UCI to review hookless rims ‘as a matter of urgency’

The UCI has said that it will urgently review the use of hookless rim wheels in professional cycling. 

A statement released from cycling’s world governing body on Friday confirmed that it was looking into the issue and that it would would share its findings in due course. 

It follows Lotto Dstny rider Thomas De Gendt being involved in a heavy crash at the recent men’s UAE Tour, which was attributed by many to his use of hookless rims and tubeless tyres. This state of affairs was denied by Vittoria, the tyre company in question.

“In light of a series of recent incidents involving the use of hookless rims and tubeless tyres (a combination commonly referred to as hookless) in professional road cycling, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has decided to study the situation as a matter of urgency with a view to taking a rapid decision in the interest of rider safety,” the statement read. “These measures will be communicated as soon as possible.”

“The UCI shall continue to work closely with the stakeholders of cycling and equipment manufacturers to ensure that appropriate measures are taken both in the short and long term,” it continued. “This review and the decisions that will follow are part of the UCI's policy to promote rider safety, one of its major concerns.”

De Gendt’s crash came on stage five of the race and images showed that the front tire of his bike had almost come off completely and become tangled in his fork. The problem occured on a pair of Zipp's 353 NSW wheels, with 28mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres. It was suggested that the Zipp wheel's internal rim width of 25mm was too wide to safely accommodate 28mm tyres

"In the aftermath of Thomas De Gendt's crash during the UAE Tour last week, there has been some discussion about the hookless system," a statement from Vittoria read. "It is crucial to clarify that the rim's failure resulted from an impact with an object, in this case, a rock, and is unrelated to the hookless rim design. The intensity of the impact caused the rim/wheel to break in a manner that prevented the tire from staying securely in place. The force was so severe that it tore apart the tire insert."

"It's important to emphasize that the accident was not a result of any compatibility issues among the components utilized by the team," Vittoria said. Zipp said it was working with the team to understand what happened.

Adam Hansen, the president of the riders’ union, the CPA, told Velo last week that the CPA is “100% against” the use of hookless rim wheels in the peloton. 

Hansen said: “This crash is why the CPA are 100 percent against hookless rims. Tires should not come off a rim. The maximum PSI these hookless tires can have put in them is 73, and if you hit something for sure it goes above the maximum 73 PSI rating on impact. That is why the tires are coming off.”

“There are a lot of people who want this banned out of the peloton because you can actually take down other riders,” he added. “One day there will be a mass crash as a result.”

Hansen explained that he had heard of other issues with hookless too. 

“We have heard from some teams that they have put tires on before, they left them out in the sun and their tires just pop off,” he said.

“But the manufacturers really like them because it is much easier to produce the rim, you need less moulds for this. The rims are much lighter, it is easier for production so they are pushing for this.”