Email sent, curious about this!
guni
Try to convince Terry Peterson, that dude can ride and has good camera presents!
Balanced
Yes i’ve seen his videos, I don’t necessarily think this project will be that much of a high profile project, but Terry definitely has the skills to pay the bills, I would be honored to have him see if he likes the unicycles or not first and foremost. I did some sketches that are too sloppy to post up here. The drawings include both a dual chain design and a 3 speed geared hub sketch. The thing is though i am getting so much interest that I might work on the geared hub as well. The thing with geared hubs is they are so much more complicated to produce and I personally have no aspirations to compete with schlumpf, my goal with the dual chain design was to just make it more affordable, and also with interchangeable gear ratios. As far as the geared hub sketch I just came up with a 3 speed design tweak based off of research I did on geared hubs in the last couple of hours. I had several other with 4 or more speeds but the 3 speed unicycle hub is based off of proven technology from researching existing bicycle products. I just looked it up and applied it to my current designs. My only fear with the complexity of geared hubs is greater risk of breaking down, which is why I gave up on the 4+ speed gear hub designs. Anyways the 3 speed sketch may or may not make it eventually, theoretically it would have 3 speeds like a Sturmey Archer hub, meaning it would have a low drive, direct, and an overdrive.
Stay tuned…
Looks like Registration is closed, I already got enough interested collaborators and/or riders at the moment, I mean if 1 of those actually drops out than I will still be looking. If eventually things look promising I may be hiring some assemblers blah, blah ,blah.
Right now the designs are sketch only but I am working/collaborating with several different individuals on 2 different products. I will post a link here under this thread to another thread Unicyclist.com once I start making rough prototypes. Definately it’s great to see that there is indeed an interest in what I may have to offer.
All my plans that I can tell you are below.
So far it will be down to a chain based production model, which again is nothing new, and maybe later down the line a Geared hub that I am also working on…that will take much more development and likely it MAY not be any cheaper than the schlumpf if even as affordable as the Schlumpf…it turns out Schlumpf has a reason for charging as much as they do, and I respect the fact that is a Schlumpf Gig for the most part.
The geared hub I have in mind building was a multiple speed hub, originally the ideal started with 4 speeds or more but has been reduced to 3 speeds for durability reasons, so anyways it is looking like it would have an overdrive, a 1 to 1 ratio, and a gear reduction. That is all I can say without getting every one hopes up too soon. It probably won’t be out for a while if at all; but believe me i will do everything in my power to make it a reality…regardless i can’t guarantee that will be cheap considering the high strength materials I will need for a final rideable project. The affordability factor should be more feasible for the dual chain.
The dual chain I am planning on producing won’t be as expensive as the Schlumpf when it hits production, but neither will it be shiftable. There is a builder named Justin who built 1 with a multi-speed geared bicycle hub in between the chains, but the play in the hub was too much according to Justin…the pro to a dual chain however is customizable gear ratios that can be installed when not riding if it is built a certain way.
I’ll be watching this tread. I really believe that competing with Schlumpf in the geared hub market would be very difficult, but there is room for jackshaft (dual chain) type setups. Especially if you can incorporate existing bike/unicycle parts.
I’m curious what you will come up with.
This project reminds me This
good project, I’ll follow it too.
Personally what I’d like to see coming is a 3 speeds hub with something like 1:1 ; 1:1.35 and 1:1.75, on a 29/32" wheel with a shifting lever/trigger on the handlebar.
I’d only see a 4th speed under the 1:1 ratio for 36" wheels, for uphills, I don’t see the interest of a lower ratio on smaller wheels unless you want to use very short cranks, but very short cranks especially makes sens on ungeared unis, or on very light g29 wheels for road only riding.
The bikes use more accurate and efficient gears systems (thanks to the free wheel) with many gears, low to very high gear ratio, and you don’t see bikers with short cranks, right?
Not trying to compete with Schlumpf. I assume there price are a result of manufacturing cost, therefore more gears adds more complexity, more complexity adds to the chances it will break down, more chances it will break down as well as increased complexity adds to cost, and not to mention the weight. If the 3 or 4 speed hubs come true they will have there disadvantages, like currently most of the simplest designs which have a better chance of working will require a long time to get the testing phase out the way. Not to mention the reduction gear would probably be useless on normal wheels, as UnidreamerFR brought out.
No I am not a competitor; I would like to be seen as peer and not a competitor to Schlumpf if things happen to workout.
Anyways yeah, the focus will be on dual chains. I am still playing with hubs for the heck of it. I know if I am a little reluctant to spend 2 grand on the current market I doubt the majority of unicyclist would spend more, which keeps Schlumpf in it’s niche …Dual chains will be an affordable compromise I am hoping.
I wish I could find out what all the geared bicycle hub companies are doing to figure out how they are cramming up to if not more than 14 speeds. I assume planetary gears are involved of course though.
None of the geared hub companies are really willing to share with me even if I am not going to be competition, I mean funny thing with Nuvinci is I didn’t ask them to invest a penny into the project but yeah they turned me down…so that is not going to work.
The trickiest thing is building something that won’t break down or that can be manufactured with modern standard techniques and equipment. Anyways i will keep You guys (and gals) updated.
The trick is the following:
A planetary gear consists of 3 elements: sun wheel (middle), planets (on planet carrier) and hollow wheel (outer wheel). One must be fix, one is for input and one for output. So there are 6 possible configurations:
- standard configuration (planet carrier fixed)
1.1. sun=input, hollow wheel=output: gearing down (to slow) and backward
1.2. hollow wheel=input, sun =output: gearing up (to fast) and backward - rotating configurationsn (planet carrier rotates)
2.1. sun is fixed
2.1.1. planet carrier=input, hollow wheel=output: gearing up (to fast) no change in direction
2.1.2. hollow wheel=input, planet carrier=output: gearing down (to slow) no change in direction
2.2. hollow wheel fixed
2.2.1 sun=input, planet carrier=output: gearing down (to slow) no change in direction
2.2.2 planet carrier=input, sun=output: gearing up (to fast) no change in direction
So as you want to gear up and don’t want to ride backward (like on a twice) you can only use 2.1.1 or 2.2.2.
Configuration 2.2.2 is impossible to use because it’s a hub and therefore the most outer part (hub body) can’t be fixed to the frame.
So 2.1.1 is the way to go.
And here comes the trick for the bicycles: as they’re chain driven and the chain line is inside of the frame, that’s their natural geometrical configuration. The most inner part (axle) is fixed in the frame, the next one is driven by the chain/sprocket and the outer part (hub body) is output and connected to the wheel.
For a unicycle the situation is totally different: we’re not chain driven but have the cranks right on the axle. So the axle has to be rotating and the input.
Thats why geared bike hubs are easy to make and geared unicycle hubs are not.
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To my understanding the global geared unicycle market is very tiny. Looking at the serial #s, under 1000 Schlumpf hubs have ever been sold. Total market size is under $200k annually if you do the math. That’s total revenues not profits, expect maybe 30% net profit or $60k assuming you have no distributors or middlemen, dependent on your unique design and manufacturing costs. Just want you to be aware of the risk/reward or sweat/equity payoff. Would love those see a 3 speed uni however. Good luck
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Folks believe me, the last thing I want to do Is make empty promises, but I would assume 3 or 4 speeds with 1 gear reduction is definately doable. For example if you incorporate a planetary gear you can gear up or down, now if there was a way to disengage the planetary gears you could engage other gears or other planetary gears…this is why I believe it us possible to make a unicycle geared hub with more than 1 or even 2 gears…look at schlumpf!..and look at the 14 speed internal geared bicycle hubs!, while I admit having an axle through the hub complicates things, it doesn’t make it impossible. That being said that’s all i am going to say without giving everything away…hopefully I will have encouraged other people to start working on solutions also, because I am not doing this to make easy cash or dishonest gain, if I was i would be investing in something else. My main goal is to make unicycles even more of a viable alternative to the common bicycle for myself and everyone that rides a unicycle. Marketing is just an excuse to keep it around in order to keep the Sport of unicycling “alive” for our future and for future generations!..not that it is “dying” or anything, I just believe that greater gear ranges would especially be beneficial for mountain use and I personally know that more gear ratios are possible than the afore mentioned with planetary gears alone, it just takes a bit of tweaking.
So true, but $60,000 is enough for a lower middle class man to live off of for 2 years where I am from (secret)
No money comes easy.
For example i myself have spent years researching motorcycles (another hobby of mine) and going to College and still have nothing to show for it in the motorcycle field (my day job/s are a secret, but It helps having 1!); because without on the job experience %99 of the time you won’t be able to land any job in that field…the truth is that money will not come easy no matter what you do…that being said skip over the beginning of my last post…this is all for the Sport of unicycling not making a fat wallet. I also happen to think unicycles have some advantages over bicycles with portability since often times they fit in car trunks. That also being said, thankyou for the feedback. I am hoping to aim for 4 speeds given the request on feedback I am receiving
Yes, but you are already offering to pay for someone else out of that as yet non-existent $60,000! I really hope this is genuine, as I’m sure the field could do with more innovators, but if I were looking for a speculative business partner, someone who refers to his location and day job as ‘secret’ and starts his posts, ‘Folks, believe me’ would not be my first choice!
Update 1
So far this is what I am getting from the unicycle community in number of gears on a unicycle.
1: “is fun”
2: “is good for you”
3: “makes me giddy”
4 “opens the door”
(To making unicycles a viable alternative to bicycles, etc.)
Just had to post it just to post it 
What do you guys and gals think about having 4 speeds on a unicycle with “underdrive” (for climbing), direct drive, and 2 overdrives?
The “underdrive” may not be useful on smaller wheels I have been told, but maybe 29 or larger?
The truth is I still haven’t found a way to adjust the low gear, it seems to be easier to fine tune the overdrive gearing…perhaps some of you know…
Anyways that’s Update number 1.
I am planning on making a unicycle time machine. It will go forwards and backwards through time by either wheel walking or fakie wheel walking.
What do you guys and gals think about this?
I will let you know more details on the mechanism of how it will work when I work it out
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You should offer to hire demonstrators right away.
Be nice.
I like the time machine idea, but I think we’ll see a 4-speed, shift-on-the-fly hub way earlier. 
UnimakerX, good luck with getting some working prototypes. Once you have something functioning, then it’s time to plan for the next step. Getting it to work will determine a lot of the cost and complexity of the final product.
And living “somewhere” in southeast Michigan, you may live near to one of the cradles of mountain unicycling (Livonia). So don’t let people give you a hard time about your local terrain!
My apologies. I fully support the exchange of ideas and the enthusiasm.
The original post is a help wanted ad looking for a person to demonstrate a product as a paid employee, but there currently appears to be no existing product, no company, and no money.
So, I do wish him the best of luck with his project, but in my opinion it is premature and misleading to be offering employment at this time.
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Today 07:13 PM
Cousin Itt ,
I agree, I am trying to find a way to delete this thread. In the first message though, I stated that I would have prototypes later on, preferably by the end of this year. And I stated I was looking for collaborators as well. But you have a point.
I have several sketches and I am working on Blueprinting the last ideal with Tommy from the Unicycle factory before building it.
I didn’t quite explain it the way I wanted to, this was just an attempt to interest people in the possibility of future employment or partnership, not now.
Of course If any of this comes to fruition i will indeed pay, but notice the words in this message FUTURE!
THANKYOU FOR FEEDBACK, And the 1 post about unicycle time machines was kind of funny, I got the point, but I think you would be impressed with a prototype of what I am working on, perhaps a little surprised beyond expectation…
this post is a little premature and gives away “secret information”, can anyone please tell me how to delete a thread?
I do currently have future demonstrators interested, but if your interested in partnering up and/or also demonstrating then I can put you on my contacts. Although the demonstration future position is filled at the moment, should that change I will let you know if you ask.