Get the details and have your questions answered before making a decision. At Marathon Pets, we have dedicated ourselves to building the best product for both pets and owners.
We received and overwhelming number of requests for a 12” wheel. Well we’ve got some good news… We are now planning to offer a 12” wheel in addition to our 8” wheel!!
When making this wheel, the first thing we focused on, even before the “Smart” portion of the wheel, was the noise level. Our original designs were quiet but our obsessive pursuit of the perfect wheel wouldn’t let us rest until we achieved the new industry standard for a quiet wheel. To achieve this our wheels use some of the highest quality SEALED ball bearings! You may be wondering why we emphasized the SEALED when describing the bearings. Most other manufacturers use either no bearings, bushing, or entry level versions to attempt to reduce the amount of noise that the wheel makes. As most wheel owners know there is still a lot of room for improvement.
The reason Marathon Pets uses SEALED parts is because they reduce two common issues:
- Dirt, dust, and grime can find its way into the bearing or bushing which eventually leads to increased noise.
- After a period of time, the bearings or bushings can lose their lubrication which leads to excessive noise, wheel resistance and may require the consumer to oil the bearings on a regular basis. Oil can have an odor and may be toxic to the animals.
Our bearings are SEALED so they will keep dust, dirt, and grime out of the bearing. They will also retain lubrication which keeps a Marathon Pets wheel quiet for years to come!
This is a smart wheel and has electronics, it has to be hard to clear right? Not at all! The wheel can be disassembled and ready to clean in about 15 seconds!
- To separate the wheel from the stand there is one axle bolt to remove the wheel.
- To remove the electronics open the form fit easy slide off cover (no screws) and then simply lift out the circuit board out of the head unit.
Because the wheel contains SEALED bearings, all components minus the circuit can be soaked in dish detergent and scrubbed until you are satisfied that it is clean enough.
Reassembly is just as simple! The head unit contains pegs that match up with the circuit board so you’ll know always know that its been reassembled correctly
The electronics are all completely enclosed in the head unit above the wheel. The elevated enclosure makes it much more difficult for the pet to get access to. The wheel is designed to have the back of the frame pressed firmly to the back of the cage. The power source comes into the back of the head unit and goes directly through the bars of the cage. There is supplied hardware that comes with the wheel to ensure it can be fastened tightly to the cage. This wheel will not be able to be separated from the cage without first removing the hardware. The design is used to ensure the power source is minimally in the cage and is not accessible to your pets.
If the pet was somehow able to access the electronics within the head unit by chewing through the cover, the electronics within the unit do run on very low DC voltage so the “Shock” level of the electricity within the unit is non life threatening. We put a lot of time and effort into making this wheel as safe as possible for your pets.
If you enclosure is glass we also supply hardware to fasten the wheel to the glass to ensure it doesn’t move or tip. With this style of enclosure the cord would be run out the top.
Can splashing of water or urine make it into the electronics?
With the electronics being enclosed in the head unit above the wheel and with the design of the wheel having a closed back, this eliminates any splashing that would be directed towards the electronics of the wheel. If a splash were somehow able to make it to the head unit, the enclosed design would ensure that the vast majority would be kept out.
It is important that the cover remain on the wheel while the in use to ensure the circuit is assembled as intended. In the event the circuit did come into contact with moisture, the circuit would shut itself down at which point you would want to unplug it and let it dry out.
For washing and cleaning of the wheel, it is important to follow disassembly instructions for the removal of the circuit.
This is one of our favorites because a lot of thought went into this.
Bumblefoot can be caused by a number of things. One of which is constant pressure to the soft tissue of the feet being pressed in between the bones. This is why wire wheels are no longer recommend for your pets. When they step on that wire, the wire presses the soft tissue of the foot in between the bones of the feet. Many companies began selling plastic wheels so your pet can run on a smooth flat surface. However, plastic can be slippery so companies added tread bars for the pet to grip as its running. Unfortunately, that raised tread bar has the same effect as wire, just not nearly to the same degree. We looked into this a lot and decided the optimal solution to this would be to design the tread so that it is inlayed into the wheel instead of raised. This gives your pet the smooth surface to run on but allows the soft tissue of the pet’s feet to EXPAND into the tread for traction rather than the tread pressing into the soft tissue of their feet!
This unit does use your homes existing WiFi and is capable of supplying a live feed of data to the internet. The default state of the wheel is in limited WiFi consumption mode, which allows it to track your pets running sessions and transmit only the minimum essential data.
When the user views their dashboard and presses the “Show Live Feed” button this will allow a continuous stream of activity data to be viewed while the wheel is in use.
This approach allows for the minimum amount of WiFi consumption but ensures that the wheel continue to track all of the your pets running sessions so none of their hard work will go unnoticed!
Have another question?
Set out to change the world… Ended up re-inventing the wheel!