Thule ProRide 598 with Carbon Road Bike?

Hi Folks,

Just to add to this, i got in touch with Giant directly asking if i could use the 598. There reply was (cut and paste verbatim):

"Thankyou for your inquiry – overall we do not recommend using bike racks/carriers, however we understand that they are sometimes necessary.

In terms of advise, we would strongly suggest the anchor point on the fork rather than the frame with carbon material bikes, so a Thule Sprint XT or something similar." 

To my mind (at least they way i read the above) - it sounds reasonably clear - they do not recommend the 598. Fork mounted it is - i personally would rather put up with a little extra grief rather than drive 200 miles with my bike on the roof, only to find it had been broken in transit.

I use the Thule 598 with my carbon Trek Domane.  Has been on several 150 mile+ motorway trips, over the odd speed bump, in the rain and wind and without any damage.  I bought the extra carbon frame protector although as the tubes are so wide at the bottom of the Domane, I'm not sure it makes any difference to the spread of the load.

I have the Thule without the torque limiter and used it on 4 carbon bikes of my own so far (inc one with a super light frame) without damage, for hundreds of motorway miles. 

However I'm thinking of changing to this as it's way more convenient and fuel efficient as it's so easy to remove. http://upsideracks.com/

FWIW I have used the 591 for a few years with my carbon bike (Cube Agree GTC Race) and have had no problems.  As mrml has mentioned, the clamp itself doesn't need to be overtight to hold the bike securely so as long as you don't go all 'Joe 90' on the clamp you should be fine 

I think the 598 has a torque limiter to help with that...although what is the torque limit for clamping a carbon frame across its surface?

I had a Thule 532 which I used a few times for taking my carbon framed bike, I used some padding to spread the load along the length of the frame. I think that a wrap of thin foam, with some thin plywood outside would be ideal. I guess frame cross sectional shape comes into it - if the cross section is square then it's going to be easier to spread the load. I never felt really happy with the arrangement, and replaced it with an Elite San Remo carrier, which worked pretty well, although I think the forces act through the front fork in extension rather than the usual compression. Eventually, I got a Saris Bones to put the bike behind the car, which I am much happier with - that much bike sticking up just made me nervous!

It may not be specifically recommended for carbon bikes, but when I was considering whether to buy the ProRide 598, I thought I read that it has a torque limiter on the clamp to avoid overtightening on the frame.  It has a couple of other small improvements too.  

Having said that, I have used the  ProRide 591s for my carbon bikes for a few years and I don't have any concerns about frame damage.  The clamp doesn't need to grip very tightly to hold the bike securely.  

You can also use the OutRide 561 for carbon bikes, but same problem of fork mounting.

You can get a separate carrier for the front wheel, but might not help you if you're tighton space on your roof bars - see near the bottom here: https://www.roofbox.co.uk/bike-carriers/bike-carriers-racks-accessories.php

If you want a carrier for a carbon bike that doesn't involve clamping the frame or removing the wheel, try the Yakima Front Loader or Inno Tyre Hold ones listed here:

https://www.roofbox.co.uk/bike-carriers/bike-carriers-racks-range.php