Handsling Off-set Tubeless Wheels

The Handsling Off-set Tubeless wheels are among the most advanced wheels.

They come hot on the heels of the success of Handsling's 40mm deep, 30mm wide hookless tubeless rim, which was a real revelation, and won a lot of friends on the road, in cross and gravel riding, selling successfully enough for us to decide to develop it further into a series of deeper rims.

As part of this process, our wheelbuilder, Ian, suggested we adopt a slight off-set for the spoke holes to allow him to build a more balanced wheel, better able to deal with the forces associated with disc brakes and wide cassettes. The result is the Handsling off-set tubeless wheels.

The rim has a semi-hookless design, as it uses a new bead lock system, designed to hold onto a tyre better and prevent any air leakage. There is a noticeable inward curve to the rim edge designed to provide better support to tyre walls at higher pressures.

Features

The rims are in excess of 30mm wide at their widest point and have a toroidal shape to aid aerodynamics. The spoke holes are off-set by 2.5mm from centre to improve strength and durability. The rims are semi-hookless and have an internal width of 23mm.

Available in a variety of depths, they are the most advanced tubeless solution for road racing and sportive riders looking to enjoy the many benefits of tubeless tyres and light, aerodynamic rims.

But they will also work well for cyclocross and gravel riders looking for more rim depth.

Width

The wide rim profile is well behaved in cross winds and is the ideal profile for aerodynamic performance no matter the yaw angle (wind direction). The rim shape will also work particularly well with the latest truncated aero frame tube profiles such as found on our new A1R0evo frameset.

The rims are toroidal in shape and are at their widest (over 30mm) quite close to the outside edge, before tapering back to 28mm at the rim edge to form a more aerodynamic transition into the tyre.

They are optimised for 28mm tyres but will work with thinner 25mm tyres or with wider tyres from 32mm cross tyres to 45mm gravel tyres.

Recommended maximum tyre pressure is 90psi.

Depths

Off-set wheel rims are available in 40mm, 45mm, 50mm and 55mm depths. As standard we use a slightly shallower front and a deeper (+5mm) rear with our Handsling hubs:

40mm/45mm 

45mm/50mm

50mm/55mm

For those interested in aesthetics, the extra 5mm at the rear is barely noticeable front to rear, but the handling and performance gains certainly are.

It has two benefits:

1. Huge advantages to a bike's handling on windy days, meaning that you retain more control of your front wheel.

2. Aerodynamic benefits to the rear of the frame, where the slightly deeper rim can work in conjunction with aero tube shapes to help you power along.

Rim depth is always a trade off between aerodynamics and comfort. (Contrary to what you may think, weight is not really a huge factor as you expend far more energy pushing wheels through the air than accelerating them up to speed; even in the mountains, total mass of rider and bike is more relevant than wheel weight specifically.) Rim depth depends upon riding style and conditions. A shallow rim will afford more comfort and handle much better on windy days. A deeper rim will be more aerodynamic but will give a harsher ride and be tougher to keep under control in windy conditions.

Weight

The rims are very strong and the off-set spokes make tough wheels that can handle a lot of abuse. The semi-hookless rims can be made lighter than clincher rims, using less material thanks the lack of a pronounced hook. Handsling worked hard with our factory to make the rims as lightweight as possible without compromising strength.

Rim weights are as follows:

40mm - 400g (+/- 10g)

45mm - 435g

50mm - 455g

55mm - 485g

Wheelset weights are as follows (all weights with Handsling Bitex hubs):

40mm/45mm - 1432g

45mm/50mm - 1495g

50mm/55mm - 1532g

Rider weight limit is 120kgs.

Finish

Finished in matt UD carbon with gloss, embossed HANDSLING logos they are of striking appearance and make any bike look amazing. 

Why go hookless?

Motor cars have hookless rims, as do do motorbikes and even mountain bikes. Hookless tubeless has been proven to be the best wheel technology. Only the conservative arena of road cycling lags behind... But things are changing and there is little doubt that hookless tubeless is the future for road cyclists.

Hookless rims can be made lighter than is possible with hooked clincher rims, and despite reports from other companies trying to sell their hooked rims, there are no safety issues with hookless rims. Once you mount a tubeless tyre you will see why - it can never come off! High pressure or low pressure it takes real effort to dislodge.

Whereas an inner tube applies pressure upwards, trying to lift the tyre off the rim, air in tubeless tyres exerts a lot of sideways force against the rim sidewalls, negating the need for a hook to secure the tyre.

If you travel a lot and want to use tubeless, a deflated tubeless tyre will not leave a hookless rim in the way that it will leave a hooked tubeless ready clincher rim. You won't have any loss of sealant either. You can deflate a tyre on a hookless rim and then re-inflate with no issues and no mess, perfect for when travelling overseas.

Punctures

With hookless tubeless there is no need to carry a spare inner tube. Admittedly it does take a bit of getting used to but once adopted, you will not want to go back. Instead riders carry a tiny tubeless repair kit which in the event of a rare puncture that the sealant cannot fix, can be used to fix holes in the tyre casing using vulcanised rubber bungs that form a permanent seal to the tyre carcass. It requires a leap of faith at first but mountain bikers have been using them for ages and is far easier than fitting an inner tube into a messy, sealant filled tyre.

Benefits of Wider tyres

Cornering speed

Wider tyres put more rubber onto the road for improved grip and higher cornering speeds.

When combined with wider rims, there is less lateral tyre deflection, as the rim offers better support to the tyre under cornering forces than a narrow rim.

Lower rolling resistance

The latest research shows that 28mm tyres are the ideal width for the lowest rolling resistance benefitting riders in all conditions.

Comfort

By putting more rubber on the road, wider tyres can be run at lower pressures improving ride comfort massively, a factor long overlooked in road riding. Added comfort and the reduced transmission of road vibrations, allows a rider to finish a race fresher, better able to nail that sprint or final climb, and recover better for the next event.

Handsling Off-set Hookless Tubeless Wheels Summary

Features:

• 30mm wide carbon rim
• Toroidal shape for aerodynamic efficiency
• Optimised for 28mm road tyres
• Lightweight rims for lower rotating weight and faster acceleration
• Off-set spokes form stronger wheels for better impact absorption
• Wide rim profile for improved aerodynamics in all conditions
• Hookless rims for use with the latest tubeless tyres
• Disc specific rim without a braking surface
• Ideal for supporting the new wider road tubeless tyres that promise lower rolling resistance and improved cornering

Do you know who made your wheels? Not which company but which person? Handsling wheels are built by hand in the UK by master wheelbuilder, Ian Lynch, who is the most obsessive person we know. Everything has to be just right, perfect actually, otherwise he will not accept it. It is all about the details with Ian.

Wheelbuilding used to be thought of as some sort of dark art but Ian works another way. He doesn't rely on feel to build a wheel. He uses science and fact. Everything is planned in advance, calculated in minute detail and then built up using only the best precision tooling.

For example, unable to find anything suitable on the market, he went as far as to develop his own software in order to help him build better wheels. It helps calculate spoke lengths and record tensions for different combinations of various rims and hubs. It even calculates the weight of various combinations so we can give you an idea of that special wheelset's final weight.

He uses this software to record the tension of every spoke in every wheel he builds so he can provide better service to clients in the future. Think about that: every rim we produce has a unique serial number embedded into the carbon, so we can tell you the exact tension of every spoke in your particular wheel and can provide a certificate of proof with each wheel.

Details, details.

Rims

Our rims are built by a specialist rim manufacturer. They do not build frames, just rims. We chose to work with them as they are the best at what they do and their rim quality is second to none. They only use Toray carbon when making Handsling rims and they are one of the few OEM  manufacturers to have UCI approved rims of their own.

As with our frames, Handsling rims are built right alongside rims for some of the biggest wheel brands in the world.

Spokes

We only use Sapim cx-ray spokes in our wheels. Strong, light and aero, they are the best in the business. Period.

They stretch a lot and so can be tensioned perfectly to build an energy efficient, fast wheel.

Handsling Hubs

Our hubs are made by one of the largest hub manufacturers in the business. The rear hub features 6 pawls instead of the usual 4 resulting in more immediate pick up. They are lighter than anything else we could find on the market and they are very easy to service.

The Handsling hubs are super cool, black and have the round HANDSLING headtube logo laser etched in white onto every hub.

We can upgrade your hubs to ceramic bearings using our excellent  HSC Ceramic bearings for a small extra cost. Please enquire when ordering.