1up USA trainer observations--anybody have the same experience?

[Brian Ray]

Had this trainer for a couple of months now and in general am very pleased.
Two oddities I'm wondering if anybody else can shed some light on:

1. From time to time it seems like, even pedaling at a constant speed with
no gear changes, the resistance level jumps a bit then "grabs." It takes
some coasting to get the resistance level back to where it was prior to the
jump. Wondering if the bearings can creep up their little channels and get
stuck at points due to imperfections in the channel or a lack of lubricant.

2. For any given wheel speed the resistance level seems to drop about 20 -
30 minutes into my training session. Maybe this is just me getting warmed
up. Maybe the coefficient of friction on the brake bad/friction plate drops
after it heats up?

Brian Ray

 

[Luke]

On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:11:10 GMT, "Brian Ray" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Had this trainer for a couple of months now and in general am very pleased.
>Two oddities I'm wondering if anybody else can shed some light on:
>
>1. From time to time it seems like, even pedaling at a constant speed with
>no gear changes, the resistance level jumps a bit then "grabs." It takes
>some coasting to get the resistance level back to where it was prior to the
>jump. Wondering if the bearings can creep up their little channels and get
>stuck at points due to imperfections in the channel or a lack of lubricant.
>
>2. For any given wheel speed the resistance level seems to drop about 20 -
>30 minutes into my training session. Maybe this is just me getting warmed
>up. Maybe the coefficient of friction on the brake bad/friction plate drops
>after it heats up?
>
>Brian Ray
>


When the 1UP behaves as you've described, I dissassemble the
freewheel/friction plate assembly (2 bolts, use the supplied wrench),
clean the bearings and their grooves with mineral spirits, then add a
drop of lubricant to the bearings/channels. This procedure rarely
takes more than 10 minutes and never fails to result in a smoother,
more consistent resistance curve.

As you've surmised the bearings are getting 'stuck' in their channels,
but I doubt that it's machining imperfections that are the cause; it's
accumulated dust and grit -- you'll be surprised how quickly they
collect.

As far as resistance decreasing during the progression of a single
training session, no I've never encountered such a sensation.

Luke

 

[Brian Ray]

"Luke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> When the 1UP behaves as you've described, I dissassemble the
> freewheel/friction plate assembly (2 bolts, use the supplied wrench),
> clean the bearings and their grooves with mineral spirits, then add a
> drop of lubricant to the bearings/channels. This procedure rarely
> takes more than 10 minutes and never fails to result in a smoother,
> more consistent resistance curve.
>
> As you've surmised the bearings are getting 'stuck' in their channels,
> but I doubt that it's machining imperfections that are the cause; it's
> accumulated dust and grit -- you'll be surprised how quickly they
> collect.
>
> As far as resistance decreasing during the progression of a single
> training session, no I've never encountered such a sensation.
>

Ok, I've swapped the bearings back and forth to check out different
resistance curves so it'll be a snap to remedy the problem.

Thanks,

Brian Ray