PeteHski

I think that will depend on whether or not there is a major backlash from consumers. Look what happened with press fit BBs. It looked at one point as if threaded BBs were about to become extinct, but consumers had issues with creaking and there was enough backlash for some major manufacturers to make a U-turn. Suddenly threaded BBs became a desirable selling point again.

The same could happen with hooked wheels. DT Swiss already make a point of their rims being hooked - it is now suddenly a selling point again. Hookless could well end up losing more sales than it attracts if consumers are freaked out and don’t see any real benefits.

Disc brakes and electronic shifting haven’t really suffered from consumer backlash in this way. Most people who try them don’t wish to go back.



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tomato coupe

Press fit bottom brackets and hookless rims share an important characteristic -- they were adopted mainly because they are cheaper to manufacture, but they offer no tangible benefit to end users. Consequently, I wouldn't be surprised if hookless rims ultimately suffer the same fate as press fit bottom brackets.

DaveSSS 

Thread together BBs are a good solution for press fit bottom brackets. I have Wheels Manufacturing thread together with angular contact bearings on all of my bikes. I also have disc brakes, electronic shifting and hookless rims that require no rim tape. No complaints.
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Trakhak

Thread-together BBs represent a good workaround, although they seem to be somewhat expensive and on the heavy side. Nevertheless, it looks like manufacturers are backing away from press fit.

Disc brakes and e-shifting are likely here to stay. Whether hookless is here to stay for road wheels remains to be seen.

Sy Reene

Next up.. rebel against proprietary seatpost shapes and screwy clamping mechanisms.

eduskator

Less creaking, too. Anyone who had creaking issues will know that it's a real nightmare. I almost sold one of my bikes because I couldn't find the location of the creaking .

eduskator

It's a matter of time! People are just waiting for an incident to start the debates.

genejockey 

I had a creaking issue with my Canyon. I had my LBS replace the press-fit BB with a Wheels thread together BB. When I took my first ride on it after that.... same creaking. Came home, pulled the seatpost, slathered it with assembly paste, reinstalled it. No creaking.

Oops. But I don't mind the Wheels BB.

eduskator

I hear you... Had to dismantle my bike almost completely to stop the creaking. It was driving me crazy, ride after ride. Funny thing is that I never actually found out where it came from. And I will sadly never know.

genejockey 

I hate that - the problem stopped. It's not that you solved it, so if it happens again, you don't know how to fix it.

Yan 

Zipp has issued a new statement advising teams to use no smaller than 29mm tires on their hookless rims:

https://road.cc/content/tech-news/zi...debacle-307385

DaveSSS 

No 28s with 25mm IW rims. 28 should be OK with their 23mm rims like 303s. This is CYA statement.

Yan 

So what you're saying is, both their high end 353 NSW and mid tier 303 Firecrest wheels are gimped. Only their bottom tier cheapest 303 S wheels are unaffected by the advisory notice. .

RIP.

PeteHski

They might as well have said 30 mm. Does anyone even make a 29 mm tyre? They all seem to progress 25,28,30,32 mm.

Racing Dan

Complete BS. Now a wheel with special TTS tyres, sealant and a tyre insert is expected to completely fail in the even of an "impact". Im sure its true it wouldn't have happened it nothing was hit, but come on, every other ride you hit a pothole or whatever. It happens, all the time, and shouldn't cause the tyre to come off. - It only just works, in the lab and there is no fail - safe.

Imo, if running hookless you should glue the tyre to the rim to prevent this from happening.

choddo

I think hookless sales are going to collapse

Racing Dan

Thanks!

look at the footage and notice the riding conditions. Looks like perfect asphalt, but zipp says it was an "impact" causing the crash. Suure .. !

choddo

Looks like he's off the main carriageway though so there could be some debris there but even so, like you said, we all hit stuff all the time.

PeteHski

I'm not defending hookless rims, but this wheel hit something hard enough to destroy the rim. Armchair conspiracy theory doesn't add any value here. If this was happening all the time while jra on perfect roads or hitting the odd pothole, then there would be no hookless rims on the market at this point. These are edge cases which have certainly raised questions, but it doesn't mean everyone's hookless wheel is suddenly going to assplode.

choddo

I thought it was the other guy's in Strada Bianchi that destroyed the rim? I could well be wrong.

Racing Dan

Look at the footage. To my eye, clearly it didnt. There is no indication anything was hit "hard". I looked it at it over and over. Maybe you can spot the supposed hit, I sure cant. I am however sure something was hit and the tyre blew off, but no indication that is was a "big hit". Only a picture, after the fact, showing the rim had damage. When did that happen? after the tyre and the insert, thats supposed to protect the rim in the first place, had come off?

I call BS. Tyre retention is too low to be safe, even with a tyre insert, that 99% outside the pro circus doesn't use either.

Racing Dan

It has been claimed it was DeGents rim, but the video above does not, IMO, support the claim the rim was destroyed by a big impact. To my eye it look like a JRA crash caused bu some minor incident, causing the tyre to come off.

seypat

If you look at this Top Secret video, you can clearly see the impact was hard enough to cause the "explosion."

PeteHski

I call BS on your armchair “analysis”. I’ve seen the footage and it’s impossible to tell what happened. Everything else is just speculation.

Yan 

Looking at that photo I'm just marveling at the circular logic of bikes going hookless, and then everyone putting in a green pool noodle to help retain the tire, only for the pool noodle to explode out and jam the fork, flipping the rider's face into the ground.

The world has gone upside down.