Over the last few weeks we've seen a range of discussions calling into question the safety of hookless wheels. Although we've seen the discussions before, when Lotto Dstny's Thomas De Gendt crashed at the UAE Tour they were suddenly relevant again. Images of the bike propped against the roadside barrier, with the front tyre off the wheel made for a dramatic point of reference.
With a lack of explicit evidence, theories abounded. De Gendt claimed to have hit something, and both Vittoria and Zipp blamed an errant rock, but the conversation instead focused on the safety of hookless wheels. With no proof it seemed natural to wonder if the tyre had simple come off as a result of the design. Although Cyclingnews has since obtained images that show the rim was subject to an impact, there are still reasonable questions to answer about design and production of hookless wheels.
