Hunt today unveiled its latest aero carbon wheelset, the 40 Limitless Gravel Aero. The new wheels are the result of three years of development and feature different front and rear rim profiles and hookless beads.

The wheels are based on the brand's previous generation wheelset, the 42 Limitless Gravel Aero (42 LGA), which lost some depth but became lighter, faster, and wider in the process.

According to Hunt, sponsored pros have had success in major gravel races with the 42 LGA, but they wanted a wheelset with similar aero performance and stability, but lighter than the claimed 1,642g.

In response, Hunt transferred much of the technology from their latest road wheel, the Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc, to the new wheelset, including carbon spokes and ceramic speed bearing options.

As a result, the new 40 LGA wheelset is 220 g lighter than its predecessor, and Hunt claims that wind tunnel testing has confirmed the improved aero performance.

The wheelset weight including carbon spokes is 1,328g, while the steel spoke variant weighs 1,431g.

Hunt conducted approximately 2,500 hours of CFD simulations to narrow down the 42 rim profiles to three front and five rear rim shapes from 42 different rim profiles. He then created a 3D printed mock-up of the rim and assembled it into a prototype for actual driving tests in a wind tunnel. The rims were then retested with the actual carbon fiber rim prototypes.

According to Hunt, the new rim profile was wind tunnel tested 90 times at both 40 and 45 km/h.

The wheels are aero optimized around Schwalbe G-One Allround and G-One R tires in 40mm and 45mm widths, which are typical widths of many good gravel tires and, according to Hunt, are typically used by gravel riders who sponsor Hunt says this is the tire and width typically used by his sponsored gravel riders. According to the brand, the low-profile tread was chosen because otherwise the airflow around the side knobs would dominate the aerodynamic performance of the tire/wheel combination.

Like many aerobikes, Hunt says that the focus of aerodynamics is on the front of the bike where there is less air turbulence, and he has found that a 40 mm deep, 36 mm wide (27 mm inside) profile is most efficient and also improves stability and handling.

At the rear, where the air is already turbulent, Hunt focused on making the rims narrower, deeper, and lighter, with a depth of 41 mm and a width of 35 mm (26 mm inside width).

The hookless bead is ETRTO compliant, Hunt says, offering a slight weight savings over hooked rims and closer manufacturing tolerances. They also have the added benefit of less bulbous tire profiles, which improves the tire/rim interface and reduces the risk of pinch flats.

Hunt offers the option of the same carbon spokes as the Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc wheelset, which was released in February 2024. According to Hunt, each spoke weighs 2.7 grams and is stiff, allowing the number of spokes to be reduced from 24 to 20 at the front and rear, while at the same time increasing the wheel's responsiveness and dampening high-frequency vibrations. Hunt's carbon spokes also have the advantage of allowing the use of standard nipples, making the wheels easier to adjust.

The rear wheel is equipped with Hunt's latest H_Ratchet DBL freehub, also used on the Sub50 road wheels. It uses a lightweight double-sided ratchet design and is lighter than the pawl-based freehubs of conventional hubs; with 48 points of engagement, the version designed for carbon spokes is said to weigh 314g.

Hunt claims that the new wheels perform better than the previous generation 42 LGA wheelset in four metrics: aerodynamic efficiency, aerodynamic stability, weight, and tire geometry, with gravel tires up to 45 mm wide and 50 mm deep, than other gravel wheelsets The company claims that it is superior.

Hunt performed wind tunnel aero tests with the best gravel wheelsets, including 3T Discus 45/40, Reserve 40/44, DT Swiss GRC 1400 Spline, Enve 3.4, Cadex 35 AR, and Zipp 303 Firecrest. 45mm diameter Schwalbe G-One Allround tires were second only to the 3T wheels in aero drag.

When switched to 40mm wide tires, Hunt's new wheels were again second only to the 3T Discus wheels; the 3T wheels were slightly faster, but also weighed 320g more.

The Hunt 40 Limitless Gravel Aero wheelset starts at 1,479 pounds/$1,849/€1,849 and comes with steel spokes and bearings and is said to weigh 1,431 grams.

Upgrading to carbon spokes and steel bearings reduces the weight to 1,328g and the price to £1,849/$2,279/€2,279.

Adding CeramicSpeed factory-fitted precision-fitted CeramicSpeed bearings increases the price to 2,449 pounds / $2,989 / 2,898 euros. Weight remains the same at 1,328 g.

Hunt offers lifetime crash replacement by H_Care, which is encouraging for an expensive wheelset designed for fast, rough riding.

Pre-orders are available now and delivery will begin in late November 2024.