Wow, our last post was made in the summer months – it has definitely been a while since we’ve kept the world updated on whats going on over here.  We had increasingly more traction all over the world selling SBU’s.  We’ve had a lot of awesome moments this last year but nothing tops meeting and connecting with our customers.  We plan on more tours and more cool stuff for our customers in 2012.  We’ll be a little more specific in following posts.

Until then… stay nerdy!

David Martschinske and Steve Wozniak

I was really excited to meet Woz and yes, his player number is 3.14  If you line up the whole team (STeam) in a row they all spell out pi to the 16th number.  That gives you an idea of the kind of people I was running in to on a reglar basis at the Woz Cup 2011.  Speaking of meeting interesting people, a lot of you may know Smosh. Ian does a lot of YouTube video parodies and made a pretty interesting video of what he thought of the Segway Polo Cup 2011.

And before we start the SBU Polo league, I thought I’d give it a trial run.  I may have looked like a dingus out there but at least I had an awesome time playing polo with the Segs4Vets crew while on the SBU!

Self Balancing Unicycle Polo

If you’d like to see more images of our trip go here

You also get a chance to officially see “Gimpy” – the original idea that launched the SBU.

Vote “or die” here: Vote at MyTektronixScope.com

And if anyone out there is looking for a great scope go ahead and give Gary Martschinske an email for a sweet deal.

Many of you SBU enthusiasts know who Trevor Blackwell is but you might not be aware of his most-recent endeavor, the Anybot (a personal robotic avatar).  As we traveled through California on our Left Coast Tour we had a chance to meet Trevor along with a few of the Anybot engineers and some people from the Y-Combinator (including Olark).  The whole crew was able to pick up the SBU fairly quickly and before long we were SBUing along the street with them at close to top speed – all while carrying the stedicam to our 5dmk2 for our daily vlog. It was really cool to meet and speak with a bunch of like-minded entrepreneurs and of course to see them lovin’ the SBU!

♫ “From Oakland to Sacktown, The Bay Area and back down, Cali is where they put they mack down, Give me love… California Love!”"♫

No, Focus Designs hasn’t turned gangsta’ (we’re a “n3rd h3rd” not a “gang”). We’re just planning our SBU Left Coast Tour dates. The SBU was born to be wild, and keeping it cooped up at the Focus Design’s HQ just seemed cruel and against everything we stand for. We’re doing the right thing and letting the caged bird loose.  You know what they say, “if you love it let it go”. We’re doing just that, and wer’e letting it “go” to you (for a test drive) – Hence, the SBU Left Coast Tour.

What is the Left Coast Tour?
Our plans include stops throughout Oregon and California to bike shops as well as a few other places to let you guys give the SBU a test spin. Aside from special stops at University of Oregon (go Ducks!), Stanford, Google, and Pixar, here’s where we plan to ride (so far) and hopefully meet a lot of you guys:

8.5″ x 11″ Posters

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!

Get your SBU 2.0 Today

Orders begin today and will ship this November on a first-ordered first-shipped basis.

SBU Version 2.0 Brick Wall

Daniel SBU'ing while Cindy is Running

SBU V2.0 at Portland Waterfront

SBU V2.0 at Portland Waterfront at Night