General Bike Thread (Desiderata, Questions, Pics)

[razl]

@smittycl great pics + thanks for sharing! Plus congrats on that 30 mile season jumpstart!

 

[smittycl]

@smittycl great pics + thanks for sharing! Plus congrats on that 30 mile season jumpstart!

Thanks! Big hip flexor/IT band pain on Monday morning though. This not being 25 anymore thing is for the birds…

800mg Motrin to the rescue!

 

[zissou]

Thanks! Big hip flexor/IT band pain on Monday morning though. This not being 25 anymore thing is for the birds…

800mg Motrin to the rescue!

Do you have a massage gun? I find mine is essential now that I’m over 50.

I got out for 23 miles today on a beautiful spring afternoon. The fields were slowly turning green, and plenty of snow left on the mountains.

 

[kjb]

i've started back up as well. easy just like 10 or 15 around town. this weekend is supposed to be a washout which is a bit disappointing.

question for the group on wheels / tires - do you all ride hooked or hookless rims? i know all the higher end manufacturers are now doing basically doing hookless only but i keep reading about how that may not be entirely super safe for road. general consensus is it works way better for mountain bikes given the wider tires. what're the experiences here?

if you ride hooked, are you tubes or tubeless? i read like a 50/50 split on that. pros / cons? i've only ever ridden clinchers and i'm looking to upgrade my wheels probably over the summer so interested in the thoughts here.

 

[bicycleradical]

question for the group on wheels / tires - do you all ride hooked or hookless rims? i know all the higher end manufacturers are now doing basically doing hookless only but i keep reading about how that may not be entirely super safe for road. general consensus is it works way better for mountain bikes given the wider tires. what're the experiences here?

if you ride hooked, are you tubes or tubeless? i read like a 50/50 split on that. pros / cons? i've only ever ridden clinchers and i'm looking to upgrade my wheels probably over the summer so interested in the thoughts here.

i ride hooked rims with clinchers however i admittedly am a bit of a curmudgeon so take that for what it's worth.

a cycling podcast i was listening to recently discussed this issue and it comes down to having to be really careful in choosing your tires for hookless rims. the dimensions of the tire have to correspond to the dimensions of the rim more closely than hooked tires. the danger apparently lies when those are mismatched.

 

[sfo423]

i've started back up as well. easy just like 10 or 15 around town. this weekend is supposed to be a washout which is a bit disappointing.

question for the group on wheels / tires - do you all ride hooked or hookless rims? i know all the higher end manufacturers are now doing basically doing hookless only but i keep reading about how that may not be entirely super safe for road. general consensus is it works way better for mountain bikes given the wider tires. what're the experiences here?

if you ride hooked, are you tubes or tubeless? i read like a 50/50 split on that. pros / cons? i've only ever ridden clinchers and i'm looking to upgrade my wheels probably over the summer so interested in the thoughts here.

Hooked, tubeless. Its worked flawlessly for me. if you go hookless, make sure you pare the rim to an approved tire.

 

[zissou]

i've started back up as well. easy just like 10 or 15 around town. this weekend is supposed to be a washout which is a bit disappointing.

question for the group on wheels / tires - do you all ride hooked or hookless rims? i know all the higher end manufacturers are now doing basically doing hookless only but i keep reading about how that may not be entirely super safe for road. general consensus is it works way better for mountain bikes given the wider tires. what're the experiences here?

if you ride hooked, are you tubes or tubeless? i read like a 50/50 split on that. pros / cons? i've only ever ridden clinchers and i'm looking to upgrade my wheels probably over the summer so interested in the thoughts here.

I run Zipp 303s hookless rims with 32mm Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR tubeless tires. I actually find tubeless hookless tires to be easier to mount and manage than clincher tires with tubes. You have to be extra careful to not exceed the max tire pressure (72psi) with hookless rims or they may pop off the rims. This seemed like an oddly low pressure considering I used to run clinchers at 100psi, but it is an incredibly smooth ride. The reduced vibration and more round patch of contact with the road actually makes for a slightly faster ride.

 

[patrick_b]

I run Zipp 303s hookless rims with 32mm Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR tubeless tires. I actually find tubeless hookless tires to be easier to mount and manage than clincher tires with tubes. You have to be extra careful to not exceed the max tire pressure (72psi) with hookless rims or they may pop off the rims. This seemed like an oddly low pressure considering I used to run clinchers at 100psi, but it is an incredibly smooth ride. The reduced vibration and more round patch of contact with the road actually makes for a lightly faster ride.

Same, I ran my Roubaix with hookless 303FC's for the last three years w/no issues. Kept PSI within spec (high 50's, low 60's) and used "approved tires". First season was the 30mm Schwalbe Pro One and then went with the 28mm GP5000 STR. That bike currently has S-Works 33mm CX tires on it (also on the approved list) and has run fine. I've been riding that infrequently over the last month or so when we get a warm day. I don't mind getting it dirty.

The Aethos has hooked Roval Alpinist wheels (also tubeless). The benefit of hookless really is in their manufacturing (less expensive) but I'm not worried at all about hookless being dangerous to ride.

 

[otc]

I'm 100% tubeless now, but I'm also looking exclusively at MTB or either 38mm gravel tires or 30/32mm big road tires.

The bigger/lower pressure you go, the more appealing tubeless is.

Pretty sure everything has hooks though...hookless seems like a lot of tradeoffs that aren't worth it unless you are looking at totally top of the line stuff where every other weight savings has been done. It is mostly a benefit to manufacturers who can make simpler designs...

 

[HRoi]

I run Zipp 303s hookless rims with 32mm Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR tubeless tires. I actually find tubeless hookless tires to be easier to mount and manage than clincher tires with tubes. You have to be extra careful to not exceed the max tire pressure (72psi) with hookless rims or they may pop off the rims. This seemed like an oddly low pressure considering I used to run clinchers at 100psi, but it is an incredibly smooth ride. The reduced vibration and more round patch of contact with the road actually makes for a slightly faster ride.

Same setup, except my tires are P-zeros. The other benefit i observed with tubeless is vaaaaaaaaaaaassstly less flats

 

[zissou]

Yes, that, too! A friend of mine who's one of the top racers in the area has ridden tubeless for the past few years and he told me that he's only gotten one flat in that time, and that was because the tire was cut open.

 

[UnFacconable]

I'm guessing a lot of the concerns around hookless rims are people using "regular" tires that weren't designed for hookless operation. The hookless compatible tires have stronger sidewalls because they rely on sidewall expansion to stay in place.

I don't really know if the industry is just trading slightly cheaper manufacturing for rims for more expensive tires or if there is a real performance/durability/whatever benefit for riders.

 

[kjb]

Thanks all! This is really helpful. Appreciate the insight and suggestions. I figured tubeless wouldn’t be that big of a deal but glad to know it’s works out so well for so many. Now just to work through how comfortable I feel around the hookless option.

 

[sugarbutch]

Thanks all! This is really helpful. Appreciate the insight and suggestions. I figured tubeless wouldn’t be that big of a deal but glad to know it’s works out so well for so many. Now just to work through how comfortable I feel around the hookless option.

It's important to note that the primary advantage of hookless rims is reduced manufacturing complexity and cost. All of the "benefits" for the rider are post-hoc rationalizations. Especially if you are not a waif (165 pounds, 20 pound bicycle—don't forget to include your saddle bag, water bottles, shoes, pedals, etc.), the recommended tire pressures for road-size tires will put you within a couple of PSI of the maximum. If you have even a moderate wheel impact, the pressure will spike well above the maximum. The safety factor built into these systems is not up to the expected range of conditions they'll need to accommodate.

 

[kjb]

It's important to note that the primary advantage of hookless rims is reduced manufacturing complexity and cost. All of the "benefits" for the rider are post-hoc rationalizations. Especially if you are not a waif (165 pounds, 20 pound bicycle—don't forget to include your saddle bag, water bottles, shoes, pedals, etc.), the recommended tire pressures for road-size tires will put you within a couple of PSI of the maximum. If you have even a moderate wheel impact, the pressure will spike well above the maximum. The safety factor built into these systems is not up to the expected range of conditions they'll need to accommodate.


View attachment 2152637

The was my thought as I’m a decent size at 180lbs alone without the bike and gear. I think hooked will make me more comfortable overall.