Re: Schlumpf shifting techniques
chuckaeronut
You shift pretty much the same way I do! I always try to avoid the two
middle steps, but end up inadvertently doing them anyway, just because
I can't hit the button as fast as I'd like :)
--
chuckaeronut
Uni to work, work to eat, eat to live, live to uni. :)
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corbin
Howdy,
I have quite a few miles under my belt on my KH Schlumpf Nimbus 36,
with 150mm cranks. I'm fairly proficient at shifting now; I usually up
or downshift with one or two tries, and I (generally) don't loose
speed.
Speeds at which I shift:
* I tend to upshift at 8-10 mph; I prefer shifting at 10 mph, and that
is the usual threshold of when I decide I should shift.
* I tend to downshift at 8 mph; sometimes at 10 mph
* Up shifting at slower speeds is possible, but generally not
efficient. It is more efficient for me to rapidly get up to speed (10
mph) in 1-1 and then shift.
* Down shifting at higher speeds is possible (say 12 mph), but is
sketchy since your go from a very low cadence to a very high cadence.
Hardware notes:
* Anything longer than 150's would be hard for me to shift; I'm short,
and my feet aren't physically large enough. Larger cranks would require
me to ride on my toes. If you have trouble shifting with 165's, well,
drop the crank size.
* I tend to ride more on the balls of my feet now. I used to ride with
my ankle situated over the pedal (safer for muni), but having my feet
back slightly more helps with shifting.
Shifting techniques:
1. Slowly move your heel towards the button. I rotate my foot about a
vertical axis that goes through the ball of my foot. It also helps to
slightly lean your foot in towards the unicycle/crank at a slight
angle.
2. You should start to "feel" the button, and hear a consistent "click
click click" every time your heel *rubs* on it. Just feel it. Don't
shift yet.
3. Get a feel for the cadence and the rate at which your rotating by
hearing the "click click click".
4. On the beat, move your heel in slightly more with a little
force...and then you shift!
I don't always do the two middle steps, but when initially learning to
shift, I discovered this technique was very helpful. I do sometimes use
this technique when I know a ways before I want to shift; that way my
body has a feel for the cadence, and I can easily shift right when I
want to.
Also noted: being able to 1-foot will aide in your shifting, as it
generally takes a light foot to shift.
corbin
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corbin
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tholub
Bruce Dawson wrote:
> My favorite down-shifting technique is to slow down almost to a
> standstill and then reach down, as my right knee goes down, and press
> the shift button with my hand. I've practiced this in a gym a lot and
> it works quite reliably there -- it's harder to get it right outside,
> but it does work, and it feels kind of flashy and cool!
>
That's pretty neat, I wondered if that was feasible.
>
> I actually find myself avoiding shifting a lot of times. If I'm
> starting on the flat or on a slight downhill then I'll happily start in
> high gear. I just have a 29" wheel which makes that more practical. Or,
> sometimes I'll ride up to a stop light, stop, shift down while I'm not
> riding, take off with the traffic, and then shift up.
>
Shifting is expensive. I think in terms of total elapsed time, for
most short hills I'm probably better off trying to blast up in high
gear, and losing some time once I run out of steam, rather than trying
to downshift at the bottom and upshift at the top. Right now I always
try to mount in low gear and upshift, and downshift before dismounting,
just to get the practice, but I'm sure that in the race I'll just mount
in high gear, assuming flat terrain. It's easier to mount in high gear
than it is to shift.
--
tholub
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corbin
Other things I forgot to mention:
* The hub tends to shift when only under a light load; if you are
putting a heavy load on the hub, it won't shift. You have to "let up" a
little before it will shift.
* When I shift, I "sometimes" stop rotating my feet (ie: let up
completely), and let the gear kick in, and then continue rotating. This
all happens *really* fast, but I realized it is something I started
doing. At other times...I keep spinning, and the gear shifts at less
predictable times.
corbin
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corbin
http://www.corbinstreehouse.com
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David_Stone
I've been riding on dirt/gravel bike paths lately, and shifting is much
harder there. It has a lot to do with what you (Corbin) wrote about
shifting under 'load,' I think, as well as the whole smoothness and
balance issues. It doesn't help that I got new sneakers. I've always
been much more successful shifting up rather than down, but my methods
are different for both. I 'kick' my left foot inward at the right
moment so that my heel hits the button on upshifting. I lean my right
ankle in and pivot my foot so that my ankle bone area is hitting the
button for downshifting. It's not painful.
--
David_Stone
Dictator for Life,
NYUC
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rolandisimo
Here are a few of my observations on shifting after having the guni for
a few months. Note that I think the combination of shoe-size and
crank-size have a big impact on shifting, and I have rather small feet
(us size 8).
When I ride with 125's I find it easiest to shift with my ankle (not
heel). I started doing as David suggested, with my ankle bone. This
never got reliable for me, and started to hurt. I tried my toe (on the
upshift) but again couldn't get consistent. I then got some hightop
riding shoes and - whala - no problemo. I simply angle my ankle in and
it shifts. Love it.
For muni I've changed to 150's and am having more trouble shifting. My
ankle and toe don't come anywhere close to the button. I can hit it
with my heel, but I have to shift my feet so that my big toe is
basically right next to the crank arm. Then I have to give it a wack
with my heel, the harder the better, merely rubbing it against the
button (click, click, click) rarely gets me a shift. Unlike Tom, I
find I need to put my big toe very close to the crank, my foot isn't
long enough to put it further out on the petal to get a better angle on
the button.
I'm not real happy with having to adjust my feet to shift on 150's but
guess I'll just get used to it. Its well worth it.
ro
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rolandisimo
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siafirede
I have never had accidental shifts, but I am also paranoid about that.
What I do is screw in the left button more than the right button, so
that it is harder to downshift. If the button is closer to the crank
and not a lot is sticking out, then the chance of an accidental shift
is decreased. This does, however, make my downshifts less successfull
on average, but missing every other downshift is a lot better than
accidentally shifting at 20mph. Plus, with the geared 29, I hardly
find myself shifting anyway.
I used to do the rub method by angling my foot in and letting it rub
the button as I pedaled, but I find it less consistent than my new
method, which is hard to explain. I sort of angle my foot in and then
twist my foot so my ankle moves out away from the crank and then (with
my foot still angled) give the button a good kick with the inside of my
heel/foot. This method seems to engage the gear a lot better than the
rub method and it works great with both 125s and 150s. I guess it
helps to have big feet when using a schlumpf with long cranks though,
my riding shoes are 11.5 US.
--
siafirede
'DCuni' (http://www.dcuni.com/blog) - my blog about Unicycling in
Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland
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phlegm
Regarding downshifting, I've found that I've learned to shift my hips
back ever so slightly as I downshift, kind of like I would if I were
gliding or wheel walking. That way I don't fall off the front waiting
for the low gear to engage. Also, I shift with a heel kick going down,
whereas I use a heel roll going up.
The other thing that I've found myself doing sometimes is shifting with
the foot off of the pedal while the non-shifting foot rides one-footed
for a fraction of the pedal stroke. I suspect this technique might be
more useful when I switch to longer cranks. (I haven't had a chance to
try since RTL because my hub is being worked on.)
--
phlegm
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Chrashing
I'm still learning to ride a KH guni, not ready to try shifting. (The
weather, a bad cold, and work have kept me off the beauty.)
Unfortunately I have bad habit of dragging my heel on the crank arm, so
I'm paranoid that I'm gonna accidentally shift the guni. On top of that
I had managed to mess up the allen hole of the guni crank bolt in my new
KH geared hub.
Since I didn't know how long the wait would be to get a replacement
guni crank bolt from schlumpf, I looked for a local solution. Turns out
that by drilling a 1/4 inch hole lengthwise through a standard KH crank
bolt, it could be used in place of the guni crank bolt. The 1/4 inch
hole prevents the shift rod from being damaged. With the drilled bolt
you can not mount the shift buttons, but that worked out well for me
because; I didn't want to shift on the fly yet, and it left no
possibility of an accidental shift. Manual shifting can be done by
pushing the shifter with a thin rod through the 1/4 inch crank hole.
Turns out I received the new guni crank bolt from schlumpf in 8
calendar days :) Wow, So Fast!!!!!!!! So the drilled standard KH bolt
wasn't all that necessary.
Disclaimers:
I only mention the drilling of the KH crank bolt in case it's a handy
solution for someone else. I am no expert on the working of a guni, so
while it seems to me a working modification, I don't know that it isn't
harmful to that 'worth it's weight in gold' hub. I have used it for a
very short distance of riding without any apparent damage. Also drilling
the stainless steel KH crank bolt will likely ruin a couple drill bits.
As for disabling the shifting, I expect that not installing the shift
buttons with the special guni crank bolts (I have not tried that) would
provide the same result.
Given that I messed up the allen hole in the guni bolt while tightening
the cranks, I'm thinking it may good to use the drilled KH crank bolt to
initially seat and tighten the cranks on. The drilled KH bolt uses a
larger allen wrench size and I haven't messed one of those up. Then
when the cranks are on tight, replace the drilled bolt with the guni
bolt.
--
Chrashing
Regards,
Ken
I've been flying.......
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JLo
I shift like Corbin. But I need 2-5 revolutions if I want to shift down.
I think my left feet needs more training.
The speed ist between 10 and 13 mph.
I use the 125 or 145 Quax cranks at my 36". That are straight cranks.
If I remember right, I have only one accidental shift during a short
downhill.
During normal rides on streets or soft graval I have no problems.
--
JLo
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rolandisimo
I'm now always shifting with my heel, no more ankle-bone action.
The pegs on the pedals make it tricky to rotate your foot and nab the
button. If you're having trouble you might try some less-aggressive
pedals, at least till you get the hang of it. Lightening up the amount
of pressure you apply to the pedals also makes it easier.
ro
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rolandisimo
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siafirede
rolandisimo;1159790 wrote:
> I'm now always shifting with my heel, no more ankle-bone action.
>
> The pegs on the pedals make it tricky to rotate your foot and nab the
> button. If you're having trouble you might try some less-aggressive
> pedals, at least till you get the hang of it. Lightening up the amount
> of pressure you apply to the pedals also makes it easier.
>
> ro
Good thinking. I used to do the ankle method, but the heel gives you a
safer and more predictable shift.
As far as aggressive pedals are concerned, I am using MG-1s which are
quite sticky, but I use a trail running shoe that doesn't have a sole
made for sticking to platform pedals. MG-1s plus trail running shoes
(with a pull lace system) work quite well for me.
Playing with how far the buttons stick out also will help shifting. I
found that moving the button as little as one rotation out sometimes
makes a world of a difference.
--
siafirede
'DCuni' (http://www.dcuni.com/blog) - my blog about Unicycling in
Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland
*James* = my name
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