kendall

I'd alway considered the hookless rims to be a Schwinn thing, but over the last four weeks, I've picked up several bikes without bead hooks, a Miyata I traded a small pile of scrap out of the backyard for, an Azuki, and an old unknown 70ish 10 speed. (ukai, araya, and unmarked set with shimano hubs)

Were rims without hooks far more common than I thought? And who makes 27" tires that will work with them?

Found out the Azuki had them by accident, just flew down a long hill, hit a nice long flat section and started hearing a slapping noise, hit the brakes as I looked down and saw a bulge in the tire, just got slowed down to 15mph when the tube blew.
The wire seperated from the tire for about 6", looked like brand new tires so never checked them. (specialized tri-sport) 30 minutes earlier we were racing along M6 trail where it was downhill with a few sharp curves, could have been fun then, as it was it was anti-climatic.

Ken.

cudak888 

Far more common then anyone here would prefer. Araya and Weinmann made tons of them, and unfortunately, they're also quite plentiful in both 700C and 27". Mavics generally came hooked, hence their desirability; same for Rigidas, though Rigidas are known for easily acquiring flat spots.

Perhaps the best kept secret in budget hooked-bead rims from the '80s are Ukais. They pop up with reasonable frequency, and although most are single-wall and non-eyeletted, they are hooked-bead.

-Kurt

Little Darwin

The hookless rims were quite common, the earlier the bike the more common. Steel rims especially.

Any 27" tire should work, some people prefer tires with wire beads versus folding tires... the key is to keep the pressure down to below about 70 PSI with most rims, regardless of what the side of the tire might say about maximum pressure.

kranz

Hooked rims first made their appearance in the mid '70s. I believe that MAVIC was credited with the first hooked rims, the Module E.

wrk101

+1 Very common, particularly on 27 inch rims. I've seen them on alloy rims, so it's not limited to steel.

I just stock up on wire bead tires. I had a folding tire pop off an unbeaded rim, I won't try that again.

cudak888 

Most wire beads will blow off a straight-wall rim at anything over 80 PSI.

I try to stock up on Mavics (Anyone got a pair of MA2 clinchers for trade?)

-Kurt

wrk101

I'll keep an eye on them. The folding tire gave way in one block.

FWIW: I used to run Michelin Elans back in the 1970s on the same hookless Araya rims, running 100 to 110 psi, never had a problem. Weird.

cudak888 

I have a Michelin Elan in 27x1-1/4, come to think of it.

-Kurt

Wanderer

I've been changing tires on these things for 50+ years, and never had a problem.

I always pump 'em up to maximum, usualy 80 - 90 - 100 PSI. Never had one blow off.

There are lots of 27" tires out there.

It just calls for due care....


All the talk about keeping them underinflated is hogwash.

kendall

I normally air up to about 100-110, anything less seems 'squirmy', 27x1-1/4 I normally run 90-95

I see they must be far more common than I'd thought. It's odd that I've never noticed it before, been riding since the 70's, and always rode old bikes then. Must have dismissed them as schwinn rims

Pretty sure the blowout that brought it to my attention was caused by a faulty tire, not the bead design itself. The wire was still fine, and snug in the rim, the tire itself pulled away from the wire. Looks like there simply wasn't enough meat around the wires.

Ken