At 08:23 AM 16/12/2008 -0600, charliepedal@verizon.net wrote:
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>It looks like the Grand Bois Rims are not a hook bead type?
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>http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/componentoffer.html
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>Any reason to not have a hook bead rim?
As I recall, hook bead rims were a relatively recent invention, used for folding tires with "stretchy" beads that would otherwise blow off regular straight sided rims. It seems that modern clincher bicycle tires no longer have strong wire beads, or their beads don't sit deep enough, so that they need hook bead rims to keep them in place. So to answer the question, those Grand Bois rims are probably of traditional vintage design meant for traditional vintage tires. Of course, this is all conjecture on my part and I'd like to know exactly how it came about that modern clincher tires degenerated to where they required hook bead rims to keep them in place.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada