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I'm looking for a front wheel for my decade old FS bike after a fork upgrade has left me fiddling with boost conversion spacers on the old hub (which is a pain and it's not going to be better mid winter in a dark rural car park in the pouring rain).
Merlin has some Reserve 30 hookless wheels reduced for about £100.
Never used hookless and not sure I understand the advantages/ limitations on an MTB
For the MTB
- I am always set up tubeless,
- I'm about 100kg
- I run 28-30ish psi up front on a 2.3/2.4 tyre.
- No inserts.
- Current tyre is a very well worn Butcher that needs replacing anyway - this has always seemed an OK blend of rolling resistance/drag and grip
- I tend to run a lower tread height 2.2 on the back due to older bike clearance issues. (Racing Ray at the moment) so I hope that where the front wheel goes the rear follows (although that landed me in the bushes last week 😂)
Is it as simple as any decent tubeless tyre that fits the width recommendation of the manufacturer?
And the stealth what tyre question is what should I replace that Butcher with (especially if I go for the hookless front wheel)
Theoretically hookless should give less issues on an MTB tyre as pressures are much less. Most road/gravel have problems when riders stick too many psi's in and the tyre could blow off the rim. The 20-30psi a tubeless MTB tyre runs won't have this issue.
The only drawback is having to use hookless compatible tyres but there's more and more if them around now than a couple of years ago
You're overthinking it imo. I don't know if it's because it's just not an issue at MTB pressures or because roadies are weird obsessives who hate change but it's literally not a topic that's ever come up with any of my MTB riding buddies. Burps have always been due to insufficient pressure or tyres with crap sidewalls.
I honestly don't think it's something you need to worry about.
You could likely drop a good few psi from your pressures and reap the benefits, btw. Those are pretty high unless you're on radials or are Brook Macdonald.
In reality hookless makes bugger all difference for MTB pressures and any tubeless ready tyre should be ok.
Can't help on tyre choice probably need a bit more detail of where and what you ride. I would be looking at going slightly wider to lower pressures for more grip and a better rolling. Though personally I would have moved on to a frame that I could get the tyres appropriate for the riding in there.
You're overthinking it imo. I don't know if it's because it's just not an issue at MTB pressures or because roadies are weird obsessives who hate change but it's literally not a topic that's ever come up with any of my MTB riding buddies.
Quite possibly am. I am starting from practically zero knowledge and searching only came up with roadie stuff on searches which was all saying stuff like only use tyres approved by the wheel maker etc.
Think I'll order that wheel and see how I get on.
You could likely drop a good few psi from your pressures and reap the benefits, btw. Those are pretty high unless you're on radials or are Brook Macdonald.
Shall have a play, I'm fairly smooth as a rider despite my bulk. So long as I don't have a squirmy rear.
Can't help on tyre choice probably need a bit more detail of where and what you ride.
Mostly downcountry 🤮 in the South Downs/Hampshire/Wiltshire/West Sussex, occasional trips away where I'm partial to moderately but not madly rocky stuff (because we don't get that down here), I like the area around Edale for example, easier BPW trails, CYB.
If it'll grip on green chalk in January so much the better. 🤔
Hookless itself is ime just not noticable on the mtb, I'm at about 50/50 old and hookless and I can't tell.
The benefit really is that on a well made rim they should be either lighter, or they can put material where it's needed most instead of having it in the bead hook. But even that's not a massive difference really. I'd basically not buy based on hooked or hookless, I;'d buy the rim I thought was best regardless.
Thanks all. Wheel is ordered and I'm going to give a 2.4 Magic Mary (TLE Soft) a go on it. It might be overkill but only one way to really find out.
As somebody who spent the last 6yrs working for a tyre company, hookless doesn't give the issues on an MTB that it does on Road... Simply put, unless you're 150kg+ and on a full fat eBike, unless you're running weirdly unfashionably skinny rubber, you'll never be running pressures high enough to cause an issue with hookless...
Just like tubeless... The bigger the tyre, the lighter the rider, the lower the pressure, the bigger the benefits of hookless...
