Description Designed by 1up USA and built by Blackburn
Ultra smooth. Ultra quiet. Ultra-realistic resistance. The new TrakStand Ultra features our CENTRIFORCE™ resistance unit with a centrifugal clutch for a...
Summary: I have experienced the same problems with my Blackburn Trackstand Ultra that many other reviewers have; I bought the unit new, and all seemed fine for about a week - 5 training sessions. Then, the machined silver/alum? pc that the tire turns started locking up, causing my tire to degrade -causing alot of black dust around the unit and the floor- and pissing me off considerably; during the ride, the tire actually Stopped for a split second, then started turning again. I've become very frustrated with this; I have a very old "Veta" trainer from 1982 that still works better than this new unit. I always thought Blackburn made good equipment, but they dropped the ball on this one.
Strengths: Ran smoothly for a week.
Weaknesses: Ran miserably after the first few weeks.
Similar Products Used: "Veta" trainer; oldie but goodie.
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Bike Setup: klein quantum aluminum 53-42 and 13-26 big gears for Roanoke, VA area
Summary: i have had the same inconsistent resistance as others. Blackburn had sent me three, yes three new resistance units. Each one works fine for about 1-5-20 hours then the reisistance varies and at some point becomes so difficult I have to pedal in firts gear. I also heated the unit up so hot that it melted my tire.
Strengths: great resistance, realistic with standing and rollout to coast when it it new. Blackburn replaced resisitance unit each time, came in the mail very quickly
Weaknesses: Blackburn has a problem with this unit and plays dumb on the phone...like they have never heard about it before.
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Bike Setup: Specialized Tarmac Pro SL. trainer wheel and skewer for the trainer.
Summary: When it works properly, it is quite an amazing trainer. The unit is very quiet compared to other trainers (magnetic, fluid, wind, or... otherwise, if there are other types) and the resistance gradients are truly realistic. If you just barely spin, there's almost no resistance, which is actually a nice feature if you're in a rehab condition.
Bad news. Yes. These things have Major quality control issues. I bought mine on a huge sale and thought that, "hey, maybe all these reviewers just don't know how to take care of their trainers." Wrong. I opened this thing up—doesn't require or need any grease around the cartridge bearing or spindle—and everything appeared simple and intuitive. So, I used it for months assuming everything would be fine.
After 5 or so months, it started acting screwy. All of a sudden the resistance would just drop out and turn to nothing. Or it would reverse and I could suddenly not even push a 39-24 gear at any faster than 80 rpms (my powermeter showing 280 Watts). Then, the noises started. Incredibly, incredibly loud high pitched noises.
I had several times cleaned the brake shoe off (do so by removing the resistance unit from the back base; requires only a 6mm hex; and just wipe the used-up brake dust off with a very slightly damp paper towel; make sure to do this outside or over a trash can) but that must not have been the problem.
Good news. I called Blackburn/Bell and after I shipped mine over to them in Illinois (cost of $25 on my part), they had a brand new one back to me in 5 business days. The new one works like a new trainer. But, I just don't know how long this one will last. However, $25 is better than $200 or more for a nice quality trainer. I need only to make sure that I don't require 8 more replacements...
Strengths: Fantastic gradient of resistance. Easy setup. Very sturdy. Very quiet. Blackburn warranty support.
Weaknesses: Strange they don't advertise their "total product failure" feature. If these units weren't as troublesome as they have banked their namesake on, there would be almost nothing wrong with them.
Similar Products Used: Minouras, CycleOps, Kurt Kinetic. This Ultra Trakstand was mainly bought because of the deal and I wanted an upgrade from a dilapidated pair of rollers.
Summary: Althought I bought this used on Craigslist it was new and still in the box. I had the same problems with this that may other people are experiencing with it in that after a about 10 session it would start to run rough and even grind to a halt. I took it to a dealer and they put a new flywheel on it which didn't change a thing. Taking the advice of another one of the reviewers on this site, I took apart the RU and greased the shaft and the ballbearingswith a heavier silicone based white grease. The trainer runs as smooth as it was when it was new since. I done about 5-10 hard session on it and so far its been fantastic! Also the Blackburn people told me to only lube the shaft but I think you need to grease the bearings ad the races the travel on as well to get it to work right.
Strengths: Solid base, good even resistance, smooth and quiet if the shaft and bearings are lubed.
Weaknesses: Lack of lubrication in the RU unit out of the box.
Similar Products Used: Nashbar Flywheel trainer. Minoura rim drive trainer.
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Bike Setup: 1989 Rossin Road bike with Campy Racing Triple conversion. Tubular tires. Downtube shifters. Speedplay Frog pedals.
Summary: The Blackburn Trak Stand Ultra Indoor Bicycle Trainer uses a design originally sold by 1up USA as the CPR A-2000 Bicycle Trainer. I had problems with the Blackburn unit out of the box. A check with the discussion boards showed that my problems with the Blackburn trainer were common without a good fix available. Lubing the internals of the Resistance Unit (RU) helped only a little. I went online and looked at the 1up CPR A-2000 unit picture and a video on You Tube. I noticed that the 1up CPR A-2000 RU did not have a protective plastic shroud and bolted up directly to the base unit support arms. On the Blackburn trainer one of the bolts that attach the RU to the base unit also holds on the plastic protection shroud. So attached my Blackburn RU to the base support arms with the standard bolts and the shroud removed. All of the RU problems disappeared. The height adjustable front legs also shifted if I did a lot of standing while pedaling. I filled in gap in the front leg with some nylon ties and no more shifting occurred. The unit folds easily and is easier to transport that my fluid trainer. The resistance with the RU varies according to speed and pedal pressure and therefore is more realistic than my fluid trainer.
Strengths: Realistic road feel.
Weaknesses: Need to lube unit internals and remove plastic shroud for unit to work well. Height adjustable legs need spacers to maintain length.
Similar Products Used: Kinetic and CycleOps fluid trainers.
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