellow geared unicyclists.

Here's the page where I'm selling it.

Faster Road Ride

This afternoon I rode the suburban streets, riding faster and farther than I ever have on the street. It was chilly at 26°F (-3°C), but it was unusually sunny for the Rochester area.

I'm getting more comfortable with my geared hub. I had a lot of successful shifts. I think all my unsuccessful shifts were downshifts, which uses my left foot. I found myself staying in my high gear on more inclines. My quadriceps down near my knees got sore, hopefully just from pushing myself farther. I can hardly walk down stairs. Haha. Ibuprofen and some ice should get me back to normal.
I also found my low gear felt lower than ever. It almost felt goofy, just like being in your granny gear on a bike. But that will likely feel different on the trails.

I encountered a few dozen walkers and people in their yards. I told one little kid riding a tiny bike with training wheels, "Hey you've got too many wheels!". Haha.
From two ~10 year old boys playing basketball, "Wow a unicycle!", "That thing rocks!"
From a ~4 year old, "You're really good at that."

I road 15.5 miles (25 km). Thanks to my Schlumpf my average speed was about 8.4 mph (13.5 kph).

Road Ride - 2011-02-20

Schlumpfalicious

Before the Albany race last fall, I swapped my geared Schlumpf wheel out for a standard wheel. Yesterday I put my Schlumpf back on. I really need to learn to shift it well.

Today the temperature was above freezing at about 35°F (2°C). I road the suburban streets and was rather successful in shifting, though it took two or three attempts sometimes, and I did have several dismounts. Most of my dismount-induced shifts were from high gear to low. I think that's because I was headed into an incline, making pedaling harder, and shifting-while pedaling even harder. Sometimes I planned ahead and started shifting before the incline, but if it took me 3 tries to shift I was then into the incline. Practice should fix that.
But I had enough perfect shifts to get me excited about having the Schlumpf hub. The extra speed is fun, if not a bit scary.

The roads were very messy. It varied from wet road, puddles, slush, hard-pack, and ice. In a ten second period, I might hit all of those conditions... twice. That made the ride interesting. The back of my pants were completely soaked by the end of my ride.

Along the way one car passed me slowly and the passenger was taking a picture or videoing me. Hahaha! I wonder if I can find it online somewhere. So far no luck.

Also a German shepard broke through his invisible fence and barked at me for a short distance.

My cycle computer didn't work well. It didn't even think I went half a mile. I figure it either got wet and confused, or when I swapped wheels yesterday, the magnet didn't get lined up perfect. But thankfully I used my GPS too, which has been in agreement with my computer on my recent road rides.
I went just over 12 miles.

Snowy Road Muni - 2011-02-13

For my own record, I wore a long sleeve poly shirt and my light nylon jacket. On the bottom I wore thin poly long underwear and my nylon cargo pants. I started with some knit gloves, but took those off half-way. And I unzipped my jacket early on too. In general I was comfortable.

Big Neighborhood Ride

Yesterday and Friday it rained a lot. Today was dry, but I figured the trails were muddy so I didn't ride any muni. Realizing I hadn't ridden all weekend, I decided to get out this evening.

I rode in high gear the "big way" around the neighborhood. It's 1.4 miles, and I rode continuously for four loops. That's 5.6 miles.

Now that I think of it, that's gotta be the farthest I've ever ridden without dismounting.

I'm looking forward to a much needed muni ride.

Minor Hiatus

I haven't been riding as much as I'd like. Over the past few weeks I haven't been feeling too great. Maybe I haven't totally recovered from a cold I had about three weeks ago, or maybe I have some allergies, or maybe it's just been too hot.

I didn't ride at all this weekend, and so, I didn't race at the Fat Tire festival on Saturday. I'm glad I didn't register, it would have been a waste. Saturday I felt pretty crappy. And it was pretty hot and humid outside.

I've been riding on some evenings in the neighborhood. I ride in high gear and Sydney has ridden her bike along side me. Sometimes she even says "slow down!"

I'm still practicing shifting on the fly. I moved my pedals from the 150mm crank holes to the 125mm holes. This moves my heels so they're inline with the shift buttons. This makes shifting 10 times easier. Hopefully I can learn to shift smoothly this way, and then move my pedals to their normal arrangement later.

First Guni Ride at Whiting

I rode this morning at Whiting Road Nature Preserve and across the street at the Midnight Trail on my geared uni (guni). There were only a few puddles even after yesterday's torrential downpours; a testament to the hard work the Friends of Webster Trails has done.
I tried shifting into high gear when I knew there was a fairly flat trail. But it was easier said than done. And when I succeeded, it usually made me UPD. It's like I'm riding along and then something just grabs the wheel, because riding suddenly gets 50% harder. I probably need to be riding much faster. It doesn't help that it takes me a dozen attempts, and I never know which one is going to be successful. Once I do get going, I feel like I'm learning to ride all over again. My arms flail and I keep falling out of balance. When I do find my balance, the speed can get scary, especially as I'm falling out of balance. I look forward when I can just shift and ride in high gear without so much effort.
Downshifting is much easier. Pedaling just gets easier and I keep riding.

I've been trying to build up my stamina/endurance by using my elliptical machine. I think it's working because today's ride went very well. I went about 9 miles on trails and I felt like I could have done more. Even after hill climbs (successful or not) I wasn't too out of breathe to keep riding.

Muni at Whiting Road Nature Preserve and Midnight Trail - 2010-07-10

Schlumpf Shifting

Tonight I concentrated on riding and shifting on the fly. It's tricky, trying to knock a shift button with my heel at just the right moment in my crank rotation. Again, I'll have to make a video to demonstrate how it works when I get a chance.
Getting the shifting to actually work is tough, but then you have to suddenly adjust for the way the uni rides. It takes me anywhere from 1 to 10 tries to shift. But I am definitely making progress.
I found my muni riding shoes worked better than my sneakers. But if they covered my ankles, that would be even better.

Schlumpf Wheel

Today I picked up my new geared wheel from Freewheelers bike shop! Roger, the owner, runs the shop alone and has been in the bike business forever. I used to shop at his store over 20 years ago when it was on Culver Rd! He did a fantastic job building my wheel. I gave him 229mm double butted spokes to use, but he found that 227mm would have been ideal. I couldn't find that length in butted spokes. Hopefully the wheel will hold up fine though.
I put the wheel in my uni tonight and rode a bit in the neighborhood. At first I couldn't even get it going in high gear. It just felt crazy weird. But after about three tries I started to get the hang of it.
I'll have to post a video of how it works. But basically I can now ride as normal, or shift to higher speed. It's 1.5 faster. So for every 1 crank rotation the wheel rotates 1.5 times. I haven't tried to shift on the fly yet.

My Schlumpf Has Arrived!

Today my Schlumpf KH hub was delivered!
Once I build it into a wheel, it will allow me to have a geared uni (aka guni).
There's a shaft that runs through it. Push it in on one side and it's the usual 1:1 drive like a normal unicycle. Push it in the other side and it's a 1:1.5 ratio.
So for every one rotation of my cranks, the wheel will actually go around 1.5 times.
It should be fun, but it will take some time to build it into a wheel. I still have to buy spokes, and then have a bike shop put it together.

Need For Speed

Yesterday I rode a few miles in the neighborhood on my 26" Nimbus. As usual, I really wanted to go faster than it would allow.

For unicycles, there are two primary ways to go faster.
Choice one: Ride a bigger wheel.
Unicycle frames are built to handle a certain wheel size. Typical sizes are 12", 16", 20", 24", 26", 29", and 36".
- 12" and 16" are typically for kids.
- 20" are often used for trials and street.
- I have a 24" and 26", which are often used for muni.
- 29" are used for muni or road.
- 36" is pretty much for road.

Obviously a bigger wheel makes you go faster, as for each pedal rotation your wheel travels its circumference.
Unfortunately unicycles are expensive.

Choice two: Geared hub.
Another option is a geared hub. Currently there is only one real choice for this: The Schlumpf hub. It allows you to ride as normal, or shift to a higher gear. The wheel will then travel 1.5 rotations for each pedal rotation. Of course, the wheel size is an important factor still. A 24" wheel will ride like a 36". A 26" wheel will ride like a 39". Sort of. Bigger wheels ride more smoothly, so the ride isn't really the same.
Unfortunately Schlumpf hubs are crazy expensive.
That seems insane but they sound like a lot of fun.

I haven't decided what I really want. I need to ride my 26" on the trails to see if I like that size better than 24". It would be cool to have one of those with a Schlumpf hub.
But it would also be a lot of fun to ride a 36" in the neighborhood or on bike paths. Or may a 29" or 36" with a Schlumpf.

It will be some time before I can ride the 26" on the trails, so I won't be making any decisions for a while.