While the Enicycle may look eerily similar to Focus Design's
SBU unicycle, it's decidedly different when looking at the nuts and bolts of things. As of now, just two of these devices exist in the entire world, and one Ortis Deley was able to scoot over to Italy in order to give one of them a ride. Thanks to what is described as "a clever system of gyroscopes, embedded processors and a 1,000W hub motor," the bike was said to be exceptionally easy to control, and the foot-steering apparatus seemed to also work quite well. We'd say that this doesn't really have a chance in hades to make it in the commercial market, but if the
P.U.M.A. can find buyers, absolutely anything is possible. Check the exhilarating vid in the read link.
[Thanks, Steve]
posted Apr 19th 2009 6:55PM
that. was. AWWWWSUMMMMM!!!
That was last weeks Gadget Show on channel 5 (UK)
If Engadget has to get their stories from the Gadget Show we are all fucked.
engadget gets their stories from all around the web and world your idiot.go troll on another board u douche bag!
@Major4Play: That was profoundly stupid.
@loopyoyo: That was less stupid, though you stated it in a profoundly stupid way.
Well, if engadget started covering their stories about which laptop is easiest to blow up, I think then we would be fucked.
WTF?? Have you guys been to Gizmodo lately? Seriously.
I think if Engadget start sending hookers to everyone's house, we're all fucked.
Awesome! When are they gonna make a no-wheeled one?
Very cute indeed. Bit difficult to learn the skill and should cater for 10 kg payload too.
If you ever see anyone riding around on a regular unicycle "just to get around", they're just doing it to be seen doing it. You can't coast on a unicycle so there's almost no mechanical advantaged compared to walking.
And by that we deduce that everyone that is walking is doing it to be seen doing it.
Have you ever seen someone riding a unicycle with a wheel bigger than 20"? Mountain and cruising unicycles typically have 24-26" wheels which DO go significantly faster than walking speed.
By that logic, fixed-gear bikes should also have "almost no mechanical advantaged", as they also have no coasting? Mechanical advantage has nothing to do with coasting, and everything to do with geometry. It's true a unicycle of reasonable wheel size (limited by crotch clearance) can have less mechanical advantage than a fixed gear bicycle, which can change sprocket ratio as well as wheel size and pedal length, but the mechanical advantage is typically 3:1 or so from the ones I've seen.
And while it's obvious that more efficient choices for transporting oneself exist, it's possible that they pick unicycling _for fun_ rather than "to be seen doing it". I'm not sure why you'd think that everyone who does something in public does it to show off, maybe some projection going on there?
http://www.gurai.unicyclist.com/
The dudes ride across Iowa on 36" unicycles every year on RAGBRAI.
Anywhere, Anytime, Any Circus
i would buy this in a snap. Not kidding.
D'you think you're the only one?
Get in line dude.
me first!
Why is everyone so keen to remove wheels? They add stability. Like, the PUMA... wouldn't it be easier just to have an added wheel or two for stability?
If you are riding to a bar that is full of hot women, would you rather pull up in an ATV or a Segway/GM Puma?
Thought so.
Is one of those choices supposed to not suck?
"If you are riding to a bar that is full of hot women, would you rather pull up in an ATV or a Segway/GM Puma?"
Segway.
"Thought so."
Thought so.
Hmmm... I don't know, maybe I'll use... my CAR?
Cause there are SO many hot women LEAVING with the dude who rolls up in a PUMA!
Umm, neither?
not sure how useful it is but sure looks fun! (very much the same reason to pogo stick, I suppose)
I think the big plus for this is one wheel makes it tiny enough to take with you anywhere - even into the workplace.
The reason the Puma has two wheels though is so they can charge thousands of dollars instead of hundreds!
clowns of the world rejoice!
It looks along the same lines as the various DIY segways, but with 1 wheel in a seat. Really neat project, wish I could build one myself.
Haha this sucks. But not as much as Monster Cable!
What I really need is an $200 HDMI cable that 'really' transmits the exact ones and naughts that a freakin lump of steal could achieve, 1's are 1's, 0's are 0's.
I quote:
"Monster Speed Rated HDMI Cables offer the widest selection of performance" what fuckin performance, its fuckin ones and zeroes!!!!
"at the widest range of prices" yes I kid you not some of their prices are so 'wide' they defy belief. I implore the Engadget community, after all, is knowledgeable to get on this and do all they can to end it. Its just wrong!
"24k gold contacts for maximum signal transfer" its either on the screen..or it's not save over the air digital txs.
creme de la creme "ultra-high density quad-layer shielding" are you fucking serious??
I expect a full and coherent show of support for this post by fellow Engadgeteers.
OK, Monster Cable sucks. But please don't start with that ignorant "a digital signal is just 1s and 0s, it either gets there or it doesn't". No, it doesn't work that way.
Absolutely great invention..... Can see these all around europe...... Not here in the states though.....
Your mom gets ridden on video.
whose mom?
yours?
Trevor Blackwell did this first! He did it years ago.
Check out his site at www.tlb.org
I'm impressed. This is way cooler than the Segway.
The reason this us so much better than the Segway is that it is so much smaller.
Unlike the segway, this could easily fit in a trunk or even a large locker. I be interested to know the distance this thing get on a charge. The battery is not very big and it needs to power a one kilowatt engine. Also, it might be interesting to pair this with that Samsung fuel cell battery featured a little while ago. That way, a recharge would only require a little liquid. I don't know if the fuel cell could support that kind of wattage though. This is the most interesting Segway type device I have seen so far, including the Segway itself.
They say 3 hours on one charge and 10 miles / h.
"A tumblebug does not give a man dignity, since it is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized on a single wheel. But it is perfectly adapted to patrolling the maze of machinery 'down inside', since it can go through an opening the width of a man's shoulders, is easily controlled, and will stand patiently upright, waiting, should its rider dismount." Robert Heinlein, "The Roads Must Roll", 1940.
Ortis? I think you'll find he's called Otis...
Or not. Why does he call himself "Otis" then? Loon.
So when's the Engadget giveaway for this beauty? ;)
I saw this thing being rode in the 'flesh' at the Gadget Show Live event at the NEC in Birmingham (UK) this Sunday just gone, it beat a Segwey in a race, lol.