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Exclusive: Up Close... With Specialized's Beadless Clincher

Mr Nug

Monkey
Aug 26, 2007
138
1
UK
How many Monkeys are going to grind their bead hooks off now to save 20g?



**Reaches for Dremel**:D
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,882
447
How is this specialized trying to screw anyone? If anying, if it works, it should simplify manufacturing and strengthen wheels accross the board. It's not like they can patent this.... or can they? hahahhah
 
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Foxbat

Chimp
Aug 14, 2008
71
0
Portland OR
Well damn! Rims on moto's and wheels on cars have been this way for decades and we just learn bikes don't need bead hooks?
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
How is this specialized trying to screw anyone? If anying, if it works, it should simplify manufacturing and strengthen wheels accross the board. It's not like they can patent this.... or can they? hahahhah
Agreed. It sounds like its a way for them to make the wheels at a faster rate and at a cheaper price. But will those savings be passed onto the users? Wouldn't count on it... Then again, anyone purchasing carbon wheels/rims probably doesn't care.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,882
447
Agreed. It sounds like its a way for them to make the wheels at a faster rate and at a cheaper price. But will those savings be passed onto the users? Wouldn't count on it... Then again, anyone purchasing carbon wheels/rims probably doesn't care.
I guess I don't really expect wheels to get cheaper as a result, either, but I don't see why this wouldn't apply to more basic aluminum wheel. Stronger with the same or less weight (assuming it works well) seems like a benefit regardless of material.
 
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Electric_City

Torture wrench
Apr 14, 2007
1,993
716
Where did they say "stronger" and explain how that would be possible? How is less material stronger again?
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,882
447
My understanding is that the shape of the sidewall can be optimized to not be bent over as easily, keep the same weight or be lighter by removing the unecessary "hook" shape.


Although blowing off a tire using lots of pressure doesn't seem like that rigorous of a test since it's just evenly loading against the sidewalls. Sure it's going to hold up to that as long as the bead of the tire can't get larger. I want to see some hacks landing sideways off jumps, using tubless to see if this can really hold a tire.
 
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jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
24,181
media blackout
My understanding is that the shape of the sidewall can be optimized to not be bent over as easily, keep the same weight or be lighter by removing the unecessary "hook" shape.
by removing the "hook" shape, it would effectively narrow the width in the portion of the rim profile. wouldn't that make it more prone to pinch flats?
 

marshalolson

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2006
1,770
519
Rip - I'm really glad you told me that because Joe Buckley never said that in the video...Oh wait, he did.

1:58
how can the lead designer of bike rims at a company like specialized have never heard of a 26-s rim / flat bead? i mean what the hell! have you never, ever, ever worked in a bike shop for even 5 minutes?
 

Pslide

Turbo Monkey
This looks like trouble for tires with slightly looser beads.

I see more gain for Specialized (easier manufacturing & forcing consumers to stay on Specialized brand tires) than gain for the consumer.

PS - I also agree that the test they showed was pretty pointless compared to sideways landing with low PSI...
 

marshalolson

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2006
1,770
519
PS - I also agree that the test they showed was pretty pointless compared to sideways landing with low PSI...
not to mention, they don't show what a normal hook bead would hold up to. for all we know its like 500psi.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Well don't forget, we ARE talking about the company that for decades put out very elaborate 'descriptions' of how completely independantly their suspensions worked from pedaling forces, while simultaneously pumping out some of the most squat prone bicycles in the history of the sport.
 

marshalolson

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2006
1,770
519
Well don't forget, we ARE talking about the company that for decades put out very elaborate 'descriptions' of how completely independantly their suspensions worked from pedaling forces, while simultaneously pumping out some of the most squat prone bicycles in the history of the sport.
just stick a brain on there so the suspension can't move. problem = solved.
 

landcruiser

Monkey
May 9, 2002
186
40
San Jose, CA
This looks like trouble for tires with slightly looser beads.

I see more gain for Specialized (easier manufacturing & forcing consumers to stay on Specialized brand tires) than gain for the consumer.

PS - I also agree that the test they showed was pretty pointless compared to sideways landing with low PSI...
not to mention, they don't show what a normal hook bead would hold up to. for all we know its like 500psi.
So the Burst test is really just a pass/fail requirement for validating the interface. We don't use it as a performance metric, since it has little carry over to any sort of riding event.

For these rims, it was one of the first steps towards proof of concept. Lots of further testing was done to validate performance under riding conditions (including plenty of actual riding).

I've tested tires from most of our competitors (M, S, W, K, B, G, C brands) and they all exceeded our burst test requirements on these rims.

I've seen some road tire/rim combos go up to 450ish psi in the burst test, but standard MTB set-ups can range dramatically. I just blew a tire off a standard alloy rim with bead hooks at 156psi. Our absolute minimum requirement (and industry norm) is 1.5x the maximum PSI rated on the tire or rim. So a tire rated to 60 psi, must pass 90psi. Most set-ups have no issue with that.
 
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kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Speaking of burst tests, I had a kevlar bead schwalbe tabletop tire blow off my wheel going up a 6 ft lip at about 20mph. Luckily it made a sound and I just ditched the bike and had a big landing to roll down but seriously........fvck those things.



So make whatever you do work better than that :D
 

landcruiser

Monkey
May 9, 2002
186
40
San Jose, CA
We do our best to leave the auto-eject tire designs to the other brands.

My favorite part of the burst test is watching other peoples reactions. Even though you know what's coming, you never know when it's going to happen or just how loud it's going to be. It's fun to watch the media guys jump a little bit.
 

Fool

The Thing cannot be described
Sep 10, 2001
2,759
1,470
Brooklyn
[video]www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V7QWknxeFc‎[/video]
Been listening to this for an hour so far.

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Noteworthy advancements in racing technology for everyman racers --> addition of a PBR beer garden to a section of the ProGRT course at MCBP.