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  • What is the (long) roof rack carrier de jour?
  • bajsyckel
    Full Member

    I find myself in the enviable position of looking for a roof mounted bike carrier. Previously have had Thule and borrowed others, but they have all been very tight on accomodating the wheelbase of my bike (~1250mm even though that isn’t too crazy by LLS standards). I’d prefer something where I’m a bit more confident the design will cope rather than stretching everything to the absolute max to make it fit. Can anyone recommend models that aren’t stretching the limit?

    bajsyckel
    Full Member

    Edit to add (and also see if this makes the post actually appear) – have been using downtube clamp type designs on steel/alu frames all round so no issues clamping on carbon etc…

    hooli
    Full Member

    Thule 598 works on my XXL LLS 29er, the arm mechanism can slide up and down to get the right fit.

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    Superficial
    Free Member

    Depends on the design of the bike. My 598 will just about take my XL SC 5010 (Wheelbase 1260mm) but to do so the clamp is in an awkward spot on the downtube (the ‘arm’ of the rack is not perpendicular to the tube). I bought a 599 to deal with this specific issue, which seems to fit well.

    I’ve done a bit of googling and it appears rack manufacturers are slow to adapt to the length of modern bikes – at that wheelbase you’ll be nearing the limits of any rack I suspect.

    StuF
    Full Member

    One trick that made my old thule rack last longer was to mount the bike with the forks facing backwards, thus reducing the wheelbase. Worked for my L Soul which has a wheelbase of ~1250mm, just looked a bit odd

    bajsyckel
    Full Member

    Thanks everyonge for the replies above, especially the spinning the forks 180 – genius. I also found this recent thread that has some good suggestions including the sliding the arm forwards/backwards which I think may make enough difference as suggested above. Now it’s time to invest my own money I think the Thule 599 might well be a good bet for accomodating awkward downtube as described too but I’ll experiment with a couple of borrowed ones to see if adjustments can make the difference as the cost increase is pretty high. Thanks again…

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

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