Hi
I am helping my girlfriend upgrade her road bike.
She is considering getting an Enviliv Advanced 1. It’s great value and we can get a good deal on the cycle to work scheme. She wanted a canyon but that isn’t an option due to this.
The bike comes with SLR2 rims that are hookless.
She is 50kg and will run 30c tyres - I suspect the pressures she will be running will negate any risk presented by hookless. What are your thoughts on this? Would hookless put you off buying a bike?
Thanks
C
What will you do if one person says yes, deal breaker? What about 5? 10? 20?
Maybe not if I thought the bike was a great deal or it was the bike I really, really wanted but I know that I don’t want to go out of my way to buy hookless.
Is your girlfriend up for choosing the right tires, the right sealant, the right pressure, topping up sealant, etc, etc?
hookless road is completely fine in this situation IMO, and giant has good quality control.
If it concerned me I’d say to the shop and hopefully they’d change it to make the sale, if not I don’t think I’d be comfortable with hookless until I did more research at least.
Giant hookless rims are very reputable. Would ride them with confidence
At her size, tire size and pressure, I think its a non-issue
Im a heavier guy at 90kg, so Im a bit more on the fence about it, simply bc I run 28s right at the 70-72psi limit, and I have no clue how accurate my pump actually is. Ive never had an issue on the one hookless wheelset I have, but I probably wouldnt go out of my way to buy another set, at least at the moment
Personally I will not be buying a hookless road wheelset (gravel is another story, MTB would be another story if I MTBed).
If I got a hookless road wheelset despite all that, then 30mm is the minimum tire size I’d consider.
I would typically buy custom bikes and spec my own wheels. A hookless wheel would be a negative for me. Right now this is more out of caution than anything and it is open to change. Does your GF like the bike. If she does, then just run the wheelset. Pay attention to all the necessary detail, e.g. the max pressure is not 72.5 PSI for 30mm tires. It is 65 PSI. The measured width of whatever 30mm tire you wind up with cannot exceed 32mm. Giant probably explicitly states which tires and which widths are compatible, so you could just follow that.
I would rather spend my mental energy keeping up with my chain waxing than double checking all the specs on a hookless wheel + tire, but everyone’s priorities are different and once you’re set on a tire you don’t necessarily have to do extra mental work.
I think this isn’t an issue. Your girlfriend will not even be close to the maximum tyre pressure for the rims at her weight and when it comes to buying new tyres you simple go off Giants list of tested tyres.
I have been riding on hookless rims for a few years now with zero issues.
Although you didn’t mention what the internal width of the rim is, at that tire size and her weight, it will not be an issue (unless the internal width is. 27mm, which is pretty much unheard of for road).
She’ll be fine….and I say that as someone who is not a fan of hookless on the road just yet. But with the numbers you mentioned, I wouldn’t worry about it.
No. It wouldn’t. I’d be sure to use approved tires and watch my pressure, but I’d have no problems riding and racing on hookless (and have for the past 2 1/2 years).
Thanks for the feedback
Yes she likes the Enviliv - And its great value; if she went with another brand she would get the same spec bike but with alu wheels.
I’m pretty much her mechanic so I’ll make sure to have her at the right PSI and tyres; She mostly rides for fun so shes not putting crazy hours on the bike anyway.
I have just done about 10 rides on my new Giant Defy with SLR 2 wheels.
My take on it is that Giant has so many of this wheelset out that we would get stories from real people losing their tires if this was an actual problem. Not from Youtube creators hunting likes.
I am only talking about Giant SLR2
That said, I check the pressure before every ride and I did check the Giant Web site to get the correct tires. So if your girlfriend thinks this is to much of a bother, together with the tubeless set-up, the Giant might not be right
Giant Hookless Technology | Giant Bicycles Official site (list of tires tested by Giant)
And this is why mine is still on tubes…
For not that much riding, I’d use tubes. Can you use tubes safely with hookless? I guess you still have to use a compatible tire.
Don’t let the haters put you off.
Follow the guidelines set out by the wheels manufacturer, and everything will be fine.
I’m ignoring the hookless drama.