3D Printed BicyclesConsumer Products

The new market for 3D printed monowheel accessories grows

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It doesn’t get any more personal transportation than monowheels and—as a heavy monowheel (InMotion V10F) user myself— I can enthusiastically confirm it. If anything, the market is so young, and there are already so many different models available, that it’s very hard to find proper monowheel accessories such as bumpers, protection, padding and other customizations.

Enter 3D printing.

As in other emerging customization segments that we’ve covered in the past, monowheels (aka unicycles or EUCs) offer a unique opportunity to obtain a significant market share as an early mover, in what is sure to become a major segment of personal mobility.

A new market for 3D printed monowheel accessories

In the EUC & Pizza Facebook group, there is a user that has started 3D printing custom accessories for his and his friends’ monowheels. Either paddings or bumpers, stands and other types of protections: there really are a number of opportunities and 3D printing technologies now offer sufficient quality and material selection (flexible elastomers or tough composites) to build a serious business out of a passion.

A new market for 3D printed monowheel accessories

A new business

Monowheel riding is already a global phenomenon and it’s growing fast. Skip forward a few days and, via the international Facebook Group Electric Unicycle dot org EUC, we connect with the EUC Army store. The EUC enthusiasts site which provides a number of accessories (bumpers, pads, grips), available via Thingiverse and 3D printed, for the new, top of the line Veteran Sherman Sherman, a beast that can go more than 85 Km/h, with up to 200 Km mileage. In one of the product images it even show the Creality Ender 3D printer used to 3D print the accessories, demonstrating that they can be printed relatively easily, with a super low-cost machine. If this is not a new business in the making I don’t know what is.

Customizing the rider

And it’s not only about customizing the monowheel either. The rider becomes an integral part of the machine, providing all the necessary hardware and control systems for steering, accelerating and breaking. And the rider needs custom protections and devices. For example, smart glasses can provide (much needed) rearview vision while there could be an argument for 3D printed connected devices to wear on the hands (along with wrist protections) as blinkers. Custom 3D printed helmets could also provide better protection without increasing weight with a full motorcycle helmet.

We are just at the beginning of a new revolution in both personal mobility and personal manufacturing. There is no better time to get on board.

In case you’d like to learn more about the leading monowheel manufacturers and models, the current market leaders are KingSong, InMotion, Gotway, Begode and Leaperkim, and now the Veteran Sherman. The 3D model for the bumper in these photos, for the Gotway monowheel, is available on Thingiverse at this link.

A new market for 3D printed monowheel accessories

 

Research
Technical Ceramic AM Market 2023

108 technical ceramic AM companies individually surveyed and studied. Core technical ceramic AM market generated $113 million in 2022. Market expected to grow to over $2 billion by 2032 at 33.5% CA...

Davide Sher

Since 2002, Davide has built up extensive experience as a technology journalist, market analyst and consultant for the additive manufacturing industry. Born in Milan, Italy, he spent 12 years in the United States, where he completed his studies at SUNY USB. As a journalist covering the tech and videogame industry for over 10 years, he began covering the AM industry in 2013, first as an international journalist and subsequently as a market analyst, focusing on the additive manufacturing industry and relative vertical markets. In 2016 he co-founded London-based VoxelMatters. Today the company publishes the leading news and insights websites VoxelMatters.com and Replicatore.it, as well as VoxelMatters Directory, the largest global directory of companies in the additive manufacturing industry.

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