Is it possible to get a roof mounted bike rack for the car which grips the bike by the front fork (i.e. wheel removed) and would work with through axle forks.

Currently both bikes have simple QRs on the forks, but thinking of going for 15mm through axles when I next change my forks

Because of the size of the bikes (XL 29ers) I reckon they are more stable with the fork mounts

yes, most of the big companies do them

The Thule one (Outride 561) comes with QR and 20mm adapters. They sell a 15mm one – or you can get third party ones on eBay. They’re a daft price for a wee Aluminium tube but work very well.

Edit – this is the Thule Adapter: clicky but I got a non-Thule one which was a fair chunk cheaper.

Ah, OK, I now see that Thule do an adapter for the 561

Only problem is that you can’t lock the bike to the rack

Anyone used one – looks a bit expensive and rubbish to me

I use one (as you might guess) – it doesn’t lock the bike on but I use a chain round the lot when I’m stopped somewhere for a while or put the bike in the car when it’s there for the day while I’m at work. The locks on the other bike racks aren’t really up to much as a security measure – there are some frightening videos on YouTube showing it taking about 2 seconds to get a bike off them.

The rack is very firm and easy to use.

One alternative is Pendle racks Pendle Racks – I was tempted by this but my wife’s car has the really wide aero bars on it and I don’t think the Pendle would have fitted.

Only problem is that you can’t lock the bike to the rack

Anyone used one – looks a bit expensive and rubbish to me
If you want to secure your bike don’t leave it outside the car.

The locks on the thule 591 are crap enough to be almost useless, I chain the bike to the roof bars and try to never leave it – sometimes unavoidable though. You could still get it off but would take a bit longer than using the Thule lock alone.

Thanks for the comments

Yep, I’d never rely just on the locks – actually it’s more to secure the bike in transit, as I once had an unlocked bike come loose !

Always put an additional lock or two, and even then the bike is unlikely to be left for anything more than a few minutes.