Words by Dave Malwitz / Photos by Dave Malwitz and Daniel Palma

I still remember the first time I saw a 1UP USA bike rack. It was a single rack mounted to the hitch of my friend’s Frontier pickup truck. It looked industrial, robust, and unlike any other rack I’d ever witnessed. It was clear to me in this moment that there was no equal. I would one day own a 1UP USA bike rack for myself. The only dilemma? These racks are expensive, and rightly so. The finely engineered machinery is precision-crafted to withstand the rigors of the open road. The minimal aesthetic was not only purposeful and reliable, but a testament to American innovation and craftsmanship. To learn more about 1UP USA and what this investment would mean, I had to visit their U.S. facility for for myself. As luck would have it, the company just opened its new factory and innovation center in Dickeyville, WI and invited me and a handful of other editors for a 2-say visit in May of 2024.

Dickeyville is a small midwest town located in southwest Wisconsin near the Mississippi River in a unique geographical region known as the Driftless Area. Having spent a good amount of time in Michigan and Ohio, I was expecting something similar in this region west of the Great Lakes, but was pleasantly surprised to see a landscape characterized by tree-covered bluffs and rolling hills. The scenery reminded me more of New England or Northwest AR than the Midwest. What does it mean for this region to be “Driftless”? Unlike surrounding areas that were smoothed out by glaciation during the last Ice Age, the Driftless Area was untouched by glaciers, resulting in a rugged and hilly landscape, perfect for carving out some singletrack on undeveloped land.  

We arrived at 1UP USA on a Monday morning after a hour drive east from the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, WI. The company recently opened the new Dickeyville site in August of 2023 after outgrowing the previous location that can still be seen just across U.S. Highway 151. The new location more than doubles the footprint of their previous factory, with room to grow. The building now houses manufacturing, R&D, sales & marketing, a showroom, and shipping/receiving-all under one roof. 

1UP USA is owned and operated by Robby Lange, who purchased the brand and its IP in 2012. Since then, Lange has delivered sustainable growth to 1UP USA, which now employs nearly 50 people. The original 1UP Quick Rack is now the first in its entire lineup of bike racks that share the same legendary tray-style design that includes the Equip’D, Heavy Duty, Super Duty, and Xtreme Duty racks. Each rack is designed to accommodate specific use cases, such as hitch receiver size, on-road or off-road driving, bike length, and bike weight. 1UP offers a myriad of accessories and supplements for its racks such as add-on trays, EZ Pull handles, wheel locks, a cargo tray, a light bar, a license plate holder, and even a bottle opener to name a few. Considering the available options across its range of products, 1UP USA stands out as offering the most customizable bike racks in the world.

As the design of 1UP rack models has largely remained unchanged over time, they also offer the significant advantage of being easy to repair. This is intentional because the team at 1UP wants to ensure that any improvements to their racks won't render older models obsolete, allowing repairability for years to come.

In addition to the tray racks, Lange has overseen three key acquisitions to broaden 1UP USA’s portfolio of bike carry and storage solutions including the Recon Rack that carries 5 - 6 bikes, the RakAttach hitch mounted swing arm, and the Rack Stash hitch rack wall storage solution. 

It was clear to me in visiting the new 1UP USA factory that they show no signs of slowing down, and we can expect to see a lot more from the brand in the months and years to come. Robby clearly understands how to build and sustain a company for the long haul and is driven by precision, innovation, a superior customer experience, and making products in the USA.

The final stop on this trip to the Driftless Midwest was a recently developed trail system just across the Mississippi River in Dubuque County, Iowa. Known as the Proving Grounds, the land was generously donated to a local conservation board by John Deere in 2018. Originally used for testing and proving the quality of John Deere equipment, the name of the trail system is also fitting for outdoor recreation and a chance to test the 1UP rack and some Trek full sus bikes for ourselves. With the exception of an unruly dork disc on one of the demo bikes, we had blast ripping through singletrack and sessioning a few wooden features with 1UP rider Jeff Lenosky.

Thanks to the entire 1UP USA team for hosting us in Dickeyville and sharing your local trails. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I need no more convincing to finally get a 1UP rack for myself.

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📷 Dan Palma | follow

🖊📷 Dave Malwitz | follow