Re: Schlumpf gear change - how best to adjust your cadence?
flyer
the key is in where the freewheeling comes from. If you use your hands
and shift up, pressing back slightly on the pedals in one direction
results in immediate engagement while the other will freewheel for
about a quarter rev. The same is true for shifting down except the
directions are reversed. This is why shifting up is generally easier,
because you tend to be putting force on the pedals forwards resulting
in immediate engagement.
I know that chuck uses the decelerate method to shift down, seems to
work for him :)
I haven't had enough time on one to learn how to shift well for myself,
I just know that's how the hub works.
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flyer
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peter.bier
I've been riding my new KH/Schlumpf for a few weeks now and am still in
the process of mastering gear changes. I can have a couple of dozen
changes go smoothly for me and then encounter a change that feels like
the wheel doesn't engage for ages. These "long engagement" changes
generally throw me off.
I think the problem may be due to changing at certain cadences. I've
experimented and am pretty convinced that if your cadence hits a
certain rate, that you can easily travel quarter to half a revolution
before engaging again. This is certainly enough to throw you off if
you are expecting an earlier engagement.
The question then becomes, how should you adjust your cadence when
changing? Pedal faster or slower?
I suspect that if you change and then instantly accelerate your
cadence, this will result in the quickest engagement.
If you decelerate hard at the moment of changing, it is actually
possible to hold your cranks level while momentarily coasting along,
until the wheel rotates into the engagement position. This is a very
weird sensation but may not be a bad method to use either.
What works for other people? I'm keen to get to a 100% success rate on
gear changes as UPDs slow me down.
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peter.bier
-Peter Bier
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GizmoDuck
flyer wrote:
> This is why shifting up is generally easier, because you tend to be
> putting force on the pedals forwards resulting in immediate
> engagement.
>
I have the opposite problem. I find it really hard to shift up, but
never have any trouble shifting down. With very little resistance on
the low gear, I find it hard to hit the shifter button on the upshift,
but it's never a problem on the downshift.
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GizmoDuck
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GizmoDuck
Apparently I run my hub around the opposite way to most people. My high
gear is when the snifter button is on sticking out on the left side.
peter.bier
I find shifting down tends to engage easily but I get more freewheeling
when shifting up. Perhaps it depends which way you put your hub in the
frame?
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peter.bier
-Peter Bier
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semach.the.monkey
peter.bier wrote:
>
> What works for other people? I'm keen to get to a 100% success rate on
> gear changes as UPDs slow me down.
Just by the very nature of the hub, I doubt that 100% success rate is
possible, but it's certainly possible to get fairly close. I've now
reached the stage where I hardly ever UPD, but it's always possible, so
I'm still wary about changing gear in busy traffic or anywhere that a
UPD would not be favourable.
I think your observations about how the freewheel kicks in are pretty
accurate. I don't think there is much that you can do to avoid this,
or predict it, but the more you shift, the more you get used to it, and
the easier it is.
I will always slow down to a moderate pace before shifting. That way
I'm ready for the gear to kick in strait away, or for half a rev of
freewheel, or anything in between. It'll then take one or two
revolutions before I'm up to full speed on the higher gear.
Talking to Florian at RTL, though, he said some of the faster riders
will kick the button, but keep pressure on the cranks for a couple of
revolutions, and then when they're ready for the gear change, just ease
off for a second, 'click' and then they're in high gear at a fast pace
to start with. I don't think this would work for a mere mortal like me
though :D
STM
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semach.the.monkey
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siafirede
I found that the gear engaged a lot better and more consistently and
predictably when I stopped using the ankle/slide method. I now twist
my heel out and give the button a good kick with the inside of my shoe,
instead of just tilting the inside of my foot to the button as it comes
around.
Also, sometimes I do tend to sort of stop pedalling (let my feet float
on the pedals) when I shift as it seems to engage better.
When I get my hub back from Florian I will try to experiment some more
with shifting, but I think that a combination of either putting more
force into the pedals after you shift or putting less force into the
pedals after you shift will engage the gear better.
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corbin
nathan wrote:
> We put the gold button on the right, sticking out in low gear. So in
> high gear, the silver button is sticking out on the left - same as you!
> I think all or at least most of the local Gunis around here are setup
> that way.
>
> Personally I've only done a couple of real rides on it and am not up to
> full-speed shifting yet. It's getting better though and I was able to
> shift without looking down once on the first ride.
>
> ---Nathan
I talked to Bronson about this when I built my last wheel; if you build
it this way, you will be properly looking at the KH signature on the hub
in the "right" direction. So, this is the standard way to build it :)
corbin
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corbin
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siafirede
corbin wrote:
> I talked to Bronson about this when I built my last wheel; if you build
> it this way, you will be properly looking at the KH signature on the
> hub in the "right" direction. So, this is the standard way to build it
> :)
>
> corbin
Bronson :cool:
[image: http://www.t-lay.com/images/charles_bronson1.jpg]
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corbin
Also, read my old thread on this subject:
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69964
As others have said, the hub won't disengage if you keep power on it;
however, I don't rely on that, and would always let up slightly right
when I shifted.
nathan
Ha ha, actually it's a different Bronson.
---Nathan
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