Roof carriers and carbon frames

monkeythree

I have an Atera Giro carrier system for the roof of my car and have a need to put my Giant TCR composite up there for a long journey and I'm concerned about how tight to clamp onto the down tube. Could I overdo it and crush the frame? If I follow the instructions (which involves aligning an arrow on the lever with another on the carrier arm) am I gauranteed not to do any damage?

Aeronoses rule...

monty_dogcp

Tighten the clamp until you hear a 'crack' and back it off slightly! Clamping carbon tubes is not a good idea - better off with a front fork mount

LangerDan

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Monty Dog</i>

Tighten the clamp until you hear a 'crack' and back it off slightly! Clamping carbon tubes is not a good idea - better off with a front fork mount
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Not so good either. I think Thule are advising against using the fork-clamp types for carbon forks.

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Stu247

I use the same carriers, the down tube clamp does not need to be that tight to hold the bike in place.
The wheel clamps stop the bike from moving, the down tube clamp just keeps the bike upright !

Carbon frames...on the wHOLE, they're very good!

monkeythree

Thanks for the advice. I'll err on the side of caution and clamp as lightly as I dare. I've not lost a bike off the roof yet but I know of others who have!

Aeronoses rule...

JWSurrey

I have the Thule downtube roof bars too - though I only use them for the MTBs - Had an internal fork-clamp that got used once - bikes now lie-down in the boot of the car separated by cardbord removal box sides, which seems the lesser of the 3 evils.

You could always put some webbing strap around the down-tube, and pass it through the back of the clamp - this would make it more difficult for the bike to work loose.

B&Q had some short webbing straps with plastic clamps sewn on that seem pretty good - I just bought a length of soft cotton webbing strapping from the haberdashery at John Lewis..... Tends to get used for transporting timber!