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I’ve been reading up on hookless rims for mountain biking and it sounds like there are some key advantages (lighter weight, more durable, less costly to manufacture). It seems like eliminating the hook would make tires less secure on the rim, but supposedly this isn’t an issue.
Is anyone running hookless rims on their mountain bike? If so, have you had any issues with blow-offs or tire burps? I’ve been testing a test of hookless rims myself for a couple months and haven’t had any issues, but curious to hear about others’ experiences.
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Zero problems with hookless. Frankly I’m surprised all aluminum hoops aren’t hookless like nearly all the carbon rims are.
Besides Ibis rims, which aluminum rims are hookless these days?
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From what I’ve read, there isn’t as much advantage to hookless rims when it comes to aluminum. Namely, it doesn’t make manufacturing much easier and isn’t needed for strength/durability like it is with carbon wheels.
It sounds like you prefer hookless rims. Do you find it easier to mount tubeless or are there other performance benefits you’ve experienced?
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@Jeff Barber “It sounds like you prefer hookless rims. Do you find it easier to mount tubeless or are there other performance benefits you’ve experienced?”
You could say I’m a fan. See above. Regarding tubeless mounting, I never had any problem with mine. I did always use a compressor and now I have a Specialized Air Blast. The only alloy rims I’ve used that remained trouble free for tubeless inflation are Stan’s. They still use a bead hook though and are soft as to allow some give to avoid burping. This does make them more prone to getting dinged up though.
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My last set of wheels had Light Bicycle 650b AM/DH 35mm rims that were hookless. I rode these for nearly three years on average 2-4X a week on my Banshee Rune. Besides all of the N GA regional haunts, they did plenty of rides in Pisgah and E TN as well as a few visits to bike parks for all day DH runs. In that time span I never had a single flat, burp, rim breakage, nada. I broke a single spoke due to a stick lodging in the rear wheel once, but the wheels remained true and I finished the ride. This is all the more improbable due to my angry bear riding style and 225 lb weight. My tires during this time period were Specialized Butcher, Purgatory, Maxxis DHF, DHR, and High Rollers. This makes them the toughest and most reliable set of wheels I’ve ever ridden in my thirty years in the dirt. They only reason I sold them was that my new bike runs boost and 29er wheels. I plan to build a 29er set of these in the near future. So, yeah hookless rims get my endorsement.
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Pair of Rovals Control since August ’16….zero issues so far.
Mounting tubeless (getting tires on the rim) is still a PITA for me, but inflation is/has not been an issue.
Nice little 2013 story/promo from Bike Magazine on Roval’s and their decision to go to beadless here:
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