Hunt has immediately launched its newest aero carbon wheelset, the 40 Limitless Gravel Aero. The brand new wheels are the results of three years of growth, with differential entrance and rear rim profiles and a hookless bead.
They construct on the model’s earlier technology 42 Limitless Gravel Aero (42 LGA) wheelset, shedding depth, however getting lighter, quicker and wider within the course of.
Though Hunt says that its sponsored execs had been profitable on the 42 LGA in main gravel races, they requested for a wheelset with comparable aero efficiency and stability, however a decrease weight than its claimed 1,642g.
In response, Hunt has ported over a lot of the tech from its newest street wheels, the Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc, to the brand new wheelset, together with the choice to spec carbon spokes and CeramicSpeed bearings.
The result’s that the brand new 40 LGA wheelset is 220g lighter than its predecessor, with Hunt additionally claiming that its wind tunnel testing additionally reveals improved aero efficiency.
With the inclusion of carbon spokes, the claimed wheelset weight is 1,328g, whereas the steel-spoked variant has a claimed 1,431g weight.
Completely different rim profiles
Hunt ran round 2,500 hours of CFD simulations, permitting it to slim down a beginning set of 42 rim profiles to 3 entrance and 5 rear rim shapes. It then constructed 3D-printed mock-ups of the edges for meeting into prototypes for on-bike testing within the wind tunnel. That was adopted by retesting utilizing precise carbon fibre rim prototypes.
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In all, Hunt says it ran 90 wind tunnel assessments of its new rim profiles at each 40km/h and 45km/h.
The wheels are aero optimised round 40mm and 45mm huge Schwalbe G-One Allround and G-One R tyres, a typical width for lots of the finest gravel tyres and, Hunt says, the tyres and widths usually utilized by its sponsored gravel riders. The model says it selected low-profile treads as a result of in any other case, the airflow across the facet knobs dominates the tyre/wheel mixture’s aerodynamic efficiency.
As with many aero bikes, Hunt says that its aerodynamic focus was on the entrance of the bike, the place the air is much less turbulent, discovering that its 40mm depth, 36mm huge (27mm inner width) profile was most effective and likewise enhanced stability and dealing with.
On the rear, the place air is already turbulent, Hunt targeted on decreasing mass with a narrower, deeper and lighter profile to the rim, at 41mm deep and 35mm huge, with 26mm inner width.
The hookless beads are ETRTO compliant and likewise, Hunt says, present a small weight discount versus hooked rims, and nearer manufacturing tolerances. There’s additionally a greater tyre-to-rim interface with a much less lightbulb-shaped tyre profile and a further profit claimed from a diminished threat of pinch flats.
Hunt provides the choice to spec the identical carbon spokes as in its Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc wheelset, launched in February 2024. These weigh a claimed 2.7g per spoke and Hunt says that they’re additionally stiffer, permitting it to scale back the spoke depend from 24 to twenty entrance and rear and on the similar time enhance the wheels’ responsiveness and dampen larger frequency vibrations. Hunt’s carbon spokes even have the benefit of utilizing normal nipples, making the wheels simpler to regulate.
The rear wheel is supplied with Hunt’s latest H_Ratchet DBL freehub, as additionally seen within the Sub50 street wheels. This makes use of a light-weight dual-sided ratchet design, which reduces weight over the earlier hub’s pawl-based freehub. It has 48 factors of engagement and weighs a claimed 314g for the model engineered for carbon spokes.
Face to face testing versus the competitors
Hunt claims that the brand new wheels produce a measured enhance in efficiency from its earlier technology 42 LGA wheelset throughout 4 metrics: aerodynamic effectivity, aerodynamic stability, weight and tyre form and that they outperform different gravel wheelsets with depths as much as 50mm when used with gravel tyres as much as 45mm huge.
Hunt carried out head-to-head wind tunnel aero assessments in opposition to the finest gravel wheelsets, together with the 3T Discus 45/40, Reserve 40/44, DT Swiss GRC 1400 Spline, Enve 3.4, Cadex 35 AR, Zipp 303 Firecrest and others. It says that its new wheels had been second to the 3T wheels in aero drag with 45mm Schwalbe G-One Allround tyres.
Swapping to 40mm width tyres, the brand new Hunt wheels had been once more second to the 3T Discus wheelset. Though the 3T wheels had been marginally quicker, additionally they weigh 320g extra.
Availability and pricing
Value and availability
Costs for the Hunt 40 Limitless Gravel Aero wheelset begin at £1,479 / $1,849 / €1,849, fitted with metal spokes and bearings and with a 1,431g claimed weight.
Improve to carbon spokes and metal bearings and the claimed weight decreases to 1,328g, with a worth of £1,849 / $2,279 / €2,279.
Add in CeramicSpeed bearings, precision fitted at CeramicSpeed’s manufacturing facility, and the value rises to £2,449 / $2,989 / €2,898. Claimed weight stays the identical at 1,328g.
Hunt provides its H_Care lifetime crash substitute – reassuring in an costly wheelset designed for quick, tough driving.
You possibly can pre-order now, with supply from late November 2024.
