We spotted a number of new wheels wandering the halls of Eurobike earlier this summer. While maybe not yet completely ready for prime time, or not especially revolutionary, there were interesting new products from Hunt, DT Swiss & Scope that warranted a closer look. Whether for road, gravel, or cross there was something for any drop bar rider.
Hunt Super Wide Carbon Aero Disc all-road wheels
Whether looking to race large volume road tires, climb hills of even go against the clock in a time trial, Hunt Bike Wheels has some nice new products in the development pipeline. Their latest Wide Carbon Aero Disc project is one that we have been following closely since they brought an Italian carbon wheel specialist on board last year and headed into the wind tunnel.
With the idea of producing a tubeless, disc brake carbon wheelset designed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency with the large volume 28mm road tires more riders are using, Hunt ended up with an incredibly wide overall rim measuring about 36mm outside. Much like we saw earlier this summer on the Cannondale KNOT64 wheels where the rim sticks out wider than a narrow tire, Hunt has taken it one step further to get the maximum comfort, grip & lower rolling resistance benefits of the larger tubeless tires.
With an overall depth of 48mm and 22.5mm internal they look to produce the less drag than any current wheels when mounted with 28mm tires, and can even be setup with 30mm tire without much aero penalty.
The wheels use a unique low-density filler to create the extra width around the bead for a smooth transition to the tire without much weight penalty. From the side it looks similar to something you might have seen as a different brake surface material, although these are disc brake only. No word on an official name, weight, or pricing on these yet. But we are told that they will be finalized in the coming months and ready for order before the end of 2018.
Hunt solid Carbon Time Trial Disc wheels
Another development project from Hunt is their new Time Trial Disc rear wheels. Working with their Asian carbon rim manufacturer and Hunt’s own sponsored athletes, they sought to offer a solid disc wheel option at their relatively affordable pricing level.
For now this is a team-only tubular version of the TT Disc wheel, but Hunt is working with their producer to incorporate the same tubeless carbon bead onto this slippery curved aero disc profile. Coming soon!
Hunt carbon Hill Climb SL tubular wheels – actual weight
We already detailed the debut of Hunt’s 991g claimed carbon Hill Climb SL rim-brake tubulars (280g rims) developed to attack the hills of the UK’s well-know Hill Climb series.
But we also got a chance to weigh them on our own scale to verify their claims…
In fact, Hunt said they were a bit conservative with their weight claims, since pretty much everyone who buys these wheels will put them on a scale. At 419g for the front & 562g for the rear, that’s 981g on the production wheels we held. Pretty light and not a bad price at just £1090.
DT Swiss completion of their Road Revolution carbon & alloy line-ups
For the last year and a half DT Swiss has been trickling out a major redesign and reorganization of their road wheel range, breaking everything down into five clear categories – Aero, Performance, Endurance, Cross Road & Track – and putting a rational letter+number naming scheme to make it much more logical to compare what makes up each wheelset. Now finishing up with a total of 30+ wheelsets…
ARC 1400 DICUT deep aero carbon road race wheels
While the top-level ARC 1100 wheels (aero race carbon) that we previewed last spring offered premium aero performance and build components, by keeping the same aero rim & hub shapes with more affordable tech, they’ve brought the price down more than 400€ to $2606/1978€ or $2580/1958€ (disc or rim brake versions) while keeping most of the wind tunnel proven aero gains.
The 1400 wheels get more affordable stainless steel bearings inside, plus an 18 tooth star ratchet, standard weight freehub body & slightly heavier Aero Comp spokes. Like the 1100s they are available in 80, 62 & 48mm rim depths, all for the same price.
PRC 1100 DICUT 35 Mon Chasseral light carbon wheels
Like their previous generation named for the highest peak in the Swiss Jura mountains just above DT Swiss’ HQ, the new PRC 1100 Mon Chasseral (performance race carbon) rim-brake only carbon tubeless wheels weighs just 1406g, but will lighten your wallet too at $4609/3498€ for the pair. They get that light and expensive with a carbon hub, SINC ceramic bearings & 18/24 Aerolite spokes.
PRC 1100 DICUT 35 all-around carbon road race wheels
For something a bit more affordable, the PRC 1100 35 (performance race carbon, again) gets most of the same has all the details covered adding just over 100g. Also available as $3173/2408€ disc brake or $3146/2388€ rim brake versions, DT calls them the most versatile of their top road racing wheels. They still get tubeless carbon rims, aero hubs, SINC ceramic bearings, and the same 18mm internal/25mm external/35mm deep rim profile.
PR 1400 DICUT 32 OXiC aluminum road race wheels
DT’s OXiC treated alloy wheels get another new more affordable option. For $1315/998€, you get a 21 32mm deep/18mm internal tubeless road wheel with a 240s based hub, 36T SL ratchet, only in a rim brake version (also still available with a 21mm deep profile from last year).
ER 1400, ER 1600 & E 1800 alloy endurance wheels
On the endurance front, meaning (mostly) 20mm internal rim widths, DT has reorganized a few of their older, carry-over alloy rims into the new naming conventions. What you get here are wheels from $538/408€ up to $1117/848€ in disc brake only, that are mostly everyday wheels and all tubeless ready to take on any road surface.
CRC 1100 cross tubulars, CRC 1400, CR 1400 & CR 1600 wheels
We already spotted the new CRC 1100 cyclocross race carbon tubulars last season, before they officially debuted this spring. Now they officially enter the catalog for 2019 together with the $2549/1978€ carbon tubeless CRC 1400 wheels, the $1117/848€ CR1400 alloy race wheels, and $920/698€ CR1600 alloy race wheels.
TRC 1400 carbon & T 1800 Classic alloy track wheels
Track also gets a few updates with the TRC 1400 (track race carbon) 65mm deep carbon rim brought from the PRC line, paired to track hubs in either tubeless clincher $2857/2168€ or tubular $2672/2028€. Or the more affordable T 1800 alloy 32mm deep track wheels for $630/478€.
Scope custom wheel decal program adds color
Scope’s update is purely cosmetic, but if you are buying a set of their carbon wheels to build up or update a customized road bike, why not add a bit of custom color. Available on new road wheelsets, Scope is able to color match just about anything you want thanks to a unique digital decal printing process.
They can even do chameleon, color-changing decals like shown on these R5c rim brake wheels, which vary from purple to green depending on the angle light hits them. The process works by overlaying the thin, but durable colored decals over their standard striped decals which gives a nice textured look. It also means that the colored decal is possible to remove in the future to return to the standard look. The option should be available later this year to direct sale customers, with custom color pricing not yet finalized.
If you want to keep it a bit more simple and get it now, for just 29€ you get just the little R5c block decal in one of ten standard colors to match your bike or other components.
