Hello Blog Readers,
The SBU’s unique design leads a lot of questions, the most common of which is, “for what purpose does it exist?” To some, the SBU is nothing more than a novelty product, while to others, it’s a meaningful commuting companion. Today’s blog post is dedicated to understanding where the SBU fits in your life, what the term “commuting companion” means, and how the SBU can better your busy life.
As an SBU owner knows, a lot of people ask the question, “What is that?” Apart from being a self-balancing unicycle, the SBU is classified as a light electric vehicle, along with eBikes, electric scooters, and Segways. Being considered a “light electric vehicle” in the U.S. has a lot of benefits, including the fact there’s no need for a special permit or license to ride it on the road.* Light electric vehicle owners rejoice over this as there are no additional ownership or registration costs. Most light electric vehicles are allowed to be driven on the road and in bike lanes, although light electric vehicles classified as “personal mobility devices” can be driven on the sidewalk. While Focus Designs classifies the SBU as a personal mobility device, we strongly recommend owners check their local laws before riding on the sidewalk.
Now that we’ve addressed where the SBU can be ridden, let’s dive into the question, “why would I use it?” My typical Saturday errands involve going to the grocery store, the bank, the post office, the local coffee shop, and the dry cleaners. While all these errands are well within walking distance of my house, walking to each place would take two hours out of my Saturday, minimum. While I do enjoy the health benefits associated with walking, I generally take the car out of convenience. But driving my car to withdraw money, drop off shirts, check my PO Box, and pick up some coffee for tonight’s party seems a little overkill considering my purchases can fit in a backpack. As a result, I feel like I’m wasting gas, contributing pollution, and personally, I’d rather be outside enjoying the fresh air.
As an SBU owner, I find the SBU to be ideal for my Saturday errands. The SBU travels at 12.5mph, which is four times faster than the average walking pace. This means I can easily accomplish all those errands in 30 minutes or less. In this scenario, the SBU not only saved gas and time, but eliminated that guilty feeling associated with driving my car for all those small errands.
Not only does the SBU make your Saturday errands more enjoyable, but it can also make your work commute a lot more fun. Commuters that utilize public transportation find themselves either driving to a park and ride, or walking long distances to the bus or train station. The SBU features up to a ten mile range, which is more than adequate to get you to not only that park and ride, but also to every transfer station in between. With the SBU taking the place of your car in your work commute, you can stop worrying about gas costs and the possibility of someone breaking into your car. Furthermore, the SBU weighs only 27lbs, making it easy to carry onto the bus with you.
Sometimes we need to go into the city for things other than work, such as shopping. While I enjoy running errands in the city, I tend to get a little stressed with all the stop and go traffic and parallel parking involved. To eliminate this, I use the SBU and park my car in one location. From there, I take the SBU out of my trunk and ride it to all the stores I need to get to. Not only is the SBU nimble enough to navigate around pedestrians, but the foot pegs foldup to ensure the SBU doesn’t get caught on any clothing racks or store décor.
While our customers have come up with a number of uses for their SBU, including walking the dog, we believe our SBU’s portability and lightweight design makes it the ideal “commuting companion.” Whether you’re running errands near your house, commuting into the city by public transportation, or trying to get around the city, the SBU can greatly reduce your need for driving. This has the causal affect of saving you money and eliminating the stresses associated with driving. If you haven’t already, we highly recommend you pick an SBU and join the hundreds of current owners who are already experiencing these benefits!
*disclaimer – A motor’s wattage determines the “light electric vehicle” classification. For all intents and purposes, the SBU is classified as a light electric vehicle.
