As the name describes hookless means without hooks and the hooks are usually present on the rim beads to give the tire tightness and firmness on trails. Yes, hookless rims are dangerous if the tire setup is made wrongly with the rim and if you have used the wrong tire which is old model hooked tires, this is the opposite setup for the hookless rims and it causes more risks on the trails, any time at any place, the old hooked tire will unmount from the hookless rim and causes falling or crash. but there are specific hookless tires that respond well and are usually recommended for the hookless rims, but these are rare and cannot be found easily by anyone without old riders and mechanics and are limited, for their specific tire setup the tire bead sits so hard on the hookless rim that you won’t be able to unmount the tire from these rims, this shows that these rims would not work and perform smoothly when you compare them from the hooked rims.
Modern and new models of bike tires are an accurate and recommended setup for the hookless rims, these can improve your skills and learning, and always avoid traditional and old tires which respond badly to these rims. all the new rims which are manufactured are hookless rims riding for mountain biking but these are not well manufactured and these rims do not fit on normal mountain bike tires. The most popular tire which is inserted on hookless rims is GP5000 and Zipp303s and it is a long-lasting and worthy setup for hookless rims. you do not choose any other tire for the hookless rims which are not compatible with them otherwise they will cause serious issues on the trails.
And the other major issue is that the tire beads would not completely and thoroughly seat on these rims and these are not adjusted fully like the other tire and rim setups that’s why these are mostly avoided, without this when you store your bike in your room by hanging from the ceiling, or if you are doing much maintenance of the bike in upside down position of your bike, then sometimes you will notice few drops of sealant is leaking from the beads, but when you on single trails, you would not notice these kinds of issues of these hookless rims.
All of the tubeless tires are a little bit different in their width to seat properly on the hookless beads, this is the reason some tires do not fit accurately on them. the hookless rims also have their limited and recommended internal air pressure, higher and lower pressure would result in a blast of the tire. also, their range is specific for mountain bikes and aggressive and rough trails, if you will cross the limit on aggressive trails, it will cause an irritating moment for you. shortly I can say that hookless rims are dependent rims and are not safer for hard terrains especially in the cycling world, due to which mostly pro racers avoid them.
The main purpose of hookless rims is that every branded tire would cause difficulty seating on their beads and bead seat comes out due to wrong interfacing with the tire and it is dangerous on rough terrains, you don’t know the situation and suddenly the tire pulls out from the rim bead. if the bike has hooked tires on hookless, then never ride on downhill trails because the setup is opposite which is dangerous for the rider and increases risk.
How Hookless Rims Are Dangerous For Mountain Bikes?
Mountain bike and gravel tires are wider and thicker than road bike tires, which need more space to seat on the beads also when these bikes run on single and hard terrains, both front and rear tires exert a high pressure and force on tire beads, if these tires are installed on hookless rims then high pressure apply force on the sidewalls of the tire, as a result, the tire slips from the bead and comes out which is dangerous in regular riding on the trails. But it is common in unspecific brands of tires(hooked tires) on hookless rims.
What is The Main Thing Which Makes Hookless Tires Dangerous?
The bead designing which do not contains hooks and the tire is not tightly fixed within the hookless edge of the rim, this is a modification that makes hookless rims dangerous for mountain biking and aggressive trails, where the tire and rim have to absorb bumps and jumps, hookless rims are also dangerous for road bikes if you are using high internal pressure of more than 75 psi.
Are Hookless rims Bad For Every Tire?
No these are made for specific brands of tires on which they provide a hard seal on the rim beads, hooked rims have two shoulders on both sides where the rim bead is tightly fixed but hookless rims lack this advantage, most of the time the width of the tire causes seating on the beads, but their specific tires would not cause bead seating issue and sit hardly on the rim beads, it is the reason if you have bought tire without getting information about the hookless, maybe you will face this situation.
Do Price Of Hookless rims Differ From Hooked Rims?
The user spends the same bucks for hookless and hooked rims for purchasing, but within the company where these are manufactured, the manufacturers use cheap materials and easy ways in making hookless rims which brings the difference between both of them, this is the reason that hookless rims are not considered better quality rims, this issue is from the company but the price is almost same for a new user for both hooked and hookless rims.
Hookless Rims For Road Bikes, Mountain Bikes, And Gravel Bikes:
Hookless rims are usually recommended for mountain and gravel bikes because of the low internal air pressure and their specific tires would fit hardly on the rim beads for aggressive and rough terrains but the same thing is not better for road bikes and for normal trails, because road bikes use higher pressures which increases the risk of blow and burps, for road bikes hooked rims are better and recommended thing as compared to hookless rims.
These hookless rims themselves are also different, these have many brands which work differently on different brands of tires. Some tires install normally without using any tire lever and some cause difficulty in their installation, You can wet the tire before installation on hookless rims with a mixture of soapy water to make the tire beads flexible and soft, it helps in unmounting the tire from the rim bead without using tire levers and you can easily uninstall the tire if the tire beads are soft on these rims. sealants and thin oils are also inserted from the beads to minimize the hardness of the tire beads on hookless rims.
Are Hookless Rims Better For Rim Brakes And Disc Brakes?
Hookless is new discovery for road bikes and is almost used for carbon wheels and rim brakes are an old type of brakes that would start misfunctioning on the hookless rim on both road bike and mountain bike and does not perform better because of the non-compatibility issues.
Hookless rims also have a complaint that these rims would generate heat on disc brake surfaces and the rim heats up when you are riding at high speeds but for normal speed, these issues would never have been recorded on these rims, but disc brakes are recommended brakes for hookless rims.
Hookless Rims For Gravel And Cross Country Tires?
These rims are different for gravel and cross country setup, the tire and rim width matter the most when choosing the two different wheel categories. the dimensions of hookless rims are not the same and the tires have different setups for both gravel and cross-country bikes.
For Cross country tires, hookless rims are of small width but for gravel rims the tires have greater width which shows that these tires require wider hookless rims, when you compare hookless rims for both of these categories you will recognize a clear difference and these both are not mixed with each other, if you mix for testing and riding on the trails then they will be blown up and the tires burst and come off from the rim which is dangerous.
Do Hookless Rims Support the Heavyweight of the rider?
For road bikes, this support up to 200Ibs but for mountain bikes, these rims have a weight tolerance of 100 to 120Ibs because of the low air pressure. but for their specific tires, these rims tolerate the higher weight of the rider and the stuff you are carrying on the trails. Mostly weight is avoided in mountain biking for hookless rims.
Weight Of Hookless Rims?
These are 12gram to 15 grams lighter in weight and this weight difference is due to the lack of hooks on side beads. this is the reason that hookless rims are more aerodynamic and the air resistance would affect the speed of these rims for road bikes, gravel bikes, and mountain bikes and their speed does not decrease in wind shielding.
Conclusion:
After a long discussion here comes a conclusion, hookless rims are totally reliable on the air pressure of the tire and these are less safe at higher air pressures and safer on lower tire pressures. bead rims would not work for the hookless rims to hook the edges of the tire within the rim, this is the main thing that increases the risk on aggressive trails, but if these are compatible with their own specific tires then these rims would build a relationship with the tire at lower pressure for a long period and for longer mileages.