Best tubeless *hookless* tyres / tires

I am getting a tubeless wheelset that is hookless in the coming days.

I can’t run the global standard tyres/tires for these (Conti GP 5000 TL) as they are very specifically for crocheted rims only, and are not recommended for this wheelset.

What is the hive-mind’s recommendations for the best alternatives?

Looking for 28-32mm, Hookless Tubeless essentially. Was thinking Schwalbe Pro One Evo TLE Addix, but are there any alternatives?

I use these on hookless rims and am happy with the performance and durability so far. Only had them on since July so just 2000 miles so far. Thought about trying Vittoria Corsa TLR or Kenda Valkyrie but haven’t felt the need to switch from Pro One yet.

I think the Schwable Pro One’s are the hookless tubeless equivalent of Conti GP5000’s at this point. It seems to be what everyone runs. There’s just not a lot of options right now but hopefully this will get better in the next couple years.

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This was my thinking. This is the search results on bicyclerollingresistance.com when sorted by Hookless, Current Model and scoring 3.5–>5 out of 5:

I’m on Enve rims and had good success with the S-Works Turbo RapidAir 2Bliss in 28 on my Foundation 65 wheels. So far no flats, they roll well and ride smooth. They have reviewed well.

The Schwalbe’s are also a solid choice. I have a set on hand but haven’t swapped them on mainly because I’ve been really happy with the RapidAir’s.

Enve’s new tire line looks interesting too. Haven’t tried them yet though. See to strike a nice balance between rolling resistance and wear, and come in some unique sizes to fine tune aerodynamics.

I am running the Corsa Control G2.0 in 28c on Enve 3.4ARs and have been very happy with them.

I’m running the Schwalbe 28’s on Enve Foundation 65’s. I’m at just under 3,000 miles on them and I’ve had 1 flat that did not seal with Stan’s. I glued in a patch on the sidewall about 1,000 miles ago and still going strong. I was a Conti guy but I don’t miss them at all. When the Schwalbes die I would consider trying the Specialized S-Works Turbos but I would have no motivation to switch other than the desire to to try something new.

I was really excited by this option - I hadn’t considered it.
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Then I had a look at the reviews on their own website…Goodness Gracious Me:
https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/s-works-turbo-rapidair-2bliss-ready/p/170432?color=&searchText=00019-1153

Wow, hadn’t seen those! Sounds like lots of complaints regarding puncture protection.

So far I’ve been lucky. Running Stan’s Race Sealant and keeping pressures in the high 50’s on the 28s. I’m planning to keep them on for the rest of this season and then we’ll see what happens in the spring. I think I’m leaning towards trying the Enve’s. One of the big websites (either cyclingtips or cyclingweekly) is supposed to be posted a long term review of the Enve 29’s on the Foundation 65 wheelset, so very interested to see how that turns out.

I’ve been using Cinturato Velo TLR as a training tire and really happy with it. Doesn’t totally suck like the Conti Gatorskin, and really awesome puncture resistance.

For the last 4-6 weeks I’ve collected a lot of little “While My Tubeless Gently Weeps” punctures (apologies to the Beatles):

(thats not all of the punctures!) however the tire still holds air and only needs a few pumps a week. You can see I marked the punctures and this weekend I’m planning to remove the tire and patch from the inside, and then swap front and rear. Tires went on late May and are at 1250 miles / 2000km, still have a lot of life yet.

I’m not running hookless, my Enve 5.6 disc are hooked. Not sure about compatibility (e.g. the GP 5000 TL shouldn’t be on BRR listing per Continental).

Maybe bad luck but I’ve had mixed results with Pro One, and prefer the Specialized for both feel and the older ones seem to seal up better. I’m going to go back to the Specialized RapidAir after we get some rain to wash away the road debris. Also have the Enve 700x27 on order from Excel Sports, not sure when they are coming in as the Enve website says December and Excel inventory system expects them in a few weeks. The guy I spoke with at Excel said the inventory system may not be correct. Will see.

Enve has a video up with Q&A about the tires (looks like it’s the home page splash). One question was about the timing on the 27s and 32s. The answer was basically, COVID and expecting December now.

@easilydistracte If your wheel manufacturer doesn’t give you recommendations, Enve’s tire compatibility guide for Foundation and SES AR might be a start (keeping inner rim width in mind). Schwalbe (newer Pro One and One), a few Vittorias, a couple of Bontragers, Enve tires and a few other tires that are basically impossible to find.

Well the Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLR in 700x26 is NOT hookless compatible:

Tire states:

  • not for hookless
  • not for rims wider than 19mm internal width

I love my Zipp Tangente Speed RT28… Puncture resistance is great…I only flat about once a year when it starts to wear down… Very supple and rolls very well. Oh also fairly easy to remove and setup. Love these tires. They’re very highly regarded by ITK intheknowcycling.com that’s where I learned of them.

FWIW there are two tires that went on too easy, and both ended up burping. One was the Hutchinson Sector 28, which left me stranded for an hour in the middle of a national forest with no cell coverage (group ride, so I got picked up).

The other was the Zipp Tangente RT-25, and I was a bit concerned about it here:

4 months after writing that the front tire burped at low speed (thankfully) and I went down injuring my thumb (not so good).

Whatever you do, if the tire goes on too easy then don’t hesitate to either:

  • only run with tube
  • get rid of the tire

Simply not worth it running tires that are too large for the rims, or if you want, rims that are too small for the tire.

I’m a little nervous about the Pirellis currently on the bike given my experience with Hutchinson manufacturing. This weekend I’m taking them off, and before patching I’ll put them back on and if they easily slide on they are going straight to the trash bin.

The lack of standards makes road tubeless a game of Russian Roulette :game_die: :game_die: and its not worth gambling with your safety.

I personally never had an issue despite my constant abuse ( jumping and wheeling, yes my road bike) at my non lithe 210lbs frame. So I can only speak from personal experience of 10,000+miles with these tires. With that said I’m rolling on Enve 4.5ARs which seem to fit these tires like a glove.

same lithe ~210lb frame here, but I wasn’t talking about that.

Think of it like the OJ trial - “if the tires don’t fit, you must acquit” (acquit = set free = throw in trash).

The following tubeless ready fit fine on my Enve 5.6 disc:

  • Specialized S-Works Turbo Road Tubeless (snug, had to work it on)
  • Schwalbe Pro One (snug, had to work it on)
  • Specialized Turbo RapidAir (really tight)
  • Conti GP 5000 TL (really tight)
  • Pirelli Cinturato Velo Rear (had to thumb on but not as snug as Pro One and S-Works)

The following tubeless ready had at least one tire that slid on without any real effort:

  • Hutchinson Sector 28
  • Zipp Tangente RT-25

Thats just my experience, not sure what happened with the Sector 28 and RT-25 but if any tire slides on too easy it should sound off alarm bells.

I’m not making this up to come here and argue, here is a Mavic article highlighting the issue:

Source: https://engineerstalk.mavic.com/en/road-ust-tubeless-bike-wheels-easy-safe-fast/

Be safe out there, if the tubeless tire slides on easily it should sound off alarm bells.

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Right definitely not trying to argue either… Just sharing my experience which has been very positive and I was coming from clincher GP4000S2 which were great tires in their own right.

Also wanted to clarify that by saying “fairly easy” I didn’t mean that it slipped right on. You have to know what you’re doing, making sure the bead sits inside the center channel all around and a mix of elbow grease, strong hands and finagling. I’ve just heard some horror stories about mounting tubeless tires and that was not the case with these tires.

Yup, that’s what I called snug. The really tight ones (5000 TL and RapidAir for me) require pushing the valve stem up to make a little more room, and both of those left me with blisters.

Hopefully I can get some clarification on this, since I am now sitting with a new pair of DT Swiss GRC1400 which are hookless, and trying to figure out which tyres I can use.

I recently got home a pair of Vittoria Terreno Dry Tubeless, mounted them on (tight, but managed eventually) and then once they were mounted I see a text on the side (only for hooked rims)…

Really annoying since I can’t return them now, and even more annoyed with the confusion to which tyres I can even use?

Would be super grateful for any help. These are gravel wheels so will be running gravel tyres.

Both Zipp and Enve publish lists of tires that are compatible with their hookless wheels, that’s a good resource. My understanding is that all hookless rims and hookless-compatible tires are manufactured to the same ETRTO standards, so if a tire works on an Enve or Zipp hookless rim, it should work with a DT Swiss hookless rim as well.

https://support.sram.com/hc/en-us/articles/360050355593-What-tubeless-tires-are-compatible-with-Zipp-s-hookless-rims-

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