Asymmetric Lacing in High-Performance Hookless Rims

We thoroughly examine the tensiometric challenges and the particular way radial loads are distributed when subjecting hookless carbon fiber to modern hyper-cyclic stress.

The "hookless" rim type (without a curve or hook to retain the tire bead) offers immense manufacturing advantages: it allows the use of hard fixed metal molds during the carbon layup process and thermal compression to extract any epoxy bubbles, resulting in a much harder, straighter rim resistant to blunt impacts.

The Tensiometric Challenge and the Asymmetric Pattern

However, a straight-wall rim profile exerts a different and unique directional stress when sealing with a wide tubeless tire operating at low pressures with asymmetric overhangs. The centering of this type of wheel and its mass balancing differs from the convention of a classic tubeless clincher rim with a hook.

Competition mechanics "Wheelbuilders" face 3mm asymmetries in the spoke bed caused by the extra deep insertion of the 12 and even 13-speed cassette, all coexisting with thick disc brake hubs. All this collapses the geometry of the triangles formed by the spokes on the drive side towards the panic limit edge. To counteract the weakness, we lace with a 3-cross on one side or conjecturally mix crossed 2:1 patterns on a flange to stabilize the hookless rim, an extremely rigid material hostile to radial twisting by old-fashioned methods.

As the AIMPB certification manual for T3 wheel builders indicates, it's not just about the tensiometer marking an "acceptable" numerical scale: It's about the subtle art of homogenizing the total tension of a rigid wheel that does not allow the elastic margin of extruded drawn aluminum.