Author Topic: Schlumpf Front Hub Gear  (Read 4959 times)

lornac

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Schlumpf Front Hub Gear
« on: January 27, 2005, 09:01:53 am »
Does anyone have experience of this: reviewed in recent Cycling Plus: would it be a better balanced option than Rohloff: for low gear touring(uphill and aged rider!)
 

eblair

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Re: Schlumpf Front Hub Gear
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2005, 05:07:20 pm »
I installed a Schlumpf mountain drive on a Cannondale MTB I set up as a city/commuter bike. I left the 7-speed derailleur on the back and so ended up with 14 speeds and a gear range of about 17" to about 95".

The Schlumpf works very well, exactly as advertised. It is easy to shift ranges and has never once--in five years--jumped out of gear.

There is only one problem with using the Schlumpf with a derailleur: when you downshift into the low range on the schlumpf you usually want to simultaneously go from the lowest to the highest gear on the derailleur, which is a bother on steep hills. Using a Schlumpf with a geared rear hub would probably make that less intrusive.

The other problem, of course, is that I still have a rear derailleur to go out of adjustment.

In fact, the Schlumpf made me such a fan of 14 usuable gears and of planetary gears rather than derailleurs that I've got a Rohloff bike on order!

But if you don't want to make the jump directly to a Rohloff, I can recommend retrofitting a Schlumpf mountain drive to extend your range and simplify your shifting.