Hunt 60 Limitless UD Carbon Spoke wheelset review: Great performers, especially when you consider the value too

It hasn't taken long for Hunt to go from a small brand that didn't garner much attention to a major force in the fabric of modern cycling. Today, the brand is consistently near the top of whatever metric you want to use to measure modern bike wheels and that especially includes price. With that performance in mind, we obviously included Hunt in our lineup of the best road bike wheels. 

In fact, we included two sets of Hunt wheels in a nod to the large range of options the brand has. For those looking at a modern high performance wheel though, the relevant model will be the Hunt 60 Limitless Aero Disc Wheels. I reviewed those wheels back in the summer of 2021 and they left me impressed with how stable they were on long descents. Fast forward a couple of years and now Hunt is looking to make that model redundant.

Hitting the market now, the latest generation of Hunt wheels include the Hunt 60 Limitless UD Carbon Spoke Wheelset. The wheels take most of what's great about the previous wheelset and reduce the weight while adding stiffness. Now that I've had a chance to spend some time with them, I'm ready to talk about the details of what that means. If you are looking for a new set of deep wheels this summer, keep reading to see if the Hunt 60 Limitless UD Carbon Spoke Wheelset are the ones for you. 

Design and aesthetics 

For some people pure aesthetics isn't the most relevant detail when looking at wheels towards the pointy end of the performance spectrum. Lots of people will tell you about how much faster a new set of wheels are and how much it improves the ride. Those same people are probably being completely accurate, but are we supposed to pretend like aesthetics don't matter? Deep wheels look cool and a 60mm wheel in particular is a dramatic statement on a bike. 

The point here is that Hunt seems particularly aware of the fashion involved. Over the years, the brand has developed a very distinct visual style and it remains unchanged with the Hunt 60 Limitless UD Carbon Spoke Wheelset. The wheels are black carbon and there are contrasting white logos sitting in two places on each side of the wheel. The logos are big enough to not need much squinting but take a moment and notice the details of the icon that Hunt uses alongside the brand name. It's just a square with some lines that could be the wind, or perhaps a reference to spokes, but whatever they are, they also adorn the full wheel. 

The effect of the simple white lines spaced apart across the black carbon wheels is dramatic without being gaudy. Wheel brands love to use the company name as a design element but Hunt one ups that trend. In a group shot they almost get lost but as soon as you mount them on a bike, they come alive. Sometimes the lines play off the graphics on a bike but sometimes they don't need to. Whatever the setting, there's a sense of motion at all times.

Another design detail you might catch is a scripty text that says "aerodynamicist" on the blunt inside edge of the wheel. It's a small visual reference to the shape of the wheel and how unique it is. Hunt was one of the first brands to really step away from the design limitations of rim brakes and the latest wheels still use that same shape. It's a shape that's wide on the inside edge and bulges out even further towards the centre of the profile. The shape keeps air attached when it hits the side of the wheel and that means greater stability in crosswinds. 

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The challenge with a wider wheel is that it's also heavier. Hunt 60 Limitless UD Carbon spoke wheels have a 21mm hooked internal width, a 34mm external width, and a 60mm u-shape aero profile and none of that is conducive to being light. Hunt solved this challenge initially with the Limitless technology that reduces the use of the carbon layup to the structure of the rim. Inside of the cavity this creates, Hunt uses a low density polymer that's about half the weight. It cures right alongside the carbon and provides the same strength while saving a claimed 50-55 grams per wheel. 

This technology, both the shape and the polymer, isn't unique to this new wheel. The problem is that it wasn't enough. Despite the innovative process, the old Limitless 60 wheels were on the heavy side at a claimed 1669 grams for the set. Hunt worked to solve that for this new wheelset by switching the spokes to carbon fibre construction. 

Getting to a lower weight isn't just a matter of switching spokes though. Hunt claims the new spokes are lighter, though doesn't directly compare the weights. The hubs have also gone through a redesign and now use 7000 series alloy which, again, offers a greater strength-to-weight ratio. Both changes save some weight on their own but they also allow for a reduced spoke count. Even with a 6% increase in wheel stiffness thanks to the spokes, the spoke count has dropped to 18/20 front rear (down from 20/24). The real design story of the latest wheels is that everything remains almost the same but there's less weight and higher stiffness. 

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Performance

It's common for bike brands looking to get a jump on warm weather to head to California. When PAS Normal planned a store opening in San Francisco that was the idea for both them and me. I took it as an opportunity to spend time testing deep aero wheels far from any late season snow storms and I'd hoped to be enjoying some sun and mild weather. Instead, I tested deep winter base layers and hard shell jackets. As far as the wheels though, I'd already committed. 

After arriving in San Francisco I set about mounting the Hunt 60 Limitless UD carbon spoke wheelset to the Ribble Gravel SL I brought to ride in the rain. That first day was absolutely perfect with beautiful blue skies and no wind. The weather California historically provides is glorious even in February. The weather report for the next day was completely different though and filled with wind warnings. I'd been incredibly impressed with the ability of the Hunt wheel shape in the past to handle back and forth, on and off, wind while carving a descent off a mountain. Was this to be a similar experience?

As I was riding, it felt like there was no wind. I didn't need to lean and I never felt unsettled. It wasn't until I got to the first tight turn that I realised how strong the wind actually was. As long as I was on the bike and pedalling, the angled crosswind felt like a gentle push from behind. When I put a foot down to negotiate the turn and the camera, that gentle push suddenly felt seriously unsettling. There was a lot of wind but as long as I was moving forward it was staying attached to the wheels. 

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That experience might sound surprising, but it really shouldn’t be. When it comes to deep carbon wheels, Hunt is one of the most stable. The shape does a great job of keeping wind attached even as it comes around to hit from the side. In some situations you'll get a stable push and in others you'll get to take advantage of the sail effect. Either way, if that's your concern, my experiences with Hunt wheels show that both of the 60mm wheels the brand offers are a good choice. Over the years though, it's not the shape that I get asked about. 

What everyone wants to know about with Hunt wheels are the hubs. The design is a traditional pawl and ratchet design and the basics haven't changed with the new wheels. There is a retaining ring but it frequently comes off when you pull the axle out resulting in pieces falling out. Take care if you take it apart but otherwise, I've subjected it to the worst I can think of and never had an issue. While I've treated the 60mm Hunt wheels as a summer option, I'm a huge fan of the Hunt 42 Limitless Aero gravel wheels as a winter gravel bike wheel. The internals of the hub are the same and it's survived everything with no special treatment. 

What never comes up in Hunt wheels discussion, but is suddenly relevant, is wheel stiffness. That's the big change here and the weight is more of a natural consequence. The nuances of that are also incredibly hard to feel. I run 28mm tyres at 50 psi and that's more than enough to soak up any additional stiffness in the ride quality. I do think though that you lose a little bit of the stability that the previous wheels had such an abundance of. It's incredibly subtle but while the lower weight, and higher stiffness climbs just a little better, it also descends just a little worse. 

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Verdict

Last time I reviewed Hunt 60mm deep carbon wheels, the story was about stability while descending. Years later, reviewing the Hunt 60 Limitless UD Carbon Spoke Wheels things have changed a little bit but not much. There's been a small exchange for stability in favour of a stiffer wheel that weighs less and generally climbs just a bit better. To get there, Hunt had to swap materials for the spokes and re-engineer the hubs a bit. 

The result of the updates is positive. The new wheels retain almost everything that made the old ones great but address the weight that held the old wheels back a bit. The shape was already what made them special, and that didn't change at all. To make the upgrade, Hunt is asking for a roughly 20% upcharge. You'll have to decide if the extra money is worth the upgrades.

There is another issue to consider though: Time continues to march on. At one time 21mm internal width and a hooked bead was class leading, now it's behind the times. Compared to the best wheels on the market, the Hunt 60 Limitless UD Carbon Spoke Wheels are looking a little long in the tooth. Given how much more many of those wheels cost though, that's no problem. 

Except, if you are willing to choose a slightly outdated wheel for less money, where is your limit? Roval wheels are some of the closest competition and if you are willing to go 40g heavier for the wheelset the Rapide CL II is a little cheaper for the same 21mm internal and hooked bead. Obviously, you can always choose to trade weight for money, the challenge is finding the balance. The Hunt 60 Limitless UD Carbon Spoke Wheels do stand out from the crowd when you consider value as part of the performance package too, rather than just the stats.