Carbon frame with rack mounts?
 

I test rode a Cannondale Synapse the other day. I quite like it.

But, when I ask whether it can take a rare rack (for my occasional touring trip), I was told carbon frames can’t take racks! That can be a deal breaker.

I know Cannondale is best known for its aluminum frame, isn’t known for carbon. But is this just the dealer pulling wools over my eyes? The Cannondale web site said Synapse has “internal rack mount”, but I can’t find any specific on it. Anyone knows anything about it?

I had a carbon bike some years back. It has eyelets to mount a rack because the dropout was made of metal.

I don’t quite understand why carbon frame can’t have eyelets. After all, the force of the rack isn’t nearly as big as the riders weight. If the frame can take the riders riding force, it probably can take the weight of the rack. Or is it a matter of manufacturers not putting them on their frame?

Anyone know other road/enduro frames that has rack mounts? Does one exist?

Mainly because you are buying a bike that wasn't made with the intention of it ever having a rack put on it.

If I had that bike and later decided I wanted to put a rack on it. I would. And probably some of the rack mounts that don't require eyelets will do fine enough for a long enough while. Be it steel, aluminum or carbon fiber.

But I wouldn't buy a new bike not made for the purpose I want from the get-go.

If you need a rack to carry heavy weight, you should probably look at touring bikes. Road/Enduro type bikes today will be few and far between for rack eyelets. They generally are for one day rides with no baggage. Frequently with racing or fitness only in mind for their target rider.

I have a carbon road bike. When I have to transport it, I take the front wheel off and place it and the rest of the bicycle in the covered back seat (Honda Civic) - never had an issue.

I figure it's more secure in the back seat vs an external rack and less accessible in case I want to stop somwhere.

Of course, size of the bike and size of the car matters.

Funny that I just read this post and am 5 minutes from walking out the door to go to my shop and mount a rack on my carbon Specialized Diverge. I've mounted a Tailfin before, but this will be a little different. Used to ride my LHT on tours with a couple Ortliebs on the back. Transitioned to carbon and frame bags. I need a little more space, as I'll be making a 200 mile journey to the start of the BRAN(Bike Ride Across Nebraska). I plan to carry a lightweight duffle, toss the panniers in it, and have the baggage truck haul most of the cargo to the next town. We will see how it goes.

CF doesn't lend itself well to small high-stress features like eyelets, but CF per se isn't a deal-breaker. I think it depends on what rack and how you propose to attach it. If you go with something like a TailFin ($$$), it attaches to the rear skewer/axle and the seat post - shouldn't be an issue if you stay within weight limits. Any rack that attaches to such "hard points" should be OK. Some racks attach to the seat stays with rubber-lined clamps - given that some bikes have positively skinny seat stays, this might not be the best idea, and with CF you always have to be concerned with fretting or surface wear resulting from the clamp moving or loosening. I think you'll have to get imaginative - your standard rack, designed for metal frames and fittings, likely won't just install.

Plenty of carbon frames built to handle racks and loaded panniers. You'll have to find out about your specific Cannondale model if it can handle it. Cannondale has been in the CF market for a long time and probably known more for CF now than aluminum. Walk away when someone tells you that all CF, Alu, Steel, Titanium bikes can/can't do this or that. Depends on how they're built. Go straight to the source and ask Cannondale what your bike can do.

Honestly, look at the aluminum versions of the Synapse. They have rack mounts. Just because it isn’t carbon doesn’t mean it’s a bad bike.

I have an Orbea Avant, full carbon fiber, that has rack mounts. I have installed both front and rear racks, but not for touring. They were used only a few times for light loads. It was certainly capable of that. The bicycle is considered to be an endurance bike. I am pretty sure Orbea stated a load limit, I have no recollection of that figure, but am thinking it was too low to do full load touring.
The rear has single attachment at the front side of the monostay. Front is through the fork crown.

Several carbon bikes that can accommodate racks here:

https://www.cyclingabout.com/carbon-touring-bikes/

thanks for that link That answers my question perfectly.

Looks like carbon frames CAN have eyelets, and some do. So my local shop guys was totally wet when he said carbon frames CAN’T have racks!

It’s just many manufacturers don’t put eyelets on their road/enduro frames, under the misguided assumption that anyone want a light fast machine for normal day-to-day riding will never want to use that same bike for occasional short duration touring. For me personally, I will not ride a heavy boring dog of a frame all season long just so I can tour on it one week a year. So I’ll look into the thru-axle racks.


(Finally figured out why all my previous post disappeared. Better type fast, nor get distracted. Otherwise, the forum logs one out and the post will fail)

Check out the tailfin rack..... not sure but it looks like it can attach to the thru axle

https://www.tailfin.cc/carbon-pannie...v=0b3b97fa6688

seat post clamp

Something like this probably works well because it elegantly transfers all its load from the rack directly onto the top of your seat tube while taking the place of a regular clamp. In operation, the seat post itself would also be inside of this thing to help beef up the connection.

Congratulations! You are the only reader to determine that this thread was about rack mounting a bicycle and not mounting a rack on a bicycle. That's quite an accomplishment. Unfortunately, you are incorrect. Goodbye.

How does this address the issue of a frame having lower attachment points for a rack? Maybe you should confine yourself to General. We like to keep this subform as "pure" as possible and free of AI-generated responses. ("Elegantly". :lol:) :rolleyes:

One of the major motivations to get a carbon fiber bike seems to be weight. Unless you are extremely fit, it is probably easier to find 5 lb. on the rider than on the bike.

They use a longer thru axle and the rack rests + clamps onto it. There is an aluminum rack version for ~$250. There is also a thru axles that you can bolt a standard rack onto as well. Would just need to attach the upper part of the rack to the seat post.

You can also lower the weight by carrying liter gear. For example, I have two different tents that I tour with. The liter one weighs a full pound less than the other one, which I reserve for hilly routes. Jeans? Not on your life. Convertible, synthetic pants are the way to go. I don’t even bother with the legs most times. Replace that synthetic-fill sleeping bag with a water resistant down bag. The weight savings can add up quickly.

Congratulations! Of all the readers who saw that the poster had misunderstood the original question, but just moved on, you’re the only reader who couldn’t help being a public dick about it. That’s quite an accomplishment - unfortunately, not one to be proud of 🙄

Wow that’s a progressive concept! There are numerous reasons that carbon has become the preferred material for premium bicycles, all debated on these forums for the past 15 years or longer. All the while the sport has moved on.

There is no reason carbon bikes can’t take racks and I have done numerous long distance tours on my carbon Diverge. If your bike has eyelets just mount as normal. If it has eyelets at the dropout,but none on the seat stay use the seat clamp adapter.

If there are no eyelets then you can use aTailfin or Ortlieb quick rack.

All this carbon is fragile crap wears thin after a while as real world experience has shown otherwise. Look at the bikes used in the most challenging and demanding adventure races in the world a vast majority or carbon.

Ridiculous.

While I agree that carbon isn’t that fragile, mounting a rack to a carbon fiber bike has been something that been available for much of the carbon fiber period. Carbon fiber has been for most of its use in bicycle relegated to race or race adjacent geometries and not something that has been available for utilitarian use. It’s just not been an option on most carbon bikes. The Cannondale Synapse, for example, has similar geometry in carbon and aluminum but only the aluminum version has rack mounts. Cannondale could have put rack mounts on the carbon but probably decided that it doesn’t fit the aesthetics.

Yes, aesthetics!

Practicality be damned.

Yes, $150 specialty rack may sound rich. But it beats $2000 dedicated touring bike! Not to mention the satisfaction of not giving in to the marketing of “aesthetics”!

There was a time that I prefer specific bike for specific use, “the best” bike for that purpose. But those days were gone. So are the bikes. These days, bikes are so capable I don’t get why we need many of them any more.

The aesthetics in question would be those of their customers, non Cannondale's. They clearly figure that adding rack drillings to the carbon frame would turn off the majority of potential purchasers, or at least more than would be gained.

Ortlieb quick rack could be mounted on any bike without the yelets and it is cheaper that Tailfin.
https://us.ortlieb.com/products/quic...ss9eoEXvD4kwxt

I emailed Cannondale support, they offered up one more brand: us.restrap.com