32" hooked rims?

Tech Tech - What to Buy
1

I’m embarking on a 32” gravel bike build and my mind is on wheels at the moment.

I’d like to source as much as possible from Europe and, having owned a few sets of Duke rims, checked if they offered a 32” rim. I noticed they switched a lot of their rims to hookless, their 32” offering included https://www.duke-racingwheels.com/en/6495-96631-duke-rim-lucky-jack-sls5-32.html#/40-holes_number-28/1638-rim_diameter-32/1649-inner_width_weight-31mm_360g
I dove into rim widths, tire sizes, pressures and ISO-standards before rereading Caley’s response here Thomas De Gendt's UAE Tour crash is a warning to all. That reminded me why I want to avoid hookless rims.

Does anyone know of good 32” rims with a proper hook?

2

In the same boat, build-wise, as you. To answer your questions directly, although not the highest end, the Willow rims that are being spec’d on the Singular Albatross (32" Aluminium Bicycle Rim — willow bike) would probably be your best bet - they were the only ones I could find in my hunt! Bonus, they are EU manufactured for you.

More generally though, especially for a gravel bike, where the tire choice is essentially limited to the Maxxis Aspen ST 32x2.15” - the rest being, really, MTB tires - the TdG UAE issue isn’t that big of a deal. With an inner rim width of, like, 30mm max - a ~58mm tire is not gonna roll off the rim at any pressure. I wouldn’t be too concerned about hookless unless the tire options start narrowing down to ~38mm or something.

3

DUKE rims are manufactured in Asia fyi.

4

Yes, I think most carbon bike parts are made in Asia. While made in the EU would be ideal (thanks @Stefan_Hofmeister for the Willow Bike link), at least Duke is headquartered in Europe.