Carbon Road Bike on Trunk Rack

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by floridamtb [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I just bought a new Madone 4.5 and I'm wondering whether or not to transport on a Yakima trunk rack. The rear brake cable is along the bottom lower left of the top tube so will it stretch the cable and/or will the cable scratch the carbon and paint? What's your experience?

Thanks!!

I'd have to see it too comment but I stuck a little trailer hitch on the back of my car and have a bike rack that I attach that holds the bike by the wheels with a support over the front wheel...

The rack arms will not stretch the cable. You pull far harder on it during hard braking.

The rack arms (if they are the typical cradle type) will probably cause the cable to rub thru the paint. You could try and bend the rack arms to cradle the frame ahead of and behind the exposed cable area. Even then, plastic and foam covered cradle arms tend to rub the paint off of frames...more so if rain spray carries road dirt into that area.

You could foam pad between the cable and frame/paint, but the real solution is to go with a rack similar to Swampy's.

You could always go down to the local hardware store and get some foam pipe insulation and put that between the frame and the cable. I'd check that everything was secure enough though as the foam might allow the frame to move on the rack. A material that's fairly resistant to abrasion and that isn't too thick might work between the frame and the cable and if you switched to a coated brake cable like Jagwire then even a long cotton rag might suffice.