Carbon Bike

[kermit]

I have used a roof rack with fork mounts on both of our carbon bikes for years without a problem. I think the key is to not yolk it down to hard or tight where you could crack a dropout? Thats my guess.

[esmorin]

oooo. hmm. I'm not sure if I have carbon dropouts or alloy. the specs on the Specialized website don't say (I have a 2011 Dolce Elite), and I don;t know if I can tell by looking.

[XMcShiftersonX]

I've never heard anything about the fork mounts not being good for Carbon. My husband and I both have carbon bikes and considered those before we decided that if we were going to do all the work to put our bikes on top of our car, we didn't also want to have to take the front wheel off. So, we got a regular, two-wheeled, roof mount. What is NOT good for carbon bikes is having the arm that grabs the frame of your bike, instead you are supposed to get the ones that go over your front wheel against your brake. Otherwise you could damage the frame by putting too much stress on it.

-Jessica

[OakLeaf]

I'm not sure of the OP's terminology. I don't quite understand "the frame rests on two extended arms" in connection with a fork mount, unless by the "arms" you mean the fork itself?

Can you post pictures of the racks in question?

[Aggie_Ama]

DH and I both have Cannondale's with carbon forks. We have used fork mount Yakima Locking Bedheads for years. His bike is a 2005 and mine is a 2006. So far the forks seem happy? I think the drop outs are possibly metal but we have used this carrier for 2 trips to New Mexico (1,300 miles each way) and numerous trips to rides. So I guess ignorance is bliss?

I find taking the front wheel off a slight advantage for theft, we lock the wheels in the car. Then the thief can only sell an incomplete bike and can't ride it away. One of the local LBS owners discourages people from the full bike mounts for the same reason, his wrench had a bike lifted off a supposedly locked hitch rack (although the wrench couldn't remember if he took the time to lock it) and judging by tire marks through the sand in the lot the thief rode it away.