Carbon Bikes and Bike Racks
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john_grieco posted 47 weeks ago.
i have a carbon road and a carbon tri bike and use a saris bike rack (the kind where the bikes rest on the rack's "arms" from the base tube). I've never had an issue and felt that this design having gravity simply let the bike rest on the tub was better than the type that held the bike at a low point (wheels) possibly causing the bike's weight to torque/damage them. Having an opinion exactly opposite from the salesperson probably doesn't help, but I'm now curious as to what others think use...
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calilargeguy posted 47 weeks ago.
I too have a carbon road bike and a carbon tri bike, and i also use the saris. never had a single problem, and i drive up to 500mi with them on the back. I also have a thule hitch rack where the bikes sit in a groove and the rubber strap goes over the top tube, and again no problem.
as long as you don't cinch down on the straps super tight you are fine .
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UFTriGator posted 47 weeks ago.
Thules are pretty expensive.....I'd want to make the sale, too! :D
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azstinger11 posted 47 weeks ago.
Speaking of carbon anyone know any good work stands for carbon frames?
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jacmun posted 47 weeks ago.
The theory is that the ability of carbon to stand up to severe torque is not the same as aluminium. While aluminium tends to elastically bend and spring back, carbon, although very strong is too stiff and can crack. I have heard this advice when talking of wind trainers that use a front support which clips onto the front forks, BUT there is more force generated by a rider training on this setup vs transport. My uncle has trained with this setup for years on carbon forks without any evidence of damage so I'd be surprised if the rack would do it.
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Iron Dan posted 47 weeks ago.
I have heard this many times, but have never actually heard of a case where a frame cracked. I would not worry about it too much if you used it with a fork mount carrier.
Theoretically I understand why the frame could crack, but I tend to lean toward that this is more of an oldwives tale than anything that would actually happen regularly.
Maybe we should send it off to Mythbusters.
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kylie posted 47 weeks ago.
Hahaha I'd love to see this stuff on mythbusters... also the one about putting a carbon bike on a trainer, 'cause right now I'm kinda scared to.
Oh, and for a work stand I'm very happy with a park tools one which has a fork mount and supports the bottom bracket - I think it's this one.
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JamieM posted 47 weeks ago.
The only concern that's ever been voiced to me is not to use any type of rack or stand that clamps on the carbon tubes. Carbon frames are well suited to the stresses of riding, but the clamping action can damage the tubes.
I have a carbon bike that is actually a hand me down from my racer father, and it has always been transported either on a fork mount or the kind where the bike just rest on arms, as described above.
And it's gotten a lot of use on the trainer, with the only problem being me not getting it in the trainer correctly.
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jmcglos posted 47 weeks ago.
My carbon bikes are transported on fork mounted racks on top of my car and there haven't been any problems.
As for a work stand that clamps to hold your bike, if you're going to clamp to something, clamp your seatpost, not your top tube and use a rag to clamp as well. It's a lot cheaper to replace a seapost if you accidentally damage it than it is your top tube......
Like said above, don't get anything that's going to clamp directly to a carbon tube and you should be fine (although I'm no materials scientist....)
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tri-ac posted 47 weeks ago.
jmcglos;85542 wrote:
My carbon bikes are transported on fork mounted racks on top of my car and there haven't been any problems.As for a work stand that clamps to hold your bike, if you're going to clamp to something, clamp your seatpost, not your top tube and use a rag to clamp as well. It's a lot cheaper to replace a seapost if you accidentally damage it than it is your top tube......
Like said above, don't get anything that's going to clamp directly to a carbon tube and you should be fine (although I'm no materials scientist....)
that sounds pretty reasonable (...although the seatpost is probably not really designed to take a lot of loading out of axis with the seatpost...). has that worked well for you?
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Donna posted 47 weeks ago.
Ive gotten the same advise and not from someone who was trying to sell me something. He used to work in a shop and said he saw a carbon fork fail twice. He said he wasn't absolutely positive that it was caused from the clamp but that was his guess. I, like you, asked around and decided to get the fork clamp anyway. I haven't actually used it so I can't offer my experience but I heard from many, many other people (like you're hearing here) that the fork clamp works just as well.
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I've started looking for a new bike and this will be my first carbon framed bike. One of the sales people I've been dealing with, who seems quite knowledgeable about the other issues we've been discussing, suggested that with a carbon frame, I really should go with a carrier like the Thule T2 since it clamps to only the wheels and doesn't touch the frame.
My question is, is this really necessary. It's a pretty pricey rack and with my being a carbon newbie, I just want to make sure it's really worth it/a smart buy.
Thanks.
Braden