Page 2 of the Sunday Business section (of all things) has an article on Kris and his Freestyle unicycles, accompanied by a nice action photo (in addition to the small photo on Page 1 alluding to the article inside).
Titled “Downhill Cycling, Minus One Wheel,” the quarter-page section quotes Kris about his attempts to ride munis before the technology improved, when he killed about a dozen unicycles from 1986 to 1998. It goes on to discuss subtle and not-so-subtle differences between the newer and older versions of the Freestyle as well as between munis and ‘circus’ unicycles (for example, the curved fork to avoid knee-scrapes and the dual-density foam seat to avoid, well, you know).
Lets say that he annouced 3 months ahead of time exactly what the 2006 model will have. For the next three months everyone in the know would hold off buying just because the new model is imminent even if the changes are only incremental.
Best to keep the planned changes secret or close to the vest so that sales don’t suffer. Bikes have that problem where bike shops often need to sell last years model at reduced prices just because the new model is out even if the only real change is paint color.
I hope that changes for each revision for the KH unicycles will be just incremental things and that the major parts like the hub, cranks, and frame will stay pretty constant and compatible with old models. I don’t see the need for any drastic changes.
I have to agree with JC here (who doesn’t agree with JC!).
I know I’m not very likely to ever trash my '05KH, but the thing is solid. It’s got what’s widely considered to be the best splined hub setup on the market, and really, unless there’s one piece that’s constantly breaking, there’s no need to update the design.