With the advent of tubeless tyre technology taking the road, cyclocross and gravel scenes by storm, Hunt has always striven to improve how tyres are anchored to the rim. Depending on the particular wheelset, a Hunt wheel sports either a Hook-less or Hooked rim profile to take care of securing the tyre to the rim. You can read exactly what H-Lock Wedge (HLW) sidewal rims are here. However, we have also chosen to take the tyre/rim interface one step further with H-lock.
HUNT TECH | H-LOCK EXPLAINED; EASY FIT SECURE TUBELESS
HUNT TECH | H-LOCK EXPLAINED; EASY FIT SECURE TUBELESS
H-Lock is our tubeless-ready rim bed profile with up-kicks to the shoulders of the tubeless steps helping to create a great rim-well seal for first installation and easy sealing of tubeless tyres. The H-Lock profile also secures the beads in place more firmly once seated. This is especially important when running lower pressures or for off road riding.
As shown in red in the diagram left taken from the Hunt 30 Carbon Aero Disc, the tyre bead is held in the small concave area, preventing the tyre from moving back into the centre of the rim during hard cornering or braking. This significantly aids in the ability to take advantage of lower tyre pressures under a tubeless setup, whereby the H-Lock bed profile also reduces the chance of burping air – essentially 'locking' the tyre between the raised bead locks on either side of the channel running through the centre of the rim.
What might be considered a small detail, attention paid to rim bed profile aims to produce the easiest possible tyre/rim fitting, set-up and riding experience.
Enjoy your riding!