After frequently visiting this lovely forum for a number of months I'm finally making my first post, wooo!:

Bike rack/carrier problems here; I have a Skoda Fabia VRS, for those not in the know this means I can't have a towbar fitted (as this model of car was never approved for towing) nor can I have a hatch mounted rear rack due to the spoiler. I do however have roof bars and have been looking at bike carriers.

I have two bikes, 06 Kona Kula for which I already have a bike carrier (cheapo halfords offering that seems to work ok), I also have an 08 trek remedy, here in lies the problem. I need a bike carrier to suit, I've had a go with a thule proride 591 but am not convinced that it secures the bike enough due to it's size.

I really like the look of the thule outride 561 (fork mount jobby):

Link

However on this website I noticed that it says compatable with all 20mm bolt thru's expect Rockshox Maxles, bums! I have however heard rumours of people using the thule 561 with maxles with not problem, are there any on here that can comment on success/failure of the above combo.

Also willing to hear of good/bad stories regarding other Remedy riders (or other similar sized bikes) using thule 591's and their results.

And before it's mentioned; no, I dont want to settle for putting the bike in the car as I need the space inside the car for people/stuff.

any other suggestions?

Andy

I use mine with a Maxle-lite ('09 revelations). I hed a file a bit off the alloy tube the axle slides into to get the forks to fit over it properly but only a bit and it all works fine now).

Alternatively, Pendle to a similar design of rack which I now use on my bike with a 15mm through axle. Much better quality than the Thule one but a bit more fiddly to mount on the roof bars (no QR clamps – takes longer but feels a lot more secure). Out of choice I'd go with the Pendle.

Ah good stuff, dont like the idea of taking a file to a new purchase so think I'll persue the pendle rack. Do they have website? I've never heard of them, is the carrier in question sold as compatible with the Maxle?

http://www.pendle-bike.co.uk/shopping/Fork-Mounted-Roof-Rack-supplied-with-20mm-Adaptor.php

That's the site and page you want. Give them a ring/email and I'm sure they'll be able to sort you out. Someone from there does pop on here occasionally too.

Edit – by the way, the P&P fees are pretty huge buying direct. I got mine through my LBS so just paid RRP 🙂

I'm currently using an combo of 2 561's and 2 591's on top of my car.
I also have a Remedy (xl in size) and have had no probs mounting the bike to either carrier.

The one problem is by turning the quick release fork mount into a 20mm mount you lose the locking facility, so buy a seperate lock if going down this route.
The second prob is that it isn't quick to swap the 20mm mount back after it is changed. CRC do one of these –

Fork up

but no idea if it is any good.
Also not tried the Pendle carrier, so I can't comment on it.

Vrs here too, mostly ride from home but when have to travel I take the bike to bits and bung it inside an old quilt cover to help keep the stupid interior clean. When I ned to move more than 1 bike I have a couple of roof mounted thule591 racks which are fine.

ah cheers for all the help. Seems like the thule 591 is the way to go then. I take it that it can cope with the wide tubes on the remedy…

591 is a good rack – I've had one for a while. Just be sure to do it up nice and tight and make sure the Downtube is sitting right in the centre of the V on the clamp – I've had my DH bike pop out of the clamp and smack the roof in the past – probably my fault but still concerning. Also, I don't like the way the 591 sways around a lot in a cross wind (having just the 1 arm supporting the bike). I'm sure it's perfectly safe but it scares me all the same – it's one of the main reasons I prefer my 561/Pendle racks.
As for fitting the bike, it will cope with pretty huge downtubes fine. The only problem comes if you've got a complicated downtube/seatube/BB area – it won't grab my E-120 as there's no free bit of downtube low enough!

HTH 🙂

I have a Maxle and a 561 – same problems. I've just bought the fork up, hoping that does the trick.