Originally Posted by
daoswald
It may be an acceptable trade-off for you but a bike rack that touches the frame will, given enough miles, cause abrasion signs on the frame's paint / clear-coat / whatever.
If you're concerned about the frame clamp marring the finish, get a 4" square of 3M paint film and put it on the top tube where the clamp touches it. When/if that looks bad, it's done it's job. Just peel it off and put another one in it's place. Easy enough and with this type of rack fenders are not a problem at all.