Good hooked rim gravel wheels?

[oldpotatoe]

Give me a shout..I can design and build you a wheelset specifically for you and your needs using
DT, Bitex, WI hubs laced to
Kinlin or Velocity or BTLOS rims using
Sapim spokes..

Bitex hubs laced to Velocity Aileron rims using Sapim Race spokes.....'About' $650 or so

[Fat Cat]

I built CR-18's on Ultegra 6600 hubs with DT stainless. But I'm old school and 38's are as big as will fit in my frame so there's that too

[sokyroadie]

Originally Posted by Jdm

I have hooked BTLOS wheels for gravel, although I wish I bought hookless because I run low tire pressure.

I guess I am a luddite because IMHO there is no downside to hooked rims only plusses.

[Jdm]

Originally Posted by sokyroadie

I guess I am a luddite because IMHO there is no downside to hooked rims only plusses.

I can run slightly lower tire pressure with hookless, which is a big plus for the harsh gravel I ride.

[Mark McM]

The hookless concept (despite marketers protests to the contrary) is primarily a cost savings measure for carbon rims. Hooks cost nearly nothing to include on aluminum rims, so nearly all the aluminum rims you'll find (gravel and otherwise) will have hooks.

[RoosterCogset]

Originally Posted by Jdm

I can run slightly lower tire pressure with hookless, which is a big plus for the harsh gravel I ride.

You believe that if you reduce the hooked tire's pressure to the same that there would be some problem?

[Jdm]

Originally Posted by RoosterCogset

You believe that if you reduce the hooked tire's pressure to the same that there would be some problem?

Don't know! I'm following Zipp's tire pressure guide where it has different recommendations based on tubeless hooked versus tubeless hookless.

[rccardr]

Big Mavic fan here, have been running a set of A319’s laced to DA7403
hubs with Sapim DB Race spokes with brass nipples for two years. Flawless performance on heavy gravel, 300 mile week long gravel tours and loaded touring. I built them myself, but you can buy the rims and have them made with the hub of your choice.

Recently conferred with OP on a new set of heavy duty wheels and he suggested Kinlin XR26T’s, which I built up,using another ser of NOS DA7403 hubs, same spokes as above. They are lighter than the A319’s but with similar internal width.

Either one will happily accept up to an actual 38mm tire.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Jdm

Don't know! I'm following Zipp's tire pressure guide where it has different recommendations based on tubeless hooked versus tubeless hookless.

It's entirely possible that the reason that Zipp's pressure calculator produces lower numbers for hookless wheels is not because hookless wheels can use lower pressures; but rather it is because hookless wheels can't use higher. pressures The pressure limits for hookless wheels are lower than for hooked wheels, so in some given situation in which some particular pressure would give the best performance, if that pressure is above the limit for hookless wheels, the Zipp pressure calculator won't recommend it.

A historical perspective:

50 years ago (1974), the Schwinn Varsity was a mass produced low-to-mid quality 10spd bike. It came with single wall (hookless) steel rims, with 32mm wide gum wall tires. Due to the lower tolerances of low cost mass production and the lack or rim hooks, the maximum pressure that could be used in these tires was 65 psi.

Fast forward to 2024. We now have high-tech wheels made with state of the art carbon fiber. Tires are better, with better treads and casings, and carbon/kevlar composite beads. These wheels and tires are made with better materials and to higher tolerances than the Schwinn Varsity from 50 years earlier. So how much pressure can be used in a 32mm tire? According to ISO specs, when used on a hookless wheel these tires can be inflated to a whopping maximum of 65 psi. Even after the advances of the last 50 years, the absence of a hook is limiting hookless wheels to low pressures.

[RoosterCogset]

There's very little 'science' behind Zipp's (and/or Enve's) tire pressure recommendations. Basically they had to have a natural progression that people thought was logical, starting with a 25mm tire on hookless, that couldn't exceed 73psi, and then making a calculator that subtracted from this value as the tire got wider, mitigated (but not exceeding 73psi) by rider weight changes. And, they wanted to be able to sell their tires to anyone 250lbs or lighter. Basically a house of cards.

[tv_vt]

Thanks for all of these comments, and it seems I'm not the only one suspicious of hookless rims. I'll look review recommendations and think about this some more. Maybe Mavic or DT alloy, or the Shimano GRX wheel, or a handbuilt. Or something else.
Thanks.

Update: gonna give the Roval Terra C wheels a try. Good price at Excel Sports right now. I'm using 11 speed mechanical GRX so the Shimano HG freehub is fine.

[bigbill]

Boyd CCC rims are alloy, hooked, 25mm internal, assymetrical, recommended for 30mm tires minimum, and made in South Carolina. You can get old potatoe to build them on a hub of choice, or buy a prebuilt set from Boyd.

Old potatoe built me a set on my old WI XMR hubs and they've been great with 38s.

[GParkes]

HED Emporia, in either alloy or carbon. Bomb proof.