Nutritionsarah & anthony

WHY TYRES KEEP EXPLODING & CHEATING PRO'S CAUGHT | RIDER SUPPORT

with Rider Support

28:16·8 March 2024

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TOPICS

We're breaking down the hookless rim controversy that's dominated cycling headlines, unpacking why Thomas de Gent's crash has sparked safety debates, and revealing the setup errors that contributed to it. Plus, we're tackling a wild story about a team mechanic posing as a rider at sign-on, exploring dirty tactics in cycling history, and answering your questions on everything from disc brakes to heart rate metrics.

Key Takeaways

Hookless rims aren't going anywhere — the industry has decided on them for manufacturing ease, similar to how disc brakes became standard. Accept it now because the technology will only improve from here.
The Thomas de Gent crash wasn't purely about hookless rim design; the team used a 28mm tyre on a 25mm internal rim when ISO standards required 29mm minimum — setup error, not inherent flaw.
Hookless rims have a razor-thin 73 PSI pressure tolerance with only a 10% variance allowed, but home pumps have a 10 PSI margin of error — making it nearly impossible to dial in correctly right now.
Resting heart rate matters as a longer-term trend (watch for 10% deviations), while HRV is your acute early warning system. But your actual feeling trumps all the data — tune into your body first.
Disc brakes are now the industry standard with no viable alternative; unless you're a traditionalist planning a steel bike for café rides, you're moving to disc whether you like it or not.
The 20 mph UK speed restriction debate for time trials is straightforward: move the course, don't ride through restricted zones. Some are proposing segmented timing as a solution.

Expert Quotes

"This is the worst it's ever going to be [with hookless rims]. It's going to get better and better."

"You can't just be using data as a proxy to tell you how you feel because you need to tune into actually how you feel."

"Bikes are going that way where it's not easy to work on anymore. You need to plug your bike into a laptop to update the firmware now."

KEY QUOTES

“There's a max pressure per square inch on hookless of 73 PSI and a variance of 10% can cause failure in the hook Rim system so quick mats that's 7.3 PSI which sounds like okay just pump your tires up to within 7.3 PSI but there's a 10 psi margin for error in home track pumps so means you actually can't get this right.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“The ISO standards on Tire compatibility mean that he shouldn't have been using a tire any narrower than a 29 millimeter so he was using a 28 he should have been using a 29 and that's because the hookless tire on the rims has 25 mm internal Rim so that's on the team he used the wrong Tire with the rim.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“Your Readiness needs to be first and foremost determined by how you feel like you get up out of bed in the morning do you feel like training. Stop using data as like a proxy to tell you how you feel because you need to tune into actually how you feel.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT2 SECTIONS

Hookless rims and Van Gent's crash

Sarah welcome back we're going to dive in today and we're going to talk about what everyone's talking about but we're going to do it better hookless rims well you're going to answer some of my questions about it as well because I have loads but this basically came to the Forefront over the last couple of days because Thomas de gent had a big crash at the UAE tour so this controversy has been getting a lot of airtime a lot of paragraphs written in Publications about hookless tubeless rims and should they be in the world ter palitan and are they safe so Victoria tires they are the creators of this system they officially blame a rock that Thomas deant hit a rock so they think it's the Rock's fault that this happened and it's not the hookless rims they basically say that that's what happened and the Italian brand basically says that yes they're going to have a look into it but it was an it was something to do with impact that causes this accident to happen zip who are the manufacturers of the wheels they come out with a statement and they said that obviously they take the performance and safety of its products very seriously and they're going to be doing a full review now Adam Hansen who is the CPA president and he's very outspoken we've had him on the show I think he's an absolutely fantastic advocate for all of the cyclists within the pro palan he came out and as per usual pulled no punches shoots straight from the hip does Adam and he basically said in an interview with Val that this crash is why the CPA are 100% against hookless rims and he said that tires should not come off a rim which I agree with when you look at the images of Thomas de bike he said his tire come off the safety foam inside got caught in the fork and that Lo locks up the front wheel so that's Adam Hansen's point of view and I have to say I kind of agree yeah okay so Adam Hanson is saying he's 100% against hookless rims like that's a sensationalist story that's just not born out of the facts did he hit a rock maybe the chances he hit a rock are definitely chances that are greater than zero well Thomas deant actually did come out on his social media and he just put something on a tweet saying what did I hit or what did I just hit or something like that so he he obviously felt like he hit something very plausible that he did hit something so you know maybe he did hit something and then if he did hit something that maybe explains the T coming off the hookless rim maybe it's a different debate maybe it's a connected debate it's definitely brought it more into Focus the wheels he was using and ronal mlin on Escape podcast who Sarah was away with last week he geeked out on this debate to a level that just only Ronan I can't do that level of geekism but the wheel he was using was uh ZIP 353 nsw and a 28 mil Victoria Corsa Pro the team have said as much with that now the ISO standards on Tire compatibility mean that he shouldn't have been using a tire any narrower than a 29 millimeter so he was using a 28 he should have been using a 29 and that's because the hookless tire on the rims has 25 mm internal Rim so that's on the team he used the wrong Tire with the rim so I don't think that's on Adam Hansen can't say we're 100% against hookless tires the team have set them up wrong the team need to hold their hands up and say if it indeed wasn't the rock that the responsibility falls on them now where I do have a big problem with the hookless system at the moment is there's a max pressure per square inch on hookless of 73 PSI and a variance of 10% can cause failure in the hook Rim system so quick mats that's 7.3 PSI which sounds like okay gr just pump your tires up up to within 7.3 PSI but there's a 10 psi margin for error in home track pumps so means you actually can't get this right can't get it right so hookless has a long long way to go but the industry seems to have decid is it wants hookless for ease and Manufacturing much in the same way the industry decides they want disc brakes we don't care what everyone wants we want disc brakes now everyone's forced to have disc brakes you haven't got an alternative to that I don't think we're going to have an alternative to hookless systems it's coming it's coming hard it's coming fast this is the worst it's ever going to be it's going to get better and better so yeah I think for better or worse it's here and if we take like a hundred steps back and I ask a stupid question what is hookless I mean hookless is what I'm riding on my bike at the moment to ride Today's Show sponsor is pillar well we're all familiar with the importance of electrolytes and carbohydrates and their role in our race preparation pillar is taking a completely different route it focuses on micronutrition ensuring we're ready to perform even before we hit the start line it's all about promoting a good night's sleep facilitating effective recovery and replenishing those crucial micronutrients so you can perform at your very very best I've been running my own personal little experiment over the past month and I've been incorporating pillars triple magnesium supplement into my evening routine I take it about 30 minutes before bed and the results I've seen are absolutely remarkable the Improvement in Sleep Quality about 10% I've seen I've been tracking my sleep with my whoop to voice and the results are there in absolute black and white I've given this to friends they've tested it and they've all experienced the same results I wake up feeling refreshed having had a deep rest start of sleep so I'm ready to attack work training and life the next day but don't just take my word for it the data from your Fitness tracker will tell you the story so if you're ready to elevate your performance and your sleep Sleep Quality like me just go ahead and give pillar a try head to pillar performance.

How hookless works and Sinisa mechanic scandal

Shop and use the code roadman on your local website for 15% off your first order if you're watching this in the US head over to the feed.com forward pillar and use the code roadman for 15% off that first order as well now let's get back to the show no you're not ring hookless system so it's the if you think about the the wall of your wheel it's the internal bit of your wall hooks the LI exact it's a lip so the lip is quite hard to manufacture so this is an ease of manufactur there is apparently some performance roll and resistance gains to it as well but manua wheel stay on the how does the tire stay on the wheel because I remember you telling me stories about years ago before hooked that you were like gluing them on and things like that obviously it's not that we're not going back to that totally different system it's totally different system that's tubless back in the day which were brilliant as well but look they developed a t they developed a rim technology where it stays on the engineering of it I don't particularly know how they've engineered it but it's it doesn't need to be hooked under like previous editions because that's apparently logistically very difficult to do in manufacturing because you need to you know make that cavity and then somehow indent it so I talked to Wheel manufacturer about and he said it's just much much easier to make hookless Rim so okay they're here they're here they're coming they're on the way okay in other news in race saying there was a little bit of a funny story that you and I heard from somebody when we were in drone I can't remember who was saying it to to me but this story has seemed to grown have grown legs a beard and I think balls because ages ago it did it happened way back way way back last year in July actually so recently in the last week or two UCI have come out and sanctioned sinisa cycling after their mechanic fraudulently posed as a rider so this is a female uh team and basically they needed five Riders to start this race arenta classic last July the fifth rider was unavailable because she was sick so she couldn't attend sign on so only four of the Riders were available so the four team Riders were forced to go along with this lie and they dressed up one of the team mechanics in kit and a face mask and they sent her to sign on as the fifth Rider so as I said this story has grown legs because news out there out and about was that they dressed up a male mechanic is that true that is not true it was a female mechanic that went put on the kiss and the face mask and posed they Dred a male mechanic who had the she her pronouns it still be the same would I that wow that's like a whole well the UCI I think they've got pretty strict rules about that at the moment they're they finally got in line with some of the uh other World Federation rules I don't think that would have washed either this reminds me of Orica green Edge backstage pass they had a videographer called Dan Jones who I've had on the podcast he's hilarious he's the co-host of socially distance podcast with world to rer George Bennett and former World thr rer Sam buy and a few years ago they dressed Stan Jones up as a ruer for sign on but just for a gag not because they needed to make a minimum or anything like that but they followed them with a camera crew so it's like you know the third week of a grand tour where the guys are more gunt than they usually are and then you see Dan Jones he's a nice way to say he's poured into his kiss he's kind there's lots to love Don has a lot to love he's sh through the security and they're kind of looking at going what is he a world T riter cuz he's has the KY he the bike he the helmet the glasses everything it's brilliant should find that if it's still on YouTube backstage pass is that was absolutely brilliant the the the thing about this one is that the UCI has actually fined the team man manager Danny van host so find a large sum apparently and banned from any cycling activity until the end of 2025 good enough for them yeah some people are saying it's a little bit too harsh but yeah you can't just be putting anyone in kit and having them masquerade as a you know a Cony team member okay will we crack into the questions this is from at St Rider 123 Anthony and Sarah what do you think of the proposed 20 m per hour restrictions on time trials now this is I looked into this a little bit and this is new guidance basically by one of the British standards and the cycling time TRS like Association in the UK they announced basically that all the Riders taking part in time Trails on UK roads they're now going to need to slow down when they're riding through 20 m per hour zones um this is yeah this has got a lot of backlash but I mean there it's a n story isn't it like there's always been speed restrictions in areas where races have gone through it it's you know they've started a race in an area and said okay the race is neutralized for the 4 six kilometers until we get out of this speed restricted area the idea that it's for time trials well they're just not going to start the time trial in that course like the time trial is going to start at the edge of the speed restricted area not in the middle of it how could you have a time trial in a speed restricted area doesn't make any sense well I think that what's happening is time trials are beginning and then like let's say they come through an area near a school let's say for 300 M or for a period of time a short period of time and that is a 20 m per hour you're going to have to pick a different course they can't go through that area because otherwise how how would you run the time shot well that's that's what's hen that's that's why they're asking it's like do we change course do we slow down is this going to kill time Tri slow down like I don't know I've never done a Time Tri it's I've seen people talking about this and I just don't get it it's so obvious that the course can't go through the time the speed restricted area that I don't even get what the debate is like how would you like how would you figure out if somebody R all 22 mph instead of 20 mph through the speed restricted area so the results are all sure we may well not have got out of bed this morning because the results aren't accurate okay am I missing something on that or is it like totally bizarre no I I don't know I think that this is just basically this per hour restriction and they don't know what to do with this or how to use these new what else could you do I think maybe you say the whole section is neutralized remember like we raced in santal and it was broken into segments so you have segment one and you take a time going into the start of the where it's like basically there's there's a Finish Line where that slowdown happens and then there's a new start line where it ends segments What A Catch Roan you know how serious I take my goal setting and I know how serious you take it too so whether you're chasing Fitness or lifestyle goals and you're looking for a powerful alloy to support you on this journey look no further than heel heuel has become my secret weapon for when I don't have time to prepare a balanced meal it means I get the nutrition I need without sacrificing time or taste plus it stops me from reaching for the takeaway menu I always throw a bottle a dis banana into my backpack when I'm heading into the City and it stops me eating junk convenience foods that don't support my training goals it's handy it's nutritious it's 22 gram of protein it's perfect for athletes that don't have time to cook orep prepare food before a training session it's convenient nutritious fuel at your fingertips ensuring you hit your daily fueling needs hu ready to drink has over 26 essential vitamins and minerals in every bottle making sure you get 175 health benefits plus it's made from amazing natural ingredients like sunflower seed coconut and more and the best part eight melt watering flavors my favorite's the banana that's what's in my backpack at the moment you can get hug direct to your home by going to hu.com roadman that's hu huel.com that's a really really good idea I love that idea they're now afraid though people in the UK I've seen a lot of chatter on on Reddit about this that they're now going to restrict in 30 m per hour zones so all of the time trials in the UK they're afraid are going to have to happen on Dual carriageways and big roads where the traffic count is actually bigger so a lot of the smaller secondary and third roads right roads have a lower traffic count so they don't think that this you know it should be an issue but when you start moving to bigger roads with higher you know miles per hour or ability to go faster the traffic count is actually higher know Tad love that they do yeah yeah because you're getting like I remember the fastest course in Ireland used to be wood grain someone tragically died up there I don't know what happened in the incident but it was a dual carriageway and used to love racing up there because you're getting the draft of all all the cars going past so literally every time a car went past you were like going edging out of your lane to try and get into a slip Stam briefly and then back in back out back in obviously not a great idea but the speeds that people were or times people were doing on those courses were so much faster yeah I don't know I think it's a watch the space with with the time trials in the UK it would be a Pity if time trials start to I mean there's a lot of obstacles get into time tring because of the expense of getting bikes and all of the air equipment if you want to be really really good at it so it will be sad to see if this actually puts more obstacles to people running events and uh putting on Races so yeah let's watch where this goes over the next couple of months okay the next question Anthony what are the top couple of dirtiest tactics in cycling over the year that you've seen obviously excluding doping or motor doping I guess I'm talking more around tactics and strategies there's a couple 1975 um put D Eddie merx was kidney punched by a fan going up and that impaired his performance significantly for the rest of the race I'm not sure if he broke a rib in it but it was a blatant assault another one was enil in 1964 he claimed that I don't know if this was ever validated but he claimed that his Rivals poisoned them in the race like I would well believe this I've done a couple of podcasts about the origins of cycling and the origins of the T to France and all of the grand tourist and not so much the teams or the Riders themselves but the fans literally Fanatics people who are completely obsessed with riding the Riders the being winners uh you know recycling all that thing this this the fans would take it upon themselves to you know destroy the opposition's bikes poison their food punch them throw things at them put nails on the ground all of that kind of stuff all of those dirty tactics so Aqua BL got their bus burnt out at the wellan a few years ago but there was another Shan Kelly one I can't quite remember the story I think it could be in Sean Kelly's autobiography he had the the leaders red jersey in the VTA espania and a break went up the road and the chalkboard that shows you the numbers of who was in the break this was before ear pieces the Spanish uh Contender T Kelly I can't remember his name he was second or third on GC he snuck into the break but whoever was doing the chalkboard admitted that he was in the break so he went up the road and got minutes Kelly was like looking around thinking hey where the hell is your man I haven't seen him in ages but it says he's not in the break so we found out super late that he was in the break and I think Kelly lost the Jersey as far as I remember that story uh in that move but there's been duplicit of stuff going on in cycl that's very fishy God that is a really because it's including it's about around an Irish man Le in time on GC I'm have to say I'm absolutely disgusted that that happened okay next question so I took the plunge and got a whoop and I'm enjoying it I've listened to your podcasts and one in particular that Sarah did on H RV and I feel like I'm kind of filled in on that but what exactly is resting heart rate an indicator of and why is this number so important or is it I don't think any of the numbers are super important on their own that's for what I'm getting chatting to you know like s Dan PL who's an expert on heart rate variability and of one coming up Podcast in a couple of weeks which is for me one of the best conversations I've had with a physiologist Dr Ste Steven sailor and we talk about this where there's there's no one metric like whoop loves to give you a Readiness score it's honestly a load of nonsense your Readiness needs to be first and foremost determined by how you feel like you get up out of bed in the morning do you feel like training like when I got back from Jona last week I just didn't feel like training I i' done too much and you need to listen to your body and stop using data as like a proxy to tell you how you feel because you need to tune into actually how you feel having said that I think you can look at some of those metrics and if a lot of them are pointing in a single Direction and you're kind of on the fence about how you feel you can use that maybe to to sway the narrative a little bit I think resting heart rate is one of those that I would look for not small changes but if there's like a 10% you'll establish a baseline in your rest and heart rate like I don't know for me it's like 38 to 42 is like my rest and heart rate and if I have a deviation of around 10 % in my rest and heart rate that's like one of the warning lights flashing on and then if my heart rate variability is down as well that's another warning light flashing on and then I ultimately go to how do I feel and that's the ultimate barometer of if I'm going to train if I'm going to take a rest day or if I'm going to you know push hard as you can see from the background I'm over in beautiful sunny Jona but this isn't my reality normally I'm time crunched in Dublin need to make the most of every single error that's why I heavily rely on my w bike I love it and I recommend it to you because it just works there's no 10minute setup no unfolding legs banging my shins off stuff or wrestling to take a back greasy wheel off just jump on and it works it's also compatible with all the major egaming platforms connects instantly if you're looking for an indoor trainer I couldn't recommend it any higher it's the last indoor trainer you're ever going to need head on over to what bike.com and use the code roadman 10 that's roadman teen and that's going to knock you 10% off your W bike yeah I think with HRV it's more of an instant number that will be affected by a poor sleep or if you've had like a couple of glasses of wine the night before um whereas so the next morning you will see that your HRV number has probably significantly dropped whereas your resting heart rate will take a few days for if something if you're coming down with a cold if you're very fatigued if you're getting sick you will see your resting heart rate go down over a slower period of time that's my understanding of the difference between nature read that's more of like an acute way of looking at your health system overall and the resting heart rate is more of like an overall more kind of longer term view on how your body is resisting illnesses and fatigue and things like that yeah I think if your rest and heart race is significantly down for a couple of days it's almost too late to take that action you need to be looking at heart rate variability is that leading indicator yeah and but again the main thing is just how are you feeling yeah exactly get to know your body and understand your body we're like huge Advocates here of before you know I'll wake up in the morning and I'll say to Anthony how did you sleep and he kind of always jokes and says oh I have to check my app I don't know and that's not the way to do it we don't Advocate that at all it's like actually get to understand how your body feels on a day-to-day basis these numbers are brilliant brilliant tools but really trying and understand your body first and foremost okay what are the pros and cons of disc brakes versus Rim brakes I know this seems like a very basic question but anytime I look it up online I'm shown an article that is clearly biased one way or the other Anthony settle it for me I'm going to buy a new bike soon and I'm going to use your advice disc brakes how do I take care of them are they easy to maintain is there weight consideration stopping power noisy Etc so it sounds to me like this listener has kind of you know made have made his mind up about disc brakes and it's Pro his hand has probably been a little bit forced by the industry as well but can you explain because this is a question that a lot of people do have and when you go online onto YouTube anything you will it's very hard to get a balanced answer about which is better well look I hate to break it to but you can't buy Rim breakes well you could buy like a second bike maybe yeah but he said he's going to the bike shop I think he's going to buy a new bike soon maybe it's new to him and that's what he means yeah if you're second hand you can buy it but you got to think now that manufacturers aren't going to be bringing out the new stuff in Rim brakes anymore so I don't think Shram make a Shram red with Rim breakes anymore j a i think still make a rim break top of the line di2 but that's not going to happen next time around it's Rim breaks in the industry or sorry it's disc breaks in the industry now full stop there's no other game in town why are they better depends on the type of riding you're doing if you ride in the range and you're using carbon rims and you like stopping then disc brakes are going to be for you if you're love flying down Mountain Des sense in carbon brakes and you like that Trill or adrenaline of pulling the brakes and nothing happens then Rim brakes could possibly be for you but that disc brakes are just game why why do people like so passionate about Rim brakes and really try to hold off on getting disc brakes or you know take you know accepting that room disc brakes are a thing you know you really it really does feel like people are you know very much skewed on either either side well like you probably don't need the amount of stopping power to the disc brake gives you on most instances in the road with that exception of racing the wet on carbon rims but if you're racing the wet you could flick to aluminium rims and you still do have a good bit of stopping you need them on mountain bike for sure you need them on gravel bikes for sure because you're going down super technical steep Des sense where you need that stopping power I think people are fighting that for a couple of reasons maybe they have Rim brakes maybe they have a bunch of Wheels like we do in the Attic like 15 sets of wheels that are Rim based and now it's like well what am I going to do with all them like some people spend three and half Grand on a set of lightweight Wheels the year before disc brakes came out and now they're like okay I had the best set of wheels in the game now I don't have any set of wheels the big thing if you're working on your own bike is maintenance like it's difficult to maintain disc brakes you need to know how to bleed brakes change pads changing pads on you know a rim brake it's you could do that at the traffic lights when it's red you canti s a new set of pads in so they're super easy to work on you can pull a cable out Spang a new cable in you know really fast and easy to work on but bikes are going that way where it's they're not easy to work on anymore it's like the same way you drop your car into the garage you need a a computer technician not a mechanic now you need to plug your bike into a laptop to update the firmware now when you go into the bike shop so it's going that way and we don't have much say in it but if you're a traditionalist you could still use Rim brakes for long long time if you're not too precious on following Trends so he said Anthony settled for me so judging by that you are saying to him to just Embrace disc brakes it depends on what he's doing though like if he's you know I could see a scenario where I only use Rim brakes when I stopped racing where I got a nice bike maybe a customade steel bike like a Marie poser a 51 and I had a lovely set of Rim brakes and nice wheels and I only brought the bike out to the the coffee shop on Sunny Days that's definitely a scenario depends on the type of riding he's down but 99% chance he should be gone with discs yeah I will say when you do move over to discs just be careful there's a lot of stopping power there you can get booked off your bike pretty easily if you're not careful you don't have to grab handfuls of brake like you're used to with the rim so you were locking it up last week aren't you yeah I was locking it up so I have disc on my gravel bike but you're it's a different type of riding like I don't know you're you're a bit more you know there's a lot more friction when you're stopping anyway but yeah I was on disc on a road bike in some pretty slippy conditions and yeah I was getting my back wheel was locking up added in Sleepy conditions there managed to keep it upright but yeah a few kind of squeaky bum moments out there before we finish up Sarah I want to give a because I'm not sure if we gave one last week a my whoosh session of the week because people have been hounding me for a session they should do so get on over to my wosh 60 Minutes is the session and during that session I want you to do four 8 Minute efforts so we're coming closer to the Race season and I see a lot of people doing threshold efforts threshold efforts are you know they're great but they don't mimic the demands of a race that much we never really ride into a clim at okay we're all going to ride threshold you don't ride away from anyone at threshold it's so easy for people to follow so this is a frontload of effort you're imagining you're fighting for position into the base for climb or you're trying to get separation so for the eight minutes it's going to be one minute full gas effort and then into seven minutes of threshold then you can ride easy for four or five minutes and then repeat it so you're going to do four of those eight minute front loaded efforts it's a spicy enough session but it's it's all done in 60 minutes so you can't complain too much about it that sounds hard you had me doing one minut forward by 1 minute full gas effort in Jona up H El's Angels a couple of weeks ago and I was seeing Stars I was so tired after them I actually realized about uh 90 minutes sorry 90 seconds into my descent that I was on the wrong side of the road cuz how tired I was s thank you for CH good to be back if you like this video and you want to hear more from myself and Sarah click up here and don't forget to subscribe to the channel that's over here

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why do tyres explode on hookless rims?+

Tyres blow off hookless rims when the tyre width is too narrow for the rim's internal width, or when pressure exceeds the hookless ceiling of around 73 PSI. Anthony and Sarah discuss how Thomas De Gendt's crash at the UAE Tour likely came down to a 28mm Vittoria Corsa Pro being used on a rim requiring a 29mm minimum, combined with the dangerously tight pressure tolerance hookless systems demand.

Are hookless rims actually safe to use?+

Hookless rims are safe only when tyre and pressure specifications are followed precisely. The core problem is that the 73 PSI maximum allows just 7.3 PSI of variance, and a standard home pump can easily be 10 PSI off, making accurate inflation practically impossible for most riders. Anthony and Sarah argue this margin for error makes hookless setups genuinely risky in everyday use.

What is the minimum tyre width for hookless rims?+

ISO standards require a tyre width at least 4mm wider than the rim's internal width for hookless compatibility. On a 25mm internal hookless rim such as the Zipp 353 NSW, that means a minimum tyre width of 29mm. Using a 28mm tyre, as appears to have happened in De Gendt's case, falls outside the safe specification and significantly increases the risk of tyre separation.

Are time trials going to be banned in the UK?+

Time trials are not banned but face a serious threat from proposed speed limit restrictions that could make it illegal to hold events on many of the roads currently used. Anthony and Sarah cover how these restrictions could strip away suitable courses and put the long-term future of the format in jeopardy if no exemptions or alternative venues are established.

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Key Takeaways

Hookless rims aren't going anywhere — the industry has decided on them for manufacturing ease, similar to how disc brakes became standard. Accept it now because the technology will only improve from here.

The Thomas de Gent crash wasn't purely about hookless rim design; the team used a 28mm tyre on a 25mm internal rim when ISO standards required 29mm minimum — setup error, not inherent flaw.

Hookless rims have a razor-thin 73 PSI pressure tolerance with only a 10% variance allowed, but home pumps have a 10 PSI margin of error — making it nearly impossible to dial in correctly right now.

Resting heart rate matters as a longer-term trend (watch for 10% deviations), while HRV is your acute early warning system. But your actual feeling trumps all the data — tune into your body first.

Disc brakes are now the industry standard with no viable alternative; unless you're a traditionalist planning a steel bike for café rides, you're moving to disc whether you like it or not.

The 20 mph UK speed restriction debate for time trials is straightforward: move the course, don't ride through restricted zones. Some are proposing segmented timing as a solution.

Expert Quotes

"This is the worst it's ever going to be [with hookless rims]. It's going to get better and better."

"You can't just be using data as a proxy to tell you how you feel because you need to tune into actually how you feel."

"Bikes are going that way where it's not easy to work on anymore. You need to plug your bike into a laptop to update the firmware now."

KEY QUOTES

“There's a max pressure per square inch on hookless of 73 PSI and a variance of 10% can cause failure in the hook Rim system so quick mats that's 7.3 PSI which sounds like okay just pump your tires up to within 7.3 PSI but there's a 10 psi margin for error in home track pumps so means you actually can't get this right.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“The ISO standards on Tire compatibility mean that he shouldn't have been using a tire any narrower than a 29 millimeter so he was using a 28 he should have been using a 29 and that's because the hookless tire on the rims has 25 mm internal Rim so that's on the team he used the wrong Tire with the rim.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

“Your Readiness needs to be first and foremost determined by how you feel like you get up out of bed in the morning do you feel like training. Stop using data as like a proxy to tell you how you feel because you need to tune into actually how you feel.”
Anthony Walsh — Roadman Cycling podcast host

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why do tyres explode on hookless rims?+

Are hookless rims actually safe to use?+

What is the minimum tyre width for hookless rims?+

Are time trials going to be banned in the UK?+

WHY TYRES KEEP EXPLODING & CHEATING PRO'S CAUGHT | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

Hookless rims and Van Gent's crash

How hookless works and Sinisa mechanic scandal

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

WHICH FAMOUS RACE OWES $113K IN PRIZE MONEY? | RIDER SUPPORT

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LIKED THIS EPISODE?

WHY TYRES KEEP EXPLODING & CHEATING PRO'S CAUGHT | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

Hookless rims and Van Gent's crash

How hookless works and Sinisa mechanic scandal

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

WHICH FAMOUS RACE OWES $113K IN PRIZE MONEY? | RIDER SUPPORT

LACHLAN'S PERFECT UNBOUND: TYRES, BIKE & HELMET | RIDER SUPPORT

HOW PRO RIDERS DESCEND REALLY FAST BUT SAFELY | RIDER SUPPORT

RELATED CONTENT

HOW CYCLING CAN SABOTAGE YOUR WEIGHT LOSS (AND THE FIX)

SPORTS NUTRITIONIST "THE ONE FOOD THAT'S SLOWING US DOWN"

FORGET WHAT YOU EAT, IT'S WHEN YOU EAT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING | DR BERRY

LIKED THIS EPISODE?

WHY TYRES KEEP EXPLODING & CHEATING PRO'S CAUGHT | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

1.Hookless rims and Van Gent's crash

2.How hookless works and Sinisa mechanic scandal

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

WHICH FAMOUS RACE OWES $113K IN PRIZE MONEY? | RIDER SUPPORT

LACHLAN'S PERFECT UNBOUND: TYRES, BIKE & HELMET | RIDER SUPPORT

HOW PRO RIDERS DESCEND REALLY FAST BUT SAFELY | RIDER SUPPORT

RELATED CONTENT

HOW CYCLING CAN SABOTAGE YOUR WEIGHT LOSS (AND THE FIX)

SPORTS NUTRITIONIST "THE ONE FOOD THAT'S SLOWING US DOWN"

FORGET WHAT YOU EAT, IT'S WHEN YOU EAT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING | DR BERRY

LIKED THIS EPISODE?

WHY TYRES KEEP EXPLODING & CHEATING PRO'S CAUGHT | RIDER SUPPORT

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

1.Hookless rims and Van Gent's crash

2.How hookless works and Sinisa mechanic scandal

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

WHICH FAMOUS RACE OWES $113K IN PRIZE MONEY? | RIDER SUPPORT

LACHLAN'S PERFECT UNBOUND: TYRES, BIKE & HELMET | RIDER SUPPORT

HOW PRO RIDERS DESCEND REALLY FAST BUT SAFELY | RIDER SUPPORT

RELATED CONTENT

HOW CYCLING CAN SABOTAGE YOUR WEIGHT LOSS (AND THE FIX)

SPORTS NUTRITIONIST "THE ONE FOOD THAT'S SLOWING US DOWN"

FORGET WHAT YOU EAT, IT'S WHEN YOU EAT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING | DR BERRY

LIKED THIS EPISODE?

Hookless rims and Van Gent's crash

How hookless works and Sinisa mechanic scandal

Hookless rims and Van Gent's crash

How hookless works and Sinisa mechanic scandal