Hunt Wheels have are getting into the racy carbon tubular sector with a pair of entirely new rim brake wheelsets available for preorder now – a 45mm deep carbon tubular for road and cross, and a 55mm/85mm depth tubular wheelset for time trials and triathlons. Developed to meet the needs of the British UCI Continental race team that they sponsor -BIKE Channel Canyon – Hunt are offering up the same Team Edition wheels to the public this summer after a round of pre-ordering. Taking note of current data on tire widths and volumes, all of the new tubular rims feature a wide & blunt 25mm profile for all-around aero performance. Roll past the break for the full details…
Both wheelsets are offered in stealthy black/black/black combos, and feature straight pull Pillar spokes and double square alloy nipples. The 25mm width yields a nice aero rim/tire profile for road racing yet is wide enough to offer enough support for wider tires, allowing Hunt to label the 45/45 set as both road and cyclocross race friendly.
First seen on their wheels for larger riders, the new Sprint series hubs utilize a 3×3 pawl arrangement, using (you guessed it) 3 pawls with 3 teeth per pawl to handle the high loads seen during sprints. Those 9 teeth engage a 48 tooth ratchet ring, giving the hub 7.5° between engagements. Also found on the Team Edition tubies is the patent-pending steel insert on an alloy freehub body. Similar to designs seen on American Classic hubs, the harder steel piece is intended to prevent individual cassette cogs from biting into the softer aluminum, while sill getting the lightweight benefit of the alloy freehub. Hunt paid careful attention to the braking performance of the new rims, knowing that the faster a wheel, the better the brakes need to be. Accordingly, the brake tracks are infused with basalt ceramic fibers and feature a very high temp resin to prevent glazing on long descents. Supplied with the wheels are carbon-compound Griptec pads produced by BRAKCO.
Weight for the deeper 55mm/85mm set is quoted at 1498g and retail will be £950. The shallower 45/45mm counterpart comes in at a feathery (for its depth) 1379g with retail pricing £100 lower at £850. Either wheelset comes supplied with brake pads, skewers, spoke wrench and bladed spoke holder, and even a spare spoke of each length found throughout the set. Hunt is accepting preorders now with delivery promised in the latter half of July.
