Strengths: Great feel. Beautifully machined piece of hardware. Made in the USA.
Weaknesses: None that i can see. Mounting the bike is a bit tricky since I use a tall book for the front wheel. So when I mount the bike, the trainer flops over because of I have the rear wheel set up so high. That's my fault though. Need a smaller front block.
Bottom Line:
Excellent product. Super quiet, solid, long coast-down with the good sized flywheel. Lots of adjustments for the mounting feet on the floor. Beautiful machining and appearance. Really, this thing looks like it belongs on the International Space Station.
Strengths: quiet, compact, sturdy, accurate resistance, cool, and a great work out
Weaknesses: none, really none
Bottom Line:
I never write reviews, but I am so pleased with this trainer that I thought i would. It works. It's quiet. It has a lot of resistance and it feels like the road. As you increase your speed the resistance increases. I can honestly say that what is written on the website is not hyperbole but it just an accurate description of how it functions. Buy it.
Even the less mechanical among us find it a cinch to setup, adjust, and load.
Very competitively priced compared to other mid to high end fluid/fluid-mag models.
Weaknesses: Be careful of that heavy flywheel. When we carry the trainer, we always grab it by the flywheel because it will flop over unexpectedly in 1 of the 2 directions.
Low product familiarity / nobody knows about this machine. I asked the othewise very-informed associate during a recent trip to the bike store to research alternatives before buying my second 1up (so my son and I can virtual tour together.). I wanted him to tell me about their trainers and how they compared to the 1up USA model. He had no clue, never heard of 1up, and really wanted me to convert to one of their fluid or fluid-mag models. Sorry, didn't work. But certainly makes a point: could be considered a niche product competing against foreign made giants. I would like to see 1up on Amazon, but perhaps that would wreck the pricing. Not to worry, you found it, now get one and ride ;)
Bottom Line:
If you find yourself to be an avid cyclist who just cannot stand those days when it is too dark .. or too cold .. or too hot (writing from TX) .. or too wet to risk a trip out on the road, then you must have a trainer. Not just any trainer will do for a rider like you. The 1up USA CPR-A 2000 is YOUR road away from the road. Your trainer MUST satisfy these three criteria:
1. Realistic: Must feel like you are on the road. The 1up Nails this one! I'm not a little guy, not for a long while. But I've lost over 80 lbs. on my bike, much of it on the 1up. Using the full range of my bikes gears on the 1up, I can sprint, climb, coast down, cruise, soft pedal, or get out of the saddle and stand on the pedals and burn! And I feel like I'm on the bike touring the Texas Hill Country. Now that's Realist!
2. Quality: Must be durable because you will rack up the miles just as you do on the chip and seal. The 1up USA isn't named after some foreign country for a reason. Read it,, Made in the USA. Designed, patented, precision machined, and built 100% in the USA. The only other countries I would expect this degree of quality from are Germany and Japan. But, thankfully made here, a product guaranteed for life that you won't have to throw away after one season. How many toasters have you thrown away in the past 10 years? Not this machine!
3. Easy to setup: Doubtful you will have a dedicated bike for both road and trainer; I suspect you will want to use your favorite ride for both. So, ease of setup is a must, and will just give you more time on the bike. The 1up is a snap. Make the adjustments for your bike once and you are done. Load the back in 10 seconds or less. If different bike configurations are used on the trainer intermittently (mainly wheel/tire size); not to worry. Just use a Sharpie to mark your settings. Adjust, Load, and Ride.
BONUS FEATURES:
4. It is VERY QUIET!! Or better put ..very quiet.. Whisper quiet. If your tires are making noise or you are grinding off rubber, you might have the tire adjusted with too much pressure against the roller. Back it off to the point just before the tire slips at your most extreme pedalling. Less wear on your tires that way too, which by the way is almost nothing. The bike and the spinervals video I might be watching are certainly louder.
5. Large roller. This means more surface area in contact with the tire, less deformation of the rubber, and no slippage.
6. Corrosion resistant. You don't have to worry about sweating buckets on top of this machine. As far as I can tell, there is nothing on the trainer that can corrode. At least I have seen ZERO signs of corrosion.
7. Level ride. You can adjust the 1up to where the rear tire is just above the floor surface, meaning, no props for the front wheel required and your wheel is free just as on the road.
8. Compact. Folds into a compact configuration so you can easily move it out of the way or store it. What? Right, you will never store this one! Let's say,travel friendly.
Additionally, I just bought a rear wheel and crank sensor from Wahoo (that will be another review to come later) to send to my ANT+/iPhone computer. Now I can capture cadence and speed and compare road to virtual road. I cannot wait to collect some data on the 1up.
Finally, not really a weakness so I'll post here, but more about product safety and common sense applicable to all trainers you would used:
*As with any machine that turns your body energy into motion and heat, the resistance unit will get hot! If you burn your ride, the 1up flywheel will get hot. That is what it is made to do.
*With gears, chains, wheels and flywheels cranking at high velocity creating a fully exposed meat grinder, there is plenty of danger for young ones in the area. You will be focused on your virtual road ride and not 100% attentive, so keep the future bike riders (and pets) in the house safely out of reach and harm's way.
Similar Products Used: An old dual fan model. Don't know the brand, worked mediocre. Tossed it when the bearings blew. Then bought the 1up. No comparison, shouldn't even be mentioned in the same paragraph.
I've also used many different models of bike machines at several fitness centers. Nothing I've ever ridden compares to the realism of the 1up USA.
Bike Setup: Fuji Team Pro / Ultegra / Conti's / Mavic / Look Keo - SiDi Carbon Millenium3 / iPhone-Wahoo-ANT+
Weaknesses: Sometimes flips over backwards while trying to load a bike.
Bottom Line:
Quiet. Lightweight. Compact to transport or store. Easy to adjust. Well built. Sturdy feel. User friendly. Good road feel. Easy on tires. Works equally well on my road bike and my son's road bike which has 24" wheels.
