These points seem theoretical at best. We do not see a large price disparity between hookless and hooked so savings aren’t making it to the consumer. Any weight saved by the absence of a hook is a very time amount of carbon. If Zipp wheels are lighter, it is because of their newer hubs. We’ve yet to see aero benefits shown from a test but any benefit sounds marginal.
The other theoretical benefit is stronger rims (thicker) and thus adding back any weight saved by eliminating the hook.
The other downside nobody has mentioned is having to run tubeless tires even if you want to use tubes.
Agreed, it’s theoretical (though the keener pricing of some recent Zipp models might suggest there’s something to it). Certainly, all things being equal*, hookless should be cheaper as the moulding is considerably more straightforward.
But given that I don’t have a dog in the fight and won’t be extensively testing lots of models myself, theory is all I have to go on when considering wheels. My inclination is that hookless for road probably isn’t worth it unless you’re going to be running 32s, but it’s just a gut position at this stage.
I’d like to think that this will be resolved conclusively either way within a couple of years, either through hookless for road disappearing (unlikely IMO) or more stringent guidelines and testing. Time will tell.
For my Diverge, I’m currently running René Herse 700x44 tires (Snoqualmie Pass, Endurance casing) on ENVE 4.5 AR wheels (hookless) with 25mm ID. For a 122kg system, tire pressure is 40 lbs.
I’m running tubes because I haven’t flatted in 4 years (been riding 5) and I don’t ride enough to keep the sealant from drying up. Getting those tires on was a b***ch… they’re not going anywhere.
From what I know and/or have read, this configuration should be rock-solid and very trustworthy.
If necessary, you may use an inner tube on a Giant hookless rim, so long as the tire you are using has passed the Giant test protocol. However, please note that Giant hookless rims are designed to perform best when set up as tubeless and used without an inner tube.
Nothing related, but I found it interesting that Giant has a list of tires that failed the test, and the Vittoria Corsa and GP5K (old version) have failed.
With hooked rims you can use anything you want with a tube.
With hookless…you really do need a tubeless tire.
I’m clearly not one who believes hookless rims are a problem…but even I wouldnt try a clincher tire on a hookless rim. They’re not designed to be as tight fitting as tubeless, so the likelyhood they’d lift the bead past the edge of the rim am blow off is WAY higher.
According to Zipp, you must use tubeless tire compatible with their rim even if you want to use a tube. That frankly sounds like a road side flat change nightmare.
Even though I love road tubeless, I can easily see that it is not for everyone nor every bike as it requires a certain amount of regular maintenance.
I’m not seeing how those photos are proving it was an impact.
Smooth as glass road in UAE and De Gendt hit some giant rim breaking piece of debris in the road that no other rider hit or tried to avoid before hand…
The article shows how the wheel damage is visible in the original photo at the site of the crash. It does not say what caused it but an impact is the most plausible cause.
Both sides. That was before the pressure relief nut was introduced, or shortly after. I’ve got pics from earlier in the year where there was no problem.
Not sure if that was from sudden pressure loss, or something else.
ENVE as always was great and replaced immediately upon receipt of pics.
I was saying, that isn’t a case of hookless/hooked. I don’t understand the noise made against hookless from people openly saying that they won’t use it.
