Self-balancing unicycle for commuters

Car News
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Neil Dowling
Contributing Journalist
13 Aug 2013
2 min read

It had to happen. In the wake of the wave of Segway riders who have given up the art of walking and prefer to annoy pedestrians comes the self-balancing unicycle. Honestly, where is the skill in this? People used to pay money to see such expertise at the circus.

No guesses where this comes from and no surprises that the SBU V3 unicycle is promoted as "a genuinely a new way to travel".Ā Created by Focus Designs (USA) the SBU V3 is a self-balancing unicycle that for many people in the US has become an integral part of their daily commute. As long as they weigh less than 148kg.

The 12.2kg machine is promoted as being very portable and able to fit on the bus, the underground, the train, and beneath your desk at work.Ā It has a range of up to 16km and a top speed of about 22km/h.

The SBU V3 has no handlebars or steering wheel and is controlled merely by leaning. Lean forward to go, lean back to slow down/stop. It remains upright by gyros, similar to the Segway.Ā Focus Designs says it takes about 20-30 minutes to learn and "once you master it riding becomes as natural as walking and talking".

The machine contains sensors - trademarked as Turn Assist , Push Back and Smart Sense - to learn the rider's style.Ā If you've given up on walking, details are now at www.eddyline.co.uk or direct from Focus Designs in the US.

This reporter is on Twitter: @cg_dowling
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Neil Dowling
Contributing Journalist
GoAutoMedia Cars have been the corner stone to Neil’s passion, beginning at pre-school age, through school but then pushed sideways while he studied accounting. It was rekindled when he started contributing to magazines including Bushdriver and then when he started a motoring section in Perth’s The Western Mail. He was then appointed as a finance writer for the evening Daily News, supplemented by writing its motoring column. He moved to The Sunday Times as finance editor and after a nine-year term, finally drove back into motoring when in 1998 he was asked to rebrand and restyle the newspaper’s motoring section, expanding it over 12 years from a two-page section to a 36-page lift-out. In 2010 he was selected to join News Ltd’s national motoring group Carsguide and covered national and international events, launches, news conferences and Car of the Year awards until November 2014 when he moved into freelancing, working forĀ GoAuto, The West Australian, Western 4WDriver magazine, Bauer Media and as an online content writer for one of Australia’s biggest car groups. He has involved himself in all aspects including motorsport where he has competed in everything from motocross to motorkhanas and rallies including Targa West and the ARC Forest Rally. He loves all facets of the car industry, from design, manufacture, testing, marketing and even business structures and believes cars are one of the few high-volume consumables to combine a very high degree of engineering enlivened with an even higher degree of emotion from its consumers.
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