Adding Carbon Spokes, Hunt Ups the Ante on ‘Limitless’ Road Wheels
Hunt’s Limitless carbon-spoke wheels come in two deep profiles, 48mm and 60mm, with bladed carbon spokes designed to push the limits of aerodynamics, power transfer, and bling!
Hunt pulls out all the stops for its new aero- and crosswind-optimized carbon-spoke hooked rims. The 48mm- and 60mm-deep sets get CeramicSpeed bearings to roll smooth and a cold-forged aluminum hub shell to outlast road wear.
Previously, Hunt hit us with the 32 Aerodynamicist, which also got the carbon spokes (2.7 g each!) but had a 21mm internal width and a hookless tubeless bead. The wheelset was a super-lightweight 1,213 g — a few hundred grams less than the 48 Limitless UD at 1,511 g or the 60 Limitless UD at 1,551 g.
Hunt built the Limitless rims for the pro road teams it sponsors, and it sought the best aero efficiency and crosswind stability it could get from the wheel. Onboarding the carbon spokes made sense for weight savings and stiffness. Hunt says the material choice gives the Limitless UD increased power transfer plus a higher responsiveness-to-weight ratio.
Hunt’s proprietary Taper Lock system also means you can true your wheels just like you can with steel spokes. On most carbon-spoke wheels, resin bonds the spokes to the rim — but Hunt uses the traditional threaded steel mandrel.
The brand’s “Limitless” construction uses a low-density polymer to afford a wider profile without making the rim heavy. The idea is to help a deep-profile rim like a 60mm handle better without adding so much weight that it offsets the aero benefits.
The 60 Limitless UD comes with 21 mm of internal spacing, and the 48 gets a super-wide 22.5 mm. Hunt built both hooked rims with 28mm tubeless tires in mind.
Sprint SLC hubs house CeramicSpeed (or Aire Velo EZO) bearings inside the 7075 cold-forged aluminum shell. The hub has a 7.5-degree engagement rate, multipoint pawls, and 48 ratchets. Freehub compatibility covers Shimano and SRAM 8-11 speeds, SRAM XD/XDR, or Campagnolo 8-12 speeds.
It’s also compatible with center-lock disc brake rotors.
Oh yeah, Hunt ran aero tests too. The company says it found no appreciable difference between the new bladed carbon spokes and the Limitless’ old elliptical-shaped steel spokes.
“Interestingly enough, we found less of a difference during wind tunnel testing between the steel-spoked Limitless wheels versus when they featured our UD carbon spokes,” said Ollie Gray, road brand manager for Hunt.
“The difference between the two was well within the margin of error for standardized wind-tunnel testing, suggesting no discernible aerodynamic penalty for using carbon spokes.”
Hunt’s Limitless Carbon-Spoke Wheels: Availability, Pricing
If you want to find out for yourself, you can order the 48 Limitless UD with EZO bearings now from Hunt. You’ll have to wait until the second week of October for the 60s, and the brand said the CeramicSpeed variants won’t ship out until spring.
Hope they’re worth the wait: The 48 Limitless UD CeramicSpeed costs $2,019 MSRP as a set, and the 60 costs $50 more. EZO bearings bump pricing down to $1,669 for the 48s and $1,729 for the 60s.
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