Sport Crafters Omnium Portable ARC Roller Trainer
The quality of your warm up can make all the difference in a race, but it’s not possible for all of us to get a big set of rollers or heavy wind trainer to the track or race venue.
Sport Crafters have come up with a super lightweight portable set of rollers that can go just about anywhere with you.
Our friends at BikeBug have sent us the Sport Crafters Omnium Portable ARC Roller Trainer to test. La Velocita’s Aaron Mulkearns takes a look.
Photography - Andrew Clifforth
About
At La Velocita we always take the opportunity to get outside and ride our bikes, however there are times where you either don’t have time, the weather is just dangerous or you’re heading to a race or to the track and there simply no options for warming up.
There’s a massive array of trainers on the market now, wind, fluid, rollers…. the list goes on. They all have the same aim of allowing you to remain stationary while riding and generally they are all fairly large, bulky and heavy. The Omnium Portable ARC Roller Trainer has been designed to tick all the boxes while remaining super compact and lightweight.
When we received the Sport Crafters Omnium Portable ARC Roller Trainer we could not believe how small box was… rollers… trainer…. this should be interesting!
As soon as we opened the box it was obvious that a lot of thought and design work has gone into creating a clever and compact roller trainer.
The Omnium comes in at just over 6.2kgs and is small enough to get into a backpack or larger messenger style bag. Set up and pack down takes less the 5 minutes so it’s truly a go anywhere trainer.
While the Omnium is specifically targeted on those wanting a potable trainer to take traveling to races, it’s also something that would suit anyone that has limited storage at home and prefers the feeling of rollers.
Quality
The build quality of the Omnium Portable ARC Roller Trainer is really good, all the parts are really nicely finished and feel strong.
The frame has an anodised finish, the rollers are made from aluminium and protected around the joining points by polycarbonate caps, tripod legs are made from steel finished off in chrome, and the rest of the main components are stainless steel.
A progressive magnetic system tucked tightly into one of the rollers provides the resistance that is designed to provide a road like feel, i.e. the harder you pedal the more resistance the ARC technology produces.
The other feature we liked were that the two rollers for the rear wheel are a large diameter, saving your tyre from wear and allowing you to warm up at a race without the need to change wheels or tyres.
Ride
Set up is simple, you simply unfold the frame, undo the dual legs from their individual storage sleeves inside the frame, and then reattach them on the sides clearly marked on the frame to create a stable tripod at the front end.
You then remove your front wheel and attach the front forks to a quick release skewer located on the top of the tripod.
Finally you place the rear wheel of your bike between the two rollers by sliding the ARC Rollers frame length to the right spot then lock in place. It’s literally a 2 minute job. Quick and Easy.
Once on the bike our first thought was, will the rear wheel say on the narrow rollers as they don’t have a lip to guide the wheel back to the centre. But once in motion this was not even close to ever happening. Stability is great, with the wheel tracking close to the centre of the roller even when putting in some large efforts.
The front end is also nice and stable, the tripod set up provides a solid platform with pretty much no movement, it’s actually more stable than having your front wheel in a riser block.
The feel once going is pretty good. While the Omnium Portable ARC Roller Trainer does not have the feel of a full size set of rollers it still has the same smooth and progressive feel.
Resistance wise, the trainer provides enough to give yourself a bit of a burn and definitely adequate amounts to get the body warmed up and blood flowing to the legs.
Sizing
The Sport Crafters Omnium Portable ARC Roller Trainer can be adjusted to fit most road bikes.
Price
RRP $419.99
Where to buy
Head to Bike Bug to get your Sport Crafters Omnium Portable ARC Roller Trainer
Overall
The Sport Crafters Omnium Portable ARC Roller Trainer is ideally suited to race warm up but can also be used for indoor training and can be packed away and stored virtually anywhere. It’s pretty quiet too so you won’t be upsetting neighbours, family or housemates…
You’ll find that you can probably throw more power a rear locking resistance trainer in The watt bomb department but for a neat, roller ‘feel’ system that serves several purposes and provides that rear wheel movement that we love this is a great place to start.
Specifications
- Folded dimensions: 55.9cm x 17.8cm x 15.2cm
- Total weight: 6.21 kg
- Aluminum Drums: 10cm diameter, double-wall design with built-in cooling
- End caps: Molded polycarbonate
- Drums are lathed on the axle for precision runout and balance
- All drums are dynamically spin balanced, and will not distort in heat or sunlight
- Bearings are greased and sealed, and do not require maintenance
- All fasteners are stainless steel and corrosion-proof
- Accommodates wheel sizes 600c to 700c, 26" to 29"
- Rider weight limit: 135 Kg
