Parcours Strade

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parcourswheels
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by parcourswheels

pmprego wrote:
Thu Mar 25, 2021 12:45 pm
Any reason why not going hookless? It would be nice to see a discussion from someone that has manufacturing knowledge really talking about this topic.
Great question. The short answer is because we don't believe we need to on our road wheels just yet. There are two main benefits to a manufacturer of using hookless rims:
  • Cost - you reduce the complexity of the moulding process when you remove the bead hook & therfore the cost of manufacturing. To my mind it's no coincidence that the "affordable" range wheelsets launched by major wheel manufacturers recently all have hookless rims. We can deliver a competitive price point without cutting manufacturing costs, mainly down to our direct sales model.
  • Weight - by removing the bead hook you reduce rim weight. Again, we can keep the weight of our rims down by using some enhanced moulding processes (developed in conjunction with our manufacturing partner), so we can deliver a competitive rim weight even with a bead hook
On the other hand, by using a hookless rim, you immediately rule out running any non-tubeless tyre, as well as many tubeless options (e.g. GP5000). You also have to restrict the maximum pressure to 72psi (per ETRTO). Whilst we'd absolutely endorse tubeless tyres at lower pressures on these rims, we'd like our riders to have the option to run their preferred setup. It seems odd to cut out a sizeable chunk of your target market based on their tyre preferences.

Of course that doesn't mean we don't see a future for road hookless. It's just that we as the rim manufacturers, the tyre manufacturers and the standards agencies haven't yet defined a suitable solution. Until that happens, unlike some others, we don't need to go hookless, so haven't.

I should also add that for our Alta 650B gravel wheels, we have chosen to use hookless rims. Here it makes much more sense as for gravel riding, tubeless is far and away the preferred tyre setup. With 650B tyres, you also would never be running close to 72psi, so the safety limits aren't an issue. The other benefit is that a hookless rim can be made stronger and more resistant to rim impacts without increasing weight. That was a particular benefit for gravel riding, where low tyre pressures and rough terrain can cause you to bottom out onto the rim.

pmprego
Posts: 2508
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2019 3:16 pm

by pmprego

parcourswheels wrote:
Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:41 pm
M4lukz wrote:
Thu Mar 25, 2021 11:58 am
didn't notice that on the price increase, but that's really good to hear!
Regarding the outside UK purchases, everyone's still subject to each country VAT and taxes, right? Your wheels are very nicely priced, but if I'm gonna be charged extra for the import VAT, that puts the wheelset on a completely different price range, which makes me hover towards another options...
Unfortunately that is one of the consequences of Brexit. We have looked at options including EU warehousing, but at this stage in our growth it's not quite practical yet. If you compare the EU (€) pricing to UK (£), we've tried to keep the gap as small as possible, but with the additional logistics costs of UK to EU shipping there is still a difference when you include the import costs.

I don't think we're alone in this challenge within the bike industry, although more often than not it's EU brands importing into the UK that are impacted.
I guess so but for a small company "now" starting it must be really tough to see a significant share of your potential customers see a price increase.


W.r.t. hookless Ok, I think I see your reasoning and they do seem reasonable :)

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eurostar
Posts: 465
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:19 pm
Location: London

by eurostar

parcourswheels wrote:
Thu Mar 25, 2021 11:27 am
We're really excited about this one.
No rim brake version?

parcourswheels
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by parcourswheels

eurostar wrote:
Fri Oct 08, 2021 1:04 pm
parcourswheels wrote:
Thu Mar 25, 2021 11:27 am
We're really excited about this one.
No rim brake version?
Afraid not, no. With our #thinkwider rim profiles extending out to as much as 32mm in width, there just isn't any way to make this compatible with a rim brake caliper. Even the very widest calipers will struggle to clear anything over about 28mm.

We've been able to implement these rim designs only because with a disc brake wheel we're no longer constrained by caliper clearance.

pmprego
Posts: 2508
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2019 3:16 pm

by pmprego

parcourswheels wrote:
Fri Oct 08, 2021 4:55 pm
eurostar wrote:
Fri Oct 08, 2021 1:04 pm
parcourswheels wrote:
Thu Mar 25, 2021 11:27 am
We're really excited about this one.
No rim brake version?
Afraid not, no. With our #thinkwider rim profiles extending out to as much as 32mm in width, there just isn't any way to make this compatible with a rim brake caliper. Even the very widest calipers will struggle to clear anything over about 28mm.

We've been able to implement these rim designs only because with a disc brake wheel we're no longer constrained by caliper clearance.
You have to find a eu warehouse. That brexit thing just killed interest from everyone at least in portugal.

eurostar
Posts: 465
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:19 pm
Location: London

by eurostar

parcourswheels wrote:
Fri Oct 08, 2021 4:55 pm
Afraid not, no. With our #thinkwider rim profiles extending out to as much as 32mm in width, there just isn't any way to make this compatible with a rim brake caliper. Even the very widest calipers will struggle to clear anything over about 28mm.

We've been able to implement these rim designs only because with a disc brake wheel we're no longer constrained by caliper clearance.
Will you continue to develop rim brake wheels?

parcourswheels
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:04 pm
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by parcourswheels

eurostar wrote:
Fri Oct 08, 2021 9:15 pm
Will you continue to develop rim brake wheels?
We certainly haven't abandoned rim brake wheelsets as we know a lot of our riders are still on rim brake bikes. However, we also need to recognise that new bike sales are now almost entirely disc brake so that's clearly where the demand will lie in the coming years.

From a development perspective, rim brake design is heavily constrained by the brake caliper. That, plus the fact that aero rim brake wheels have well over 20 years of development behind them means that any improvements are likely to be comparatively small. Whereas with road disc brake wheelsets, the development curve is much steeper.

eurostar
Posts: 465
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:19 pm
Location: London

by eurostar

What I'd like you to develop are featherweight fairings to increase the width of my Lightweights. They're 20mm wide. One pair is 47 mm deep, the other is 80mm. The only tyre which works properly with them is the 19mm Conti Competition. The aero benefit, which I thought I was getting before I read about the 105 rule, was all in my head.

parcourswheels
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:04 pm
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by parcourswheels

eurostar wrote:
Sun Oct 10, 2021 1:51 pm
What I'd like you to develop are featherweight fairings to increase the width of my Lightweights. They're 20mm wide. One pair is 47 mm deep, the other is 80mm. The only tyre which works properly with them is the 19mm Conti Competition. The aero benefit, which I thought I was getting before I read about the 105 rule, was all in my head.
That's an interesting concept, but not something we'd be currently looking at I'm afraid.

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