Lately on the UAE Tour, Lotto Dstny rider Thomas De Gendt hit the deck. However in contrast to many run-of-the-mill crashes in professional biking, De Gendt’s crash ignited a firestorm of media consideration as a result of trigger. Properly, as a result of potential trigger as nobody can say for sure what brought about the crash, however we do know that De Gendt was driving hookless rims and tubeless tires with a tire insert.
Through the crash, the tire practically got here off the rim fully leaving the Vittoria tire liner flapping within the breeze. Since then there have been many questioning the compatibility of sure tires and hookless rims, together with the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés whose president, Adam Hansen, has voiced the CPA’s concern over hookless rims within the Peloton.
As a refresher, hookless rims remove the small hook on the rim which up to now has served to lock the tire bead in place. Hookless rims as a substitute depend on the form of tubeless tire beads to carry the tire in place with friction towards a straight aspect wall. The benefit is supposedly a lighter rim with a lowered likelihood of pinch flats and affect injury to the rim whereas permitting the tire to fill out a extra rounded profile and run decrease pressures for higher grip.
From a producing standpoint, hookless rims appear to be simpler and less expensive to fabricate, which hypothetically leads to a extra reasonably priced product.
Nonetheless, hookless rims have particular necessities for tire kind, measurement, and stress – with most hookless rims required to run under 72.5 PSI.
UCI Weighs In
Should you’ve been following the drama, you knew this half was coming: the UCI is now investigating. Releasing a brief assertion at present, it’s clear that the UCI intends to shortly resolve whether or not hookless rims have a spot within the professional peloton.
In gentle of a sequence of current incidents involving the usage of hookless rims and tubeless tyres (a mix generally known as hookless) in skilled highway biking, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has determined to check the scenario as a matter of urgency with a view to taking a fast choice within the curiosity of rider security.
These measures can be communicated as quickly as attainable.
The UCI shall proceed to work carefully with the stakeholders of biking and tools producers to make sure that acceptable measures are taken each within the brief and long run. This evaluate and the choices that may observe are a part of the UCI’s coverage to advertise rider security, one in all its main considerations.
-UCI
