First Press Release | Valley News Article June 30, 2008 | Contact the Inventor

Unitrainer Balance Cycle
Unicycle Riding Trainer

The advantages of the Unitraner include:

• Most people can learn to ride the trainer, without physical assistance, in 5-20 minutes. This includes mounting, riding and manoeuvring, all without railings or walls.
• It's fun to ride: Most people fall off very infrequently, if at all. Riding around is a lot more fun than struggling to balance long enough to move a couple of feet!
• It simulates riding a unicycle: Riding the trainer allows you to practice all the skills you need.
• It's affordable: A basic design would cost about the same as an entry level unicycle, possibly less. It would be easy for the consumer to attach to a previously or newly purchased unicycle.
• You learn fast: A deluxe version would cost about twice as much as a unicycle. Early testing indicates this version could reduce learning time to one tenth of traditional learning methods. One girl was riding her unicycle 20 feet after using this trainer for only one hour!
• It can be used to practice the most common rear mounting techniques.
• It can be used to practice advanced techniques such as riding with one foot, wheel walking and gliding.

I am currently looking for a company that is interested in licensing my invention, who would handle manufacture, promotion and distribution. If you are interested in being considered as a manufacturer of the device or are otherwise interested, you can contact me using the form below, or give me a call.

I am also looking for help testing the device. If your club or school would be able to use a Unitrainer balance cycle regularly (at least once a week) and you have plenty of beginners that want to learn, please contact me. I may be able to loan you a prototype!

Thanks, David Kano
603 298-9882 (U.S. Eastern Time Zone)

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Videos

Unitrainer Overview

The video below shows and describes the basic features of the Unitrainer hardware. A version with simple non-articulating handlebars is shown. The how to use video below shows another version with the fancy articulating handlebars.

Rose's First Session on the Unitrainer

The video below shows the highlights from a 45 - 50 minute beginner session. By the end she had started to learn the forward and backward balance skill which is the most challenging aspect of beginner riding.

The prototype she used has proven to be more challenging than some of the other versions of the invention to learn to steer and balance from side-to-side. It took Rose about 20 minutes to master starting up and manuevering, as compared to the 5 minutes or so it took for other riders to get to the same stage on an earlier prototype.

How to Use the Unitrainer

The video below explains the basic steps for using the Unitrainer which has the adjustable articulated handlebars. Note that although the two videos on this page show different prototypes, they have the same basic features and geometry, that are just implemented with different frame designs.

Unicycle Steering Simulation

The video below shows how the Unitrainer teaches one method of steering a unicycle.

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Contact the Inventor, David Kano

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