Any Interest In A RIG Like This ???

  • Thread starter natchamp
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natchamp

18
United States
SoCal
Gents,

I recently got into sim racing and decided to design and build my own rig. I ended up making a couple of these for myself and a couple buddies of mine. I put a lot of thought into the design, it is very rigid but very lightweight and has a great seating position. The one below is actually the second design build.

Now, I'm contemplating selling them. I know there are a lot of companies offering cockpit rigs so I'm not so sure there is a large market for them. I am not offering them for sale at this point, just asking for feedback.

Do you like the design? Do you think they would sell? If so, what would be a realistic decent price for them?

Thanks for any feedback!

SimB_1.jpg


SimB_2.jpg


SimB_3.jpg
 
Could you include drilling for a shifter mount?

Could you include drilling for a monitor mount?

Why did you go for a center post vs an upside down U. (rSeat)

Could you sell it for <$1000?

It looks awesome and very sturdy. What metal did you use?

Could you sell it without a seat?

How portable / collapsible is it?

Weight?

Looks awesome. At the right price I would buy it.
 
Looks incredibly nice but that center post kills it.

I don't like the center post on the PlaySeat; much less one that is triple/quadruple that size.
 
Hi Paskowitz,

I would very much like to have a price under 1,000 as I know not everyone has an unlimited budget :)

I can certainly incorporate provisions for a shifter mount and monitor mount. If I could get some input from some users like yourself on the best location, attributes you would like, etc. One route could be incorporating the mounting holes and letting the user either buy an add-on mount or use the incorporated mounting holes to use/build their own mounts. This would keep the cost down and offer the user flexibility in their budget and degree of DIY'ers.

I had a preliminary design using an upside down "U" but decided to go the way I did because I felt getting in and out of the rig with the U wasn't as easy as the way I have it now. I wanted to keep the overall size to a minimum for space constraints and using a U would have worked against that goal. The concern was rigidity and I'm extremely happy with the end results.

The material is aircraft aluminum sheet. The weight is under 25lbs for the rig. It dissembles nicely for shipping costs and the user would assemble. The seat has angle adjustability and fore/aft adjustability via the seat slides. The steering wheel tower adjusts fore/aft and up/down. The pedal base also adjusts for/aft and rate of angle.

I was planning on selling it without a seat unless everyone's consensus was to included a seat.
 
Nice design buddy but the center post is just to massive. The VR3 has a center post that is literally half the width of someones pinky and people tore it apart. you should change that to an upside down U. Very nice design otherwise, great work. I'm going to PM you.
 
Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback. I guess I just can't relate to the issue of the center post. When I look at the VR3 and playseat designs I certainly don't see the wheel platform being very rigid, which is an absolute requirement for me.

For me, when I drive the natural position is to have my knees slightly apart which works great with this. Do you guys drive with your knees clinched together? Don't get me wrong here, I appreciate the feedback and if there is a strong consensus on an upside down U I can do that, just trying to understand better.
 
I have a VR3 and its extremely stable. The center post on it is being eliminated finally due to slowing sales because of the Center post. The new design is a very robust two post design. The center post is a PITA when heel toe'ing. Depending on the rig, its better/worse/non issue. But it is a design of the past.

Now that I have a VR3 without center post and a Human Racing GT, I can never go back.

We don't race with our legs clinched. But the center post design is definitely from the yesteryear of rig design, and regardless of wheather it gets in the way or not, people will say "Oh no a center post" Its ingrained in the sim community.

I really like your design and think it can definitely be a commercial rig. You'll sell them for sure, but my opinion is you'll sell more without the center post.
 
The center post might kill it if you try to sell them. I have a playseat evo and don't really mind the post much, but will never buy a rig that has one again. The center post seems like the number one way to scare off potential buyers. Even if it doesn't actually get in the way, it looks like it would.
It also looks like it would make left foot braking uncomfortable unless there is an easy way to move the pedals left and right without having to unscrew anything.

It also doesn't look very adjustable.
Can you lower the wheel deck?
Can you move the wheel forward and back?

One thing I would really like to see in a new rig coming out is testing done to find the best places to mount a 4 point simvibe setup, and then mounts already made to install them. As I've seen since simvibe released alot of people are starting to go with transducers, but everyone is putting them in different spots even on the same rigs. This is something no one else has done yet and might get people interested in just your rig. It would also provide universal setting for simvibe to make it easier for users to get started using trasducers with you cockpit.

It would be great to have a premade setup with tacticle transducers thought of while designing it and then making it easy to mount the mini LFEs. Then maybe even have a matching amp rack, and PC shelf integrated into the unit.

With all that said, it does look nice though. Probably better then anything I would come up with.
 
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I would easily pay 1.000 $ for this work of art. Even without racing seat. 👍
 
Very creative - you have something quite marketable here. You don't need to send a seat. Summit sells the type in the photo for 160 shipped.
 
I would be very interested in a rig like this, it looks great and you're in socal too! But like others have said, having a center post is just not for me :(
I think it would attract more potential buyers (including myself) if it didn't have the center post...I'll be following this thread in case you fabricate one with a dual post design :)
 
I don´t fully understand the no center post propaganda. You would be surprised how many simracers don´t want to bother with heal and toe and is left foot brakers schumi style ;) Heal and toe is really something that is for yesterday. No proper new race cars require such techniques lol. I suspect there is a market also for the non heal and toe user base.

Seriously looks good. I had the playseat evo for a while and the center post was surely not what killed the deal for me. In fact it was one of the big enhancements over the playseat classic. Rigidity is a very high priority for a rig for me and if you go for smaller rigs like this there is always compromises to be made. Evolution was in the end far from rigid enough for me

I have a big rig that is getting nowhere but do get complaints about how hard it´s to get into it :)
 
I have no experience of having a cockpit rig myself nor do I know what people want, so take this with a grain of salt.

Aircraft aluminum isn't exactly the kind of material you'd have in your home. It's great that you have lightweight material. My personal suggestion is to create an exterior that makes it look more comfy. It's nicer to look at in your home and it'll probably allure people more than an "industrial-looking" device.

That's just what I think.
 
My rig is in mine profile pictures. There is no center post, and i have room for my legs. I made it and It's cheap, simple and works perfectly but it has one flaw.

It's pure functional only, there is no art in it. Not like in those photos, i don't care if it has center post. Probably ill get use to it. And it would be a magnificent addition to my living room where i can show off to friends who sometimes visit me and we play often any racing games. Old one and new once.

This is fantastic!!
 
Very nicely done! I like the added touch of the wheels for wheel barrow style portability.
If you can re-design it to lose the center post that would most certainly add value to it.
I understand your comments about the rigidity, I wrestled with that on my own rig.

What sort of adjustments can be made to the wheel deck and pedals positioning?

Some of the lines vaguely remind me of this non-center post rig posted by WildRun in the New Thrustmaster F1 Wheel? thread about a year ago.

2763302012012618181.jpg
 
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I like it! But I would like it better without the center post. It's not so much that I drive with my knees together. But when heel to toeing or left foot braking my knees do move. I would not want a center post limiting that movement or knocking against my knees.

Just my thoughts 👍
 
Center post kill's it for me. Looks like you planned it well and good construction but that darned center post. Look at my rig in my sig, if you are interested in that design I'll give you a blueprint and reference photo's.
 
This could be also modified like this, i think small adjustment would also attract those center post negative people.



Black marks are the places for aluminum replacement. But love original idea. Where should i sign :guilty:
 
No intent to knock your design, just informing you what your competition may be.

Non center-post rigidity done right, $700 with no seat:

Unknown.png
 
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JogoAsobi
Very nicely done! I like the added touch of the wheels for wheel barrow style portability.
If you can re-design it to lose the center post that would most certainly add value to it.
I understand your comments about the rigidity, I wrestled with that on my own rig.

What sort of adjustments can be made to the wheel deck and pedals positioning?

Some of the lines vaguely remind me of this non-center post rig posted by WildRun in the New Thrustmaster F1 Wheel? thread about a year ago.

2763302012012618181.jpg
Click to expand...


Ding ding ding. I also love the trusses really great looking. The wheels are also great. Also aluminum looks fantastic. Please don't change that
 
I would buy this one of these right now if you are willing to ship to Nor Cal :). I was interested in the Bob Earl VRC but decided against it because it didn't get me in the F1 position as much as I would like, yours looks like it has more extreme angles. Beautiful.
 
First off, let me say that YOU WANT competition in the market if you're looking at eventually selling your cockpit because it shows that there ARE BUYERS out there!

If there weren't buyers...you wouldn't see so many 3rd party companies selling cockpits, would you?

Prime Example is the ‘mouse trap’…

How many different types of mouse traps are there on the market today?

A LOT!

Why?

Because not one mouse-trap does it right!

HOWEVER

That being said, instead of building a sim racing cockpit and then HOPING someone buys it…find out what your BUYERS WANT and then built it!

This means finding out what the WANTS AND NEEDS are of your intended buyers!

Sim Racers are people, just like computer-geeks, audiophiles, bookworms, etc., etc,. etc…meaning…we buy on IMPULSE!

Show us something that satisfies a WANT or a NEED, comes off as both IRRESISTIBLE and AFFORDABLE and I’ll guarantee you will hit a home run every single time around!

How do you do this?

• Poll your users and get their feedback as to what they’re looking for…which means not only this forum, but those that cover ALL FORMS of Sim Racing! (PC AND Console)
• Find out what price point are they willing to go up to!
• Find out the level flexibility they’re looking for in the overall design!
• What type of compatibility are they looking for when it comes to wheels/pedals?
• How much are they willing to spend on JUST SHIPPING and still make the purchase?
• How long are they wiling to WAIT FOR DELIVERY?
• Etc., Etc.,

Once you know what your intended market is looking for…based on wants/needs, you should then have all the needed data in order to build them something they’ll buy!

Translation:

Don’t re-invent the mouse-trap, just make a better one!

Case in point, look at what “klight4” said:

“I would buy one of these now if you are willing to ship to Nor Cal…”
Click to expand...

and that’s assuming a sub-$1,000 price point, as was mentioned by a few previous posters!

So, based on what he's already seen, he's got his wallet out and wanting to buy!

Imagine if you had 100...200...or even 1,000 more "klight4's" lined up around the corner wanting what it is you are selling?

$Cha$Ching$ is all I can hear from here!
 
Ok, guys,

Can't say I'm not trying! I've been spending a lot of time designing a non-center post version. I thought I'd share some preliminary photos. I've narrowed in on this approach for the best styling and functionality. Feel free to tell me how you like it and what you think.

V3_1.jpg



V3_2.jpg



V3_3.jpg
 
I like your concept. It's a bit "industrial" for my personal taste, but it does have a nice look.

A couple of things to consider as I've fit quite a few people in different race cars and now rigs:

-Make sure it can handle short and tall. Tall is actually easier to deal with (up to a point) but scrunching short people into a rig does not give them "the sim experience" accommodating for short legs (pedal reach) and then not have the wheel in their face.

-Your seating position requires people to "look up" this requires that the TV/monitors be mounted quite high. The idea that this is how to sit comfortably in a formula car makes me scratch my head. I've fit all shapes of drivers into real formula cars for more than 20 years, you don't drive looking at the sky... Modern F1 has a problem with this (raised noses) but look at the helmet line, they are looking straight ahead.

-Accommodate for the current selection of wheels, and give your self room for future products. I can see from this that a G27 and Fanatec will not suit as well as a T500 :)

Stick with it, and I suggest you keep the world posted as you develop (I do it :)). It's fun and people get excited about what you're doing!
 
pilmat
A couple of things to consider as I've fit quite a few people in different race cars and now rigs:
Click to expand...

^ Very insightful advice for all rig designers.
Especially considering the experience behind the comments.

Thanks much for sharing. :bowdown:

@ natchamp; I think your heading in the right direction now, just need to refine.
Center post design appears to have fallen out of favor these days.
 
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pilmat
A couple of things to consider as I've fit quite a few people in different race cars and now rigs:

-Make sure it can handle short and tall. Tall is actually easier to deal with (up to a point) but scrunching short people into a rig does not give them "the sim experience" accommodating for short legs (pedal reach) and then not have the wheel in their face.
Click to expand...

This!

I am a shorty of only 1 meters 68 centimeters. I own an rSeat Evo and I set my C-frame all the way against my pedals, because otherwise either the pedals are too far away or the steering wheel is too damn close.
So the only adjustment I actually have as a shorty on the rSeat is the steering wheel plate angle and pedal plate angle adjustments. That's it.
 

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