Training & Nutrition - 1upUSA or Kurt Kinetic Road Machine?

I've been spinning through the winter at my local rec center. Now that I've got a new road bike I figure I might as well buy a trainer and do it in the comfort of home.

My starting point was the RBR review section. Basically, my decision is between the 1upUSA or the KK machine. The KK is a little bit cheaper, but they are so close it's not going to come down to a price difference.

I'm a fairly strong rider as I enjoy hard, standing climbs on the spin bike but frequently get it close to max resistance unless I'm already exhausted. My first requirement of a trainer is that it have plenty of resistance so I can get a good burn hammering out of the saddle (so it also needs to be quite stable). Secondly, it needs to be fairly quiet - washing machine volume is fine but I don't want to be hearing a jet-like noise.

Both machines are backed by a lifetime warranty which is great. I like the fact that the 1up is fluid-free, but I like the KK design in that it is connected via magnet rather than a driveshaft as to minimize leak potential. Also, the angle of the front arms on the KK machine seem like they may provide for better stability but that may not be the case.

1upUSA sells both machines so they don't offer a comparison between the two machines. I'd like to get some opinions regarding the stability, resistance, and road feel of these machines. I'd like to avoid buying both machines to try them out and end up sending one back.

Thanks

I have the KK and like it. But I think you would want something with variable resistance.

I went through teh same thing last year. I narrowed it down to the 1up, KK and fluid II. I ended up getting the 1up and love it. It is extremely quiet. I have it in front of the TV and watch teh news or something while riding. It basically has 3 options for resistance but you still control it by the gears on the bike. I can't see anyone needing the highest resistance option but you are also probably much more fit than I so i can't say for sure. It is really stable since it is wide and is rock solid to me. I also like that it will fold d to only 6" deep for storage.

I haven't tried the other 2 so can't tell you which is better only that I am more than happy with teh 1up.

Good luck

I just placed my order for the 1up trainer. I was looking around their site and found this Resistance Curve chart - those numbers pretty much sealed the deal over the KK unit. I like the fact that I have three resistance settings with power ending up much higher than the KK on the highest setting.

http://www.1upusa.com/1uptrainerrcoptions.htm

Consider watts. A power trainer is a cheap and effective way of determining your wattage output over various durations -- and without the massive expense and massive several pound weight penalty of a powermeter. This can become an important training tool for oyu.


Go with the KK or even better the Nashbar trainer with watts.

I have the KK... I bought it from 1upUSA. The guy at 1up that I talked with is an avid cycler. He said that they are both good machines. He said that he liked the KK just a bit better than the 1upUSA trainer... but said that nobody would be disappointed with either trainer.

I went through teh same thing last year. I narrowed it down to the 1up, KK and fluid II. I ended up getting the 1up and love it. It is extremely quiet. I have it in front of the TV and watch teh news or something while riding. It basically has 3 options for resistance but you still control it by the gears on the bike. I can't see anyone needing the highest resistance option but you are also probably much more fit than I so i can't say for sure. It is really stable since it is wide and is rock solid to me. I also like that it will fold d to only 6" deep for storage.

I haven't tried the other 2 so can't tell you which is better only that I am more than happy with teh 1up.

Good luck

I've been tempted by the 1 up, but I use a KK and my wife uses a fluid II. The KK is much smoother and quieter than the fluid II, at about the same price.

Road Fan

I have the 1UP and it's *really* quiet. It's very easy to watch TV at normal volume while on the trainer. The only downside is that the resistance sometimes can vary wildly from easy to *very* hard without me changing much of anything. The 1UP is designed to get harder to pedal as you pedal faster (simulating wind resistance at higher speeds) but that's not what's happening, or at least it doesn't happen very predictably. Other than that, it's very stable, quick and easy to mount/unmount the bike and folds up compactly to stuff into a closet when not using. All in all, I like it a lot except for this one infrequent issue.

my father and i use a 1UP trainer. great for tight storage (closes quickly and to like 6 inches max and the legs retract back in). the big thing is it's EASY to get out of the brackets if you choose to ride a different bike on it. my only problem: when the rear tire gets a little low the wheel seems to slip a little on flywheel.
the 2 top resistance settings are the ones we use (my father on the 2nd and me on the 3rd) and provide plenty of resistance.