Putting a carbon fibre bike on roofbars

I’ve got a shiny new carbon fibre road bike on the way, I am however worried about putting it on the roof bars I have. They are older Thule bars that sort of snap shut on the down tube, Thule 575 I think.
They are fine for the rest of our bikes but I dont fancy them on a carbon down tube. I was thinking of getting one of the racks where you take the front wheel off and then mount it by the dropout and then have a mount to put the wheel on it beside it.
Does anybody have any recommendations?

I have a nice road bike and the same carrier that you have and it has been fine. Frame has a thin clear plastic wrap round the bit where the clamp touches. Just make sure you don’t do it up too tight.

I’ve put this bike on a similar rack (though using a strap as the clamp wouldn’t fit!) Just don’t do the clamp up too tight.

Put it in the boot.

I use a Thule 591 with a carbon road bike, in my experience the wheel straps offer more support, the bar on the down tube just helps keep it upright, fundamental bug nit load bearing so to speak. If you are really cautious then some bubble wrap around the frame may help calm your fears but carbon frame preciousness can be quite bewildering at times.

Agree with all the above… the down tube clamp is just for lateral support, it’s not holding the bike’s weight, it doesn’t need to be *tight*. I’ve been using Thule 510 racks for ages. I do try to wipe excess mud away before letting the clamp touch the frame though.

Interesting to know. Demo’d a carbon fibre bike and was asked to NOT use the roof rack. Think I’ll be bunging it in the back of the car for a while. It’s costing me enough dosh, best be safe eh?

If it’s an option why wouldn’t you put a bike in the boot?! As per the other thread about another person driving into a height restriction barrier, unless your car is full of people it’s better all round inside!

Unless it’s muddy and you want to keep the car clean?

Discussion at the sailing club the other day about capsize technique for dingies with ‘wings’ that stop you just leaning back and stepping over.

The consensus is apparently: Aluminium boom, you’re going for a swim! Carbon boom, step down onto the boom as it hits the water, and walk upto the mast and arround the front! Apparently aluminium booms aren’t anywhwere near as strong as we’d like to think they are and would snap if you stepped onto one. Having said that, someone had managed to snap a carbon one with their head during a gybe!

Used a 591 to carry my carbon bike through France and back at motorway speeds. It holds rather than clamps. The lesser Thules can be clamped too tight, so be careful. I was more worried about scratching than crushing, to be honest.

If it’s an option why wouldn’t you put a bike in the boot?

See my previous thread on leaving front wheels behind. When on the roof the wheels stay on all the time. It’s a little moot for road, because my road bike goes in the car with wheels on too, hence the errrr mishap with my mountain bikes last week.

Cheers chaps.
I do put bikes in the boot when I can, a lot of the time if we are going away somewhere the car is full of people and huge amounts of stuff we’ll never use/wear etc though…

A tarp is a lot cheaper than a roof rack.

thisisnotaspoon – Member
Unless it’s muddy and you want to keep the car clean?

Discussion at the sailing club the other day about capsize technique for dingies with ‘wings’ that stop you just leaning back and stepping over.

The consensus is apparently: Aluminium boom, you’re going for a swim! Carbon boom, step down onto the boom as it hits the water, and walk upto the mast and arround the front! Apparently aluminium booms aren’t anywhwere near as strong as we’d like to think they are and would snap if you stepped onto one. Having said that, someone had managed to snap a carbon one with their head during a gybe!

Aluminium boom, you’re going for a swim! – agree that this is likely.

Apparently aluminium booms aren’t anywhwere near as strong as we’d like to think they are and would snap if you stepped onto one – don’t agree, but if you step on them they sink and will turtle the boat

PS what type of boat?

PPS wrong forum?

PS what type of boat?

Blaze, Mk1’s had aluminium boom’s, which all snapped, everything later (and the replacements) was a 3″ carbon boom.

PPS wrong forum?

definately

Don’t think being carbon would stop it turtling, the mast is a Supespars M7, so weighs a ton and un-sealed, and the boom is open both ends. The only thing suppourting your weight on the boom is the drag of the sail under water

Carbon repair guy I spoke to (generally well regarded on here and other places) was pretty adamant the down tube types were a bad idea.

Having said that I took one through France with only a minor issue not related to it being carbon.

Personally I’d go for it but look at changing the rack in good time…

Thule Outride:

^ which is what I have, actually drove a few alpine miles without the back wheel strapped down. Not exactly motorway speeds but no dramas.

Thats the kind of thing I was thinking of!
You can get a thing to put your front wheel on too cant you?

Found it, thanks everybody
http://www.skidrive.co.uk/cycle/product_detail.php?partno=545200

I saw a rack once that clamped onto one of the pedal arms. I was sceptical at first but it seemed to work a treat. I personally wouldn’t have an issue with the 591 and a carbon frame but would put some protection around the contact point as I find with my aluminium bikes you do get some abrasion of the paint.

I’d be more concerned about the wheel rim straps over carbon rims (MTB and road rims). I like to pull these quite tight to take up any slack/movement due to the tyre and would not be happy with carbon rims.

Don’t think being carbon would stop it turtling

you could add buoyancy by filling the boom with foam (but check it isn’t going to foul any internal bits of string). I can walk along my carbon boom without turtling quite reliably – RS100)

By the way I also use a fork mounted Thule rack system for my carbon roadbike (and my thin aluminium framed bikes)

Does a bike on roof bars suffer when travelling at 70-80 miles/hour in the rain? I’ve wondered how this affects bearings etc as it feels like you are pressure washing your bike.

When I asked the manufacturer of my carbon MTB (Tomac) they were adamant that I should not use a bike carrier that clamps onto the down tube.

Does a bike on roof bars suffer when travelling at 70-80 miles/hour in the rain?

I put Muc-Off on mine and drove home in the rain.. Bike was reasonably clean, but I couldn’t see out the rear window, every time I braked the windscreen turned brown and the roof was covered in mud.

So I guess in the rain at 70mph is a bit like a nice hosing! Did 1800+ miles with the bikes on the roof with some proper Alpine rain, bikes didn’t complain, bearings still fine.

Does a bike on roof bars suffer when travelling at 70-80 miles/hour in the rain? I’ve wondered how this affects bearings etc as it feels like you are pressure washing your bike.

I haven’t had any issues with bearings. What I would say is that road grime on brake rotors can affect brake performace. I try and give them a wipe with isopropanol/kitchen roll after a long journey if it hasn’t been bone dry.

Oh and dried on dead insects on your bars, headtube, forks (esp. stanchions) can be a bit annoying!

On the sea otter coverage there was a tow ball rack that clamped the top of the wheels – It struck me as a much better idea to me, given all the different shaped bikes FS we have these days.

It had a bar that swung up like the thule roof things, but over the wheel instead. The hook slid up and down I think. I should have looked it up while the name was still in my head!

It had a bar that swung up like the thule roof things, but over the wheel instead. The hook slid up and down I think. I should have looked it up while the name was still in my head!

There’s roof mounted ones that do that but I’ve only really ever seen them in the US. I have a feeling that it might even be Thule who make them but only for the US market.

Yeah the sidearms are US only, different safety regs for the U.S. & U.K. so different ranges.

if you live in a city or big town, only thing to be aware of is that the bike on the roof is an advert for the toerags

this happened to a mate of mine, the locals saw his mountain bike on the roof, figured out where he lived and kept going back every 6 months or so to do in the shed :/

You’re right edhornby, however, I live in the Tweed Valley – every car has bikes on the roof 🙂

carbon frame preciousness can be quite bewildering at times.

read up on CF compressive strength and notch sensitivity, and check on the warranty wording of some CF frames and components.

http://www-mech.eng.cam.ac.uk/profiles/fleck/papers/80.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/001043618390006X

Oh and dried on dead insects on your bars, headtube, forks (esp. stanchions) can be a bit annoying!

its the idea of 80mph stone chips/gravel blast that would worry me which is no doubt why you can buy neoprene covers

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/scicon-bike-defender/