1Up USA is famous for their bike trainers so we were excited at the opportunity to try their bike racks. At first glance, it looks like a science project as the whole unit looks CNC'd and the bike retention mechanism looks unlike any we've seen before. But as we used it extensively, we learned about the logic behind the design. We took a look at the user reviews on Mtbr and it exhibited a staggering 4.8/5 stars with 96 reviews.
This is a unit of the highest quality and it folds up in to such a small package when shipped or stored. It can get work with one tray or be expanded like a Lego system in to a versatile multi-bike rack.
Furthermore, it plays on both ends of the spectrum. It can be the smallest, incognito rack available. Or it can be a massive four bike carrier ready for biggest road trip you can outline on Google Maps. In both configurations, it uses all the same trays. It's a modular system so you just add trays on to the base carrier.
For our road trip from San Jose, CA to Bend, Oregon, we recruited one of these four-bike behemoths and were surprised to see our friend deliver the rack to us inside his Toyota Prius. "What," I asked?? Did he forget to bring all the trays? It turns out the rack collapses into a very compact unit in a transformation that would make any Transformers fan happy. Bend your knees when you lift it though as this configuration weighs close to 100 lbs. It is all aluminum but with beefy trays to handle such a load.