Are Hookless Wheels Safe?

This clip is a section from episode 39 of the Wild Ones Podcast. You can view the full video here:

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[DavidFritzIII]

On the foam inserts, in riding them for a long time, they really push the tyre against the rim hook. Perhaps without hooks it is an added force pushing the tyre off the rim?

[JasonLatorre]

Hambini pointed out something no one else has. The 454 NSW sidewall he looked at, was very flexible. Thinking it’s the lightweight carbon hookless wheels that have blowoff issues. Maybe because the rim sidewall is simply too flexible to hold straight under pressure.

[Drucycofki]

I find it interesting that no one points out the completely destroyed rim in the Strade Bianche picture right in the beginning.
The rim is severed left of the valve. So there is either a problem with the rim construction/stability that makes it very vulnerable to impacts or he hit something so hard that no other rim would have survived either.
Maybe it cracked at the edge of the reinforcement layers around the spoke hole.

[LOZUPONEJ]

I use latex tubes for my road bike and tubeless on my gravel bike. No foam inserts.

[KoenMiseur]

You guys SHOULD look at the comments, they are your audiance and there have already been said so much in the comments from the video's that you guys should know about and could clarify a lot of things!

[davidjohnstone]

Wasn't there also a problem with DeGent using a tire that was smaller than the recommended size for the rim? I thought I read this somewhere. Or vice versa.
I have been running hookless for gravel for years with zero issues.

[mrbinc]

Agree 💯%. Product designers and manufacturers should count with user errors and more so if user errors can lead to injuries.

[stevesimpson]

So new bike has the exact Vittoria system with the air liners (fan of it on mountain bikes as it has got me out of a few pickles). Rims are ENVE foundation 45 hookless only. No issues yet but definitely don’t push the bike to the extremes that the pro teams do. Have been searching for updates about safety for a while now but no news. Anything since posting this video???

[fentuz]

@CadeMediaExtra I was looking at vittoria terreno tyre (they are marked hooked rim) only. The bead is square and protrude out of side wall whereas the XC barzo mezcal bead are rounded and tangent to side wall. Michelin CX tubeless, conti terra trails, conti race king, pararacer slick have all rounded tangent bead.

Is the issue coming from vittoria squared bead on road /cx/ gravel tyres not seating properly on hookless rim?

[akaraikiriakatsuki]

Is there a hookless mtb rim and tire? How well it would held on xc all the way to freeride

[peterquainton]

I have been riding in all conditions and all road surfaces with zipp 303 firecrest wheels and have had absolutely no issue at all. It will be from setting them up wrong for sure

[keesvandermeulen]

I bought a set of carbon hookless 40H-24i custom build wheels six years ago.
For less then half the money of the Enve 34AR.
The selling point for going hookless then was the bigger volume plus the stronger construction of the rim sidewall
regarding impacts.
I was looking for a way to increase tire volume for my Supersix Evo Team Edition 2018 frame given the narrow space available & me being 6'3" / 1.91cm and 95 kg.
I used this wheel set on 622-28, 622-30 with Conti 4000/5000 & Veloflex Corsa Evo with great result.
All tubeless. Now using this same hookless set with 622-38 to 622-43 tires on my gravel/comuter bike.
Adding tire volume without adding to much tire width and gaining comfort & speed.
This provided me to lowering tire pressures and gaining even more comfort, speed & endurance.
Lowering tire pressure optimizes also the self sealing of a tubeless system.
Can not fault them even after six years, 40k kilometers..
Never needed no truing either.
For me, more tire volume only brings benefits.
I now also ride my Giant TCX cyclocrosser with this wheel set & 622-50 / 622-43 tires floating over sandy parcours..
Just great...

On narrow tubeless road tire sizes, like 622- 25 / -28 / -30 / -32 using a tire insert reduces the critical volume & pressure of the tire / hookless rim system necessary to seat the tubeless tire safely in all conditions.

[gerlachsieders]

I am riding hookless, I have had no issues with them, not even when touring fully loaded. In fact, swapping tires is a challenge, the tires sit so tight on the rims, the only way to get them off is to move the tirebead towards the deeper central groove, so in fact away from the rim. So I don't see tires coming off the rims spontaneously. Most likely the mechanic exceeded the pressure limit. And what is up with that ridiculous foam insert?

[ddniUK]

Watched this again, you're welcome @Cademedia. On second viewing, the level of FUD here is high.

[billyulrich]

It seems to only be happening to lotto! Movistar rides Zipp. UAE rides hookless ENVE. Those riders don’t have this issue. Lotto must be doing something wrong.

[LOZUPONEJ]

Then maybe hooked rims with tubes or tubular?

[bikeman]

Dont piss off the mechanic who pumps up your tyres

[delveccr]

You don’t have to be an expert, just follow the guidelines for pressure. I believe Francis pointed out in a previous video there could be confusion because many customers have a long history of using road wheels with high pressure. These customers might not have got the message about using low pressures. This may be the cause of some problems with hookless road set ups.

[DavidFritzIII]

I call BS.. I feel that in a similar scenario, when the an impact damaged the rim itself, the hook on the remaining 355 degrees of wheel would retain the tyre long enough to allow for safe operation.

[ddniUK]

If you’re dropping thousands on a race bike / wheels and do not own an accurate tyre presssure gauge then more fool you.