Updated wheel range lowers weight and is claimed to be more aero than the competition
(Image credit: Hunt)
Hunt Wheels has launched three new Aerodynamicist carbon wheelsets, two of which have differential front and rear rim profiles, with claimed wheelset weights starting at 1,175g.
Hunt says it aimed to reduce wheelset weight, while offering wider and deeper rim profiles, and using conventional construction rather than its ultra-wide Limitless tech. All three wheelsets have hooked beads to max out road bike tyre compatibility and a 22mm internal rim width, both front and rear. You can also choose aero steel spokes or upgrade to unidirectional carbon fibre.
The wheelsets come in 34/34, 44/46 and 54/58 models, which correspond to the different rim depths on offer. They’re aero optimised for 28mm to 30mm tyres, although Hunt says they’re compatible with tyres from 25mm to the much wider tyres of up to 50mm in width that are on their way.
47,000 hours of CFD time
Hunt says it aero modelled the whole bike as well as the wheels individually in testing (Image credit: Hunt)
Hunt says it’s taken over 47,000 hours of computer time to develop its new aero wheels, in a project that’s spanned three years. As well as aero efficiency, it says it’s aimed for crosswind stability and low weight.
The brand started off by modelling the wheels stand-alone, then extended its modelling to include a full bike, with wind yaw angles of up to 20 degrees. Its modelling confirmed that the profile encountering the clean air at the front of the bike should be blunter and wider, while at the rear, where the airflow is already turbulent, a narrower, deeper profile is more efficient.
It’s a similar finding to that from other brands’ aero wheelset development, where differential profiles are typical, such as in the Roval Rapide CLX II. The shallowest 34/34 climbing wheels, though, have the same front and rear profile, which Hunt says was chosen to minimise weight.
Hunt has taken its new wheels to the wind tunnel, along with some of the best road bike wheels from the competition.
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It claims that, when fitted with 28mm Schwalbe Pro One tyres, its 34/34 wheelset, although slightly less aero than the Shimano Dura-Ace C36, is more aero and 147g lighter than the Reserve 34|37. Claimed weight is 1,264g with aero steel spokes or 1,175g with UD carbon spokes.
The Hunt 34/34 wheelset is priced at £1,149 / $1,449 / €1,399 with steel spokes, £1,549 / $1,949 / €1,899 with carbon spokes.
Move up to the 44/46 wheelset and Hunt claims its wheels beat the aero performance of the Enve 45, Mavic Cosmic 45 SL, Zipp 353 NSW and DT Swiss ERC 1400 14 wheelsets. Claimed weight is 1,364g with steel spokes or 1,274g with carbon spokes.
Hunt 44/46 wheels are priced at £1,179 / $1,479 / €1,439 steel spoked or £1,579 / $1,979 / €1,939 with carbon spokes.
The 54/58 wheelset, Hunt claims, betters the Zipp 404 Firecrest, Enve SES 4.5, Reserve 52|63 and the Roval Rapide CL II wheelsets. Hunt claims a 1,468g weight with steel spokes or 1,391g with carbon spokes.
The Hunt 56/58 wheelset is priced at £1,199 / $1,499 / €1,459 with steel and £1,599 / $1,999 / €1,959 with carbon spokes.
Other tech features
Hunt offers lifetime crash repair for the wheels (Image credit: Hunt Wheels)
Hunt says that the results for its new wheelsets average a 1.4-watt saving over its older wheelsets of equivalent depth, a 2 per cent improvement. There’s a white paper to read if you want to delve further into the data.
The new wheels include Hunt’s alloy hubs with its latest H_Ratchet 40T DBL 40-tooth freehub with 9-degree engagement. They turn on chromium steel bearings from Enduro, which Hunt claims offer durable performance, whatever the conditions the wheels are ridden in.
Hunt’s TaperLock unidirectional carbon spokes work with conventional nipples, so they can be trued and replaced by the user. They’re claimed to reduce vibrations transmitted to the rider.
Hunt has used its recyclable carbon fibre composite in the 54/58 Aerodynamicist wheelset, although it says that manufacturing capacity has stopped it from extending this to its other new wheels.
Availability
You can pre-order the new Aerodynamicist wheelsets now, with delivery slated for late May and mid-June.
Hunt offers a lifetime crash repair or replacement policy, too.
Paul has been on two wheels since he was in his teens and he's spent much of the time since writing about bikes and the associated tech. He's a road cyclist at heart but his adventurous curiosity means Paul has been riding gravel since well before it was cool, adapting his cyclo-cross bike to ride all-day off-road epics and putting road kit to the ultimate test along the way. Paul has contributed to Cyclingnews' tech coverage for a few years, helping to maintain the freshness of our buying guides and deals content, as well as writing a number of our voucher code pages.
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