Friends, nerds, countrymen, lend me your ears.
Here at Focus Designs, we are proud to announce the release of our much-anticipated and improved SBU V2.0. Aside from a sleeker look, a safer ride, and more power – the new SBU V2.0 is much easier to learn and guaranteed to be an instant crowd-pleaser.
So what’s new?
Increased Torque:
A significant improvement comes in the SBU V2.0’s newly designed motor. Boasting 1000 Watts of power, hills will be handled with much more ease when compared to V1.0’s smaller 350 Watt motor.
More Battery Life:
With a more powerful motor comes a higher-capacity, 5 Amp-Hour 38.4V LifePO4 battery compared to the 4 Amp-Hour 32V LiFePO4 battery on V1.0.
Smoother Turning:
Additional sensors provide a smoother balance response when turning, requiring less effort and increasing comfort. There are now 3 gyro sensors monitoring pitch, roll, and yaw of the SBU V2.0.
More Comfortable Riding Position:
One of the major structural refinements in Version 2.0 is the lowering of the foot pegs. This modification has shown to give novice riders increased stability and greater ease during the learning process. Consequently, the learning time has significantly decreased and most people can ride the SBU V2.0 in just 20 minutes!
New Internal Hub Motor:
The most significant improvement is in our all-new redesigned motor – now more robust with greater visual and functional appeal. This internal hub motor also conveniently houses all of the electronics, making for a much sleeker look. The old SBU V1.0 external motor, chain, chain guard and sprocket have all been single-handedly replaced!
No maintenance:
What can be better than this?! The sealed brushless motor never needs to be worked on or adjusted. Version 1.0 required occasional chain tightening and possible motor brush replacement.
Regenerative Braking:
The more-efficient regenerative braking feature recaptures energy when the rider goes downhill or stops.
Most parts built locally:
The SBU V2.0 moved two more vendors to local companies which mean less money spent overseas and wasted on shipping!
Orders begin today and will ship this November on a first-ordered first-shipped basis.
Self Balancing Unicycle in San Francisco
Focus Designs in the Classroom
SBU on Shark Tank
Ron Wright
Thanks for visiting Camas High School today and showing us the SBU 2.0 and earlier models and parts. Our students were fascinataed with your story of the innnovation of the SBU and the details of how it works – the physics and the problem solving both fit into our curriculum very nicely.
You are fascinating, wonderful, caring people.
Ron
David Martschinske
Thank you Ron,
I had a blast speaking to the kids and I would love to come back and bring more hands-on experiments to help the kids learn closed loop systems.
AlexSP
Hey guys!
Your photo “SBU V2.0 at Portland Waterfront” shows what looks like a stand for the SBU. Is this the case, or was it just something (a prop perhaps?) for the photo?
David Martschinske
Hey Alex,
It was just a prop used for the photo
Dan
Don’t forget to mention that it has all wheel drive! You could add that to the list of standard features. And that’s more than a bicycle costing twice as much can boast.
P.S. Looks like some great improvements were made on v2.0!
Tim Ganstrom
Ha, that is awesome!! it should totally have AWD on the unit somewhere also.
I would love to see an ‘off-road’ mountain-bike style version. All terrain is the best!!
Reo
That’s a awesome vehicle!
I want to buy it. But I live in Japan.
Can you send it to Japan?
David Martschinske
Hey Reo,
Yes, we do ship to Japan! visit http://www.focusdesigns.com/products-page
Israel
Hi!
I live in Mexico, where can I buy some one, and How much is it?
Thank you very much
Greetings from Mexico City
David Martschinske
Hey Israel,
You can buy the SBU only direct from our website and we directly ship them to you. Visit http://www.focusdesigns.com/products-page to place an order.
Thank you for checking us out!
tessa mahardhika
i live at Jakarta – Indonesia (South east asia). can it be deliver to my country? if you can how much the delivery cost? by the way, perhaps a stoplight at the back of this Unicycle would be a great idea.
David Martschinske
Hey Tessa,
Yes we do ship internationally to Indonesia. I believe shipping to Indonesia was just over $199. If you’d like more information just shoot us an email.
Thank you for checking out the Self-Balancing Unicycle.
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Christian
I’d like to buy one. I live in Italy and was wondering how much the delivery would cost.
Also, I,ve got a 1 mile hill road to go back home that is too much for a fully charched Prius II battery….
Would it handle it?
Daniel Wood
You can purchase one here at focusdesigns.com with shipping cost to Italy at $199. The SBU will be able to handle a 1 mile hill no problem.
Jeff
Man, this looks great, do you think it would help with my mobility, I have disabilities in my legs and can’t walk well at all. Would really like to try it on a dirt road so I could get outdoors more often.
Daniel Wood
I think it would be perfect for you. Most of the balance is really upper body on the SBU. Where are you located?
Jeff
Missoula Montana, I have severe neuropathy following cancer treatment and I am disabled vet, I can walk but not without a challenged gate and sever pain, I have been really looking for something that would increase my mobility and would really like to give it try. You can contact anytime.
Richard Masoner
I really like this — much better than a Segway but seems to fit a similar purpose, and it reminds me of Rosie the robot maid from the Jetsons 🙂
I’m wondering about the motor, though: 1kW seems crazy big for this application. A 350W hub motor on a bicycle can propel an ebike to 20 MPH w/ no problems, so the 1000 watts on this seems like overkill?
Daniel Wood
Yeah, we love Rosie!
As far as the motor – you need a generous margin of power for balance control to quickly power you over any bumps in the road and keep you upright. And it is “geared” for more torque than speed to power you up hills. And can you really ever have too much power??? =)
Willmer Wonsang
Richard Masoner was my college buddy and best man at my wedding (FYI).
I am an unicyclist since 4th grade. After riding one for many years, I have experienced worn tires, broken seats from unfortunate falls and flats tires. Where do we get the spare parts from? Are the seats compatible with traditional unicycle seats? The banana seats are comfortable.
I love the idea of the overkill on the motor since, I plan to ride mine quite a bit on uneven terrain with a couple of hills here and there.
I was just about to purchase a Segway for my mid-life crisis purchase, but I believe that I will be getting an SBU instead.
Do you have any distributors yet? I would be interested in selling this on the side.
David Martschinske
Unicycling since 4th grade eh? You probably think we are all cheaters – this is much easier to ride. 🙂 We put the Kenda Kiniption tire on here and can use any standard 20″ tube/tire. The seat is a Kris Holm Unicycle seat. You can change the tire, tube, and seat at your leisure. We would be happy to solve any mid-life crisis issues. Shoot us an email at sales@focusdesigns.com about distributing. We are setting dealers up in the future and can put you on the list.
Thank you for your business. David
George Dimitropoulos
I have two of these 1KW motors (golden motors) on my mountain bike coupled with a 54V/12Ah LiMn02 battery, totalling 2KW. Trust me, it is very ok power-wise. On certain occasions, even with this power it stalls, exactly because of torque being delivered without any gearing, especially considering that I’m 1.95m tall and 110Kg.
I admire the very clever thinking in this project. The GM hub motor has a forwards and backwards function, which is usb programmable via the in-built controller. So, I guess they coupled a microgyroscope chip with the throttle controls and the forwards/backwards function and got it running. Any chances the “glueing” utilised C in a Linux running Atmel?
I really wonder how it would cope with my weight/height and rather difficult Athenian terrain. I guess there’s only one way to find: how about some holidays in Athens stay at my place, show you around town and introduce you to my mechanical engineering students?
cheers
George
David Martschinske
Hey George,
Thank you! GM does provide separate controllers, we do not use them however. We have a completely Focus Designs-designed BLDC motor controller. Our custom electronics are really the only way we would be able to precisely control the balancing of the motor. It also has MEMS sensors to provide balancing feedback.
Hmm… Athens… Let me think about it, YES! We would love to head over there. Things are very busy for us at the moment but could we take a raincheck? We’ll try to find a few other reasons to head your way but we would be honored to come and meet your ME students.
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Ryan
One more question… I’m a student that carries 20lbs of books in my backpack… How would that affect the ride? would it lose any stability?
Chris Eden-Pratt
How do you adjust the speed?
How much is shipping to the UK?
Ryan
This looks awesome! But I’m wondering if the height is adjustable? I am 6’2 and am wondering how well I would fit on one
Daniel Wood
I’m 6′ and it fits me fine. The seat is adjustable and can be raised too.
Brian
What is the recommended maximum wait of a person to ride this? 235lbs too much?
Daniel Wood
We specify max cargo weight at 250 lbs. But that is just to meet all of the other specs like speed and distance. The SBU V2.0 can handle up to 300 lbs easily. Riders closer to 300lb you will see a slight performance decrease.
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Francis
Wow! That would be so cool to ride in Manhattan Beach, CA. If you guys want someone to demo it there almost everyday, I would be more than willing to advertise it for you. Amazing tech!
Noah
Hi
what about comfort. I dont see suspension on the system. I have a bad back so will I feel every bump on the road surface or wil the seat pole have a hydrolic chamber or sprint or anything to ease the bumps of the road. i would like to ride this to the train each day. I have a 1.5 mile ride to one train and then another .7 mile to the other the office each day. So to and from I am either walking or riding more than 2 miles a day, 10 miles a week. Will it hold up and rain and how long will it hold a charge for this usage with no real hills. (30 degree incline for .5 mile per day)
Chris
I have a Segway now and can use it to get to my workplace 17.5 miles from home. I would love to have a sit-down unit. I have yet to see a mention of range. 5 Amp-Hour 38.4V LifePO4 does not mean anything to me, I just need an approximate range figure.
Thanks!
Daniel Wood
Hi Chris,
We spec the SBU V2.0 range at 12 miles.
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Chris Eden-Pratt
What sort of incline will this cope with?
Daniel Wood
It can handle almost any incline you would normally encounter on the sidewalk or street. Although we haven’t tested it on Lombard Street in SF yet!
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Joel
Riding looks like so much fun!
Maybe this is the motorized transport of the future? Segway had a nice idea but their product is way overpriced.
I’d love to see you guys work a bit on your company’s visual identity though – for a company called focus it’s a bit all over the place. While the rider in the logo is a nice idea, the execution feels somewhat crude.
Some design could be done on the product itself as well. For a product that is used as an extension of the body, some rounding off the corners would give it a more human look and feel. The saddle looks comfy though 🙂
Do you consider bringing the product to the european market in the future? I’d love to get one.
Good luck!
Daniel Wood
Joel,
Thanks for your advice! We are constantly improving…and the saddle is comfy (for a unicycle).
We sell to Europe now, factory direct from our website.
Thanks!
Lathan
The new look is Sweet. What a great use of an in Hub motor.
David Martschinske
Thanks Lathan!
Chris Bishop
Hey Daniel,
Its Chris Bishop from the Fair down in Vancouver last year. We talked about me getting one to take with me when i deploy with the Army.
well I’m deploying next spring…..
Id like to talk to you again about getting one, and having it to spec for the conditions over there, weather wise and camo.
Thanks Again
Chris
David Martschinske
Next spring eh? We can get ya a camo version pretty quickly. When you say “the conditions” I’m assuming you’re talking about sand, heat, and rain?
-David
Jodene
Looks AWESOME – I think the sub 5ft peeps can learn on this one no?
David Martschinske
JOJO!!!!
Hmmm… The sub 5-ft market will definitely be MORE comfortable on this one, but when we add a smaller wheel you’ll be able to very comfortably ride that one.
Miss ya,
Dmart