‘We look forward to working with the UCI to share what we have learned over the years of road tubeless’: Enve responds to UCI’s potential ban on hookless rims

Enve has said that it looks forward to working with the UCI on its 'urgent review' of hookless rims.

The governing body's interest comes soon after Lotto Dstny rider Thomas De Gendt was involved in a crash at the men’s UAE Tour, the incident was attributed by many to his use of hookless rims and tubeless tires.

Responding to the review, US brand Enve told Cycling Weekly: "We look forward to working with the UCI to share what we have learned over the years of road tubeless development and testing to ensure rider safety is paramount."

The design - which forgoes the 'hook' of the rim - has become more common in recent years. Cited benefits include stronger and lighter rims, and improved aerodynamics; the method also has manufacturing efficiency benefits. 

The system comes with a maximum pressure of 72PSI under ETRTO guidelines (it's easy to see why) and has long had its detractors, among them the CPA’s Adam Hansen, who has been vocally critical of the design.

Following the announcement of the UCI's intended review, we reached out to US manufacturer Enve to gauge their reaction. 

"The question of tubeless system safety is at the forefront of the equipment conversation. While this incident did not happen with an Enve wheel, athlete safety is always imperative," the brand told us.

Enve said it has been testing testing tubeless systems since 2007, and hookless designs since 2014. It also produces its own tires and rims, marking it out as unusual within an industry where there is still work to be done to harmonize standards across the board, a matter which becomes a greater concern on a rim without a hook holding the tire in place.

"Upon introducing the SES 4.5 AR in 2016 we developed a test to qualify tires for use on Enve’s hookless road rim models. The purpose of this test has been to understand what is required for a tire and rim to maintain an airtight tubeless interface. What we have found after more than a thousand tests, is that there is an optimal combination of a tire’s bead stiffness and bead diameter that will both allow for relatively easy installation while also ensuring bead retention regardless of the rim design. 

"When these parameters are met, we see tubeless tires that regularly achieve pressures in excess of 140psi/9.6bar in the test lab."