Racking a carbon bike
10-25-06, 08:53 AM
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Racking a carbon bike
I have heard that you should not carry a carbon bike in a hitch rack that holds it by the top tube, but should use a roof rack. Does anyone have any practical experience with this?
Sorry if this is a repeat, I tried the search and didn't see anything.
Sorry if this is a repeat, I tried the search and didn't see anything.
10-25-06, 09:18 AM
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Originally Posted by munkyv22
I have heard that you should not carry a carbon bike in a hitch rack that holds it by the top tube, but should use a roof rack. Does anyone have any practical experience with this?
Sorry if this is a repeat, I tried the search and didn't see anything.
Sorry if this is a repeat, I tried the search and didn't see anything.
Why would that be the case? My guess is that as long as the bike sits on the rack in such a way that the top tube doesn't get abraded by the rack itself, I don't see why it should be a problem. The frame should easily be able to hold its own weight by the top tube. If the bike can't hold its own weight, I wouldn't trust it to carry me on the road.
10-25-06, 09:28 AM
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But I'd imagine the top tube sitting on the constantly vibrating rack would take the clearcoat off and then possibly do more damage to the TT.
10-25-06, 09:46 AM
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Another concern would be where straps secure the bike to the rack. I would imagine if a strap was cinched tight enough, and the bike had thin enough carbon tubing, it could damage the top-tube.
No personal experience (I don't even have a carbon bike), but there was a thread recently discussing some carbon top-tubes that could be easily dented by applying finger pressure. Not permanently though -- removing the pressure allowed the tube to bounce back.
Even then, it is not clear that such a bike would be permanently damaged by being in a trunk/hitch rack.
No personal experience (I don't even have a carbon bike), but there was a thread recently discussing some carbon top-tubes that could be easily dented by applying finger pressure. Not permanently though -- removing the pressure allowed the tube to bounce back.
Even then, it is not clear that such a bike would be permanently damaged by being in a trunk/hitch rack.
