This was my very first day on the trail with my new 26er geared uni! First two minutes is a brief tutorial on crank and shift button installation for the Schlumpf hub, which cost $1,740! Second half shows me shifting (up close) while riding, downshifting for hills, *and* a mtber with my gopro on his helmet following me as I ride...As I kick into high gear, I pull away FAST! And listen to his comments, haha! Cool! [video=youtube;Hh0hIM_c0OU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh0hIM_c0OU[/video]
"So were you in the circus?" "No, it's a sport!" Keep up the good work, Terry, and one day they might understand.
Haha, I only put that in because it's become such a rarity that people even say that! And on the trail it's never said. Mtbers totally get it, especially since so many know me now from my videos, which is mainly why I post to mtb forums...to help dispel the misconceptions and stereotypes, which thankfully fading fast. At least in my experience.
Can't see te vid on my crackberry - but I'm guessing an internal shifting hub? Sounds pretty trick for a Ucycle. About two years ago I came across two uniMTBers on Tijeras Creek and asked if they were Unigeezer. They gave me dumb looks. I figgered, how many uniMTBers can there be?
We're like mountain lions; You don't always see us on the trail, but we're definitely out there! Yeah it's an internal 2-speed, and it's the world's first and only production geared unicycle hub. It's definitely a lot of $$, but it's new technology and a very small market for it, so they aren't mass produced like bike parts. That's the price we have to pay but imo it's worth it to be on the cutting edge of this emerging technology. Plus, the manufacturer has to recoup the tens of thousands or more in R&D, which I understand. When this hub first came on to the market several years ago, it was fraught with little bugs that caused it to fail and so they had tons of warranty returns. The newest generation hubs have been vastly improved which I why I finally decided to buy one. It would be great if they came out with a 3-speed, which included a low gear for steep climbing. Btw, it's a huge step up to go from 1:1 to 1:1:5! That's a 50% jump and makes a 26er an effective 39er! But as long as I'm going anywhere from 3-8mph, shifting up is pretty smooth in that there is no sudden "jolt". Just the sensation of a much bigger, heavier wheel that is rotating 50% faster than you are pedaling. So you just have to be prepared for the shift, otherwise the wheel gets ahead of you and you go off the back! But I'm relatively used to it now and can even climb moderate hills in high gear, as well as work my way through semi-technical sections in high.
