Mountain Biking - Topeak MTX Beamrack ?

Was looking at the Topeak MTX beam rack for my Specialized hardrock question is will the Medium size fit right and not hit the back tire or should I get the small Wich angles up i want something close to the tire but that's not gona hit.

what year is the Hardrock, what size and is is a 26" or 29", how much seatpost do you have extended, are you using a stock aluminium or carbon seatpost, all these are factors.

From googling images of the rack, as long as the area you are clamping onto is above the level of the tire, then it will fit. Would not want to be using one with a carbon seatpost though.

for Topeak's specs' look here http://www.topeak.com/products/Racks

I don't like Topeak's customer service. Personal opinion of course.

It's an XL frame 2012 with 26" tires. So it actually connects to the seat post? I thought it connected to the frame the part the seat post came out of.

The Topeak Beam Rack attaches to your bike by clamping onto the seat post, and in my opinion are pretty worthless. I think your money would be better spent on a rack that attaches to your frame.

I just took a look at the pictures of a hardrock on the specialized website and it looks like your frame does have the holes drilled into the frame for attaching a rear rack. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, just take a look around the seat stays/seat post area of the frame and you should see a hole on each side of the frame for attaching a rear rack. As long as you get one that says it will fit 26" tires, then it should be fine. For the beam racks, you'll just have to slide the rack up and and down to get it to whatever height you want.

^^^Agreed. Beam racks that attach to seat posts are not an ideal solution for a normal bike - ie; not full suspension, with rack/fender bosses, etc. Get a normal rack. You'll get more versatility and load capacity than that beam rack.

If you must have that beam rack, try posting your ? on the commuter forum. You might glean more sage advice from that group.

btw - I just put on a MTX rack and a nifty matching rack bag for one of my beater bikes. I do like the simplicity and ease of the system.

Well the reason I was going for that rack was for the reason I would be hooking a trailer up to it. This bike is for a hunting bike. Wasn't gona be much weight on the rack just maybe some rain gear and a backpack stove and a little food. I didn't think the ones that mounted to the frame could be used with a trailer. I'm open to other suggestions this is my first go around with setting up a bike for this.

What type of trailer are you hooking up to it? Are you talking about attaching the rack to the seatpost, then attaching the trailer to the rack? Pictures would help.

Another possible option:
http://www.burley.com/shop/images/flatbed_angle.jpg
I've never used a trailer before, so I can't speak about the quality of these, but it seems like it would still work with a normal rack since these attach to the axle. The problem that I see with beam racks is that they can sway left and right, especially with all the bumps going offroad, even with just a little bit of weight. For offroad use though, you might consider going with a trailer that uses a single wheel, rather then two, depending on what you'll be using it for; which I'm assuming will probably be for carrying your game out?