Bike carrier

[HarryHarrison]

magura julie's... there is something not *quite* right about them, i think the disk *may* be warped, so will have to get that replaced, it doensn't drop down cleanly onto the forks either, and i think it has something to do with the non standard manitou fork mount... gonna give it the spring clean/oil re-allign next weekend and see if there is anything definately wrong.

It is probably the alignment of the Caliper and/or the disk mount. The manitous need a disk mount bracket to fit standard fit discs adding an extra degree of alignment I would slacken the bolts for the caliper and the disk mount, apply the brake to centre the disc (the disc should move to the correct position). Then partially tighten the fork disc mount adaptor and the caliper bolts. Release the disc and tighten fully. The disc should then sit in the correct position in the caliper.

This is what I did with my discs and manitous (not Maguras though). Also, you can put disc spacer washers bwteen the caliper to move it slightly to centre the disc.

 

[225]

Well I just bought a bike today!! Not had a bike for 10 years so should be laugh, I'm asuming all these bike carriers don't damage the paint work etc?? Sounds like the roof mounted ones are the way forward but does the bike rest on the roof or is it suspended above? I really havn't a scooby about bikes these days and even the kiddy in Halfords, although very helpful was going on about stuff I wasn't sure about.

Made me feel like a right old fart!! And I'm not exactly drawing a pension yet!!!

 

[HarryHarrison]

Well I just bought a bike today!! Not had a bike for 10 years so should be laugh, I'm asuming all these bike carriers don't damage the paint work etc?? Sounds like the roof mounted ones are the way forward but does the bike rest on the roof or is it suspended above? I really havn't a scooby about bikes these days and even the kiddy in Halfords, although very helpful was going on about stuff I wasn't sure about

The roof bars (from Seat) sit on the roof on rubber feet and attached into the mounting points provided by the car. No damage. Then the bike carriers sit on the roof bars above the car and the bikes sit vertical above that. (Thule ones have a track that the bikes sit in)

 

[davej_anderson]

I let my tyres down a bit so the straps will reach. I carry a track pump around with me though BUT you can buy extra long wheel straps for the carriers.

problem is the tyres don'y fit in the runners so longer straps are no good

may have a look at the thule ones to see if they can take a 2.5 tyre

 

[davej_anderson]

they're the same thing

 

[dirtysac]

I have used everything apart from a towbar mounted carrier on my leon.

I didn't try a towbar because it meant cutting a hole in the rear bumper and frankly they look crap. After trying high lift rear carriers all of which had problems (damaged the bikes or came loose), normal rear carriers are a no no if you have a cupra because they break the roof spoiler. I have settled on:
Seat roof bars (cost me £35 off ebay)
Thule 591's (cost £80 for a pair off ebay)

The set up has covered over 3000 miles, up to speeds of 120 mph on the autobahn with no issues at all. They are extremely simply to fit, getting bikes loaded takes less than a 3 minutes and getting them off takes even less time. MPg drops by 5 mile to gallon with two bikes.
Note: I race so my bikes are light (road bike is sub 13Lbs and XC bike is sub 19Lbs) hence loading is made a lot easier but even if your bike weighs a fair bit the locking etc is all at roof height. I have never had any issues with marking the car even when the bikes have been covered in crap. I loaded my mates DH bike on the day and it was just as easy as my XC bike.
I use the racks three or four times a week and transport very expensive bikes and have no worries at all. At the end of teh day you get what you pay for.