EB17: Hunt polishes fast-engaging Sprint Aero racing, rim & disc road tubeless wheels

Hunt had three new road wheelsets to show us at Eurobike covering everything from the actual pro racer, to the all-rounder disc-brake roadie, and competitive amateur looking for that edge with light carbon. The shiny silver Sprint Aero Wide were actually developed with Hunt’s pro conti team for training, but the bling is totally race ready. The Aero Light Disc wheels pair a rounded aluminum rim profile with a quality disc brake hubset for an excellent value, everyday road disc wheelset. Then the 3650 Carbon Wide Aero wheels mix two carbon rim depths for an ideal all-around carbon clincher rim brake setup.

Sprint Aero Wide polished silver rim brake road wheels

Hunt has done a bit of mix-and-matching for their new Sprint Aero Wide wheels, taking the fast 7.5° engaging hub (with 48 teeth on the ratchet & 3-pawls) of their 50 Carbon Wide Aero pro race wheels and lacing them to a more affordable aluminum tubeless rim. The wheels were actually developed to give the British Pro Continental team Bike Channel Canyon an aluminum training wheel option. But after Hunt got such good feedback on some carbon team race wheels built up with silver bladed Pillar spokes, they decided to go all the way with these new wheels and throw in a shiny polished silver hubset and a wide 31mm deep, 24mm wide (19mm internal) heat-treated aluminum rim.

Designed for a 25-28mm tire, the Bike Channel Canyon have a new flashy training wheel that at 1497g is a pretty reasonable deal for £450. Like every clincher from Hunt the Sprint Aero Wide wheels are tubeless compatible (the yellow halo around the wheels is actually reflection from the yellow tubeless tape installed) so the team is riding with less fears of flats and lower rolling resistance. The new wheels are available for pre-order now with the first consumer wheels arriving at the end of November 2017.

Aero Light Disc aluminum disc brake road wheels

The Aero Light Disc wheelset was developed as a high value road disc brake wheelset, balancing an affordable price, low weight & fast rolling. To do that the 1498g wheelset uses a lightweight, rounded profile 28mm deep, 22mm wide external heat-treated 6061-T6 rim with a 17mm wide internal rim bed. The target here was an affordable wheelset to match with 23 or 25mm tires for roadies who were making the switch to disc brakes.

To hit the fast rolling target, the wheels get the same 7.5° engagement in the Race Season Sprint disc brake wheels that build up with 24 straight-pull aero Pillar PSXTRA spokes, front & rear. These hubs use a centerlock rotor interface and are set up for 12mm thru-axles. (QR adapters are available separately, but the smaller diameter hubs cannot be used with 15mm front axles.) The Aero Light Disc wheels retail for £470 a pair and are in stock now, straight from Hunt.

3650 Carbon Wide Aero carbon rim brake road wheels

The 3650 wheelset is actually another product of the Bike Channel Canyon partnership. Essentially the team riders wanted a carbon tubeless clincher wheelset that offered the best combination of low weight and aerodynamics, so they were already mixing together a 36mm front wheel with 50mm rears.

Hunt figured amateur riders would want the same benefits of the combination, so the decided to start a pre-order and do a quick production run as well.

The mixed 3650 wheels share all of the same tech as their respective Carbon Wide Aero companions, so get the same 19mm internal tubeless-ready UD carbon rims with Griptec basalt ceramic brake tracks, and fast 7.5° engaging Sprint hubs. The claimed 1477g wheelset is selling for £979 with the pre-order wheels scheduled to arrive in the first week of December 2017.

As with all Hunt’s tubeless clinchers, they are always taped for tubeless when you order and come with tubeless valves. Hunt will also do the dirty work and set up any wheelset you buy from them tubeless with appropriate tires (like the popular road tubeless Schwalbe One Pro in 23, 25, or 28mm for £100) & sealant for a price that you can’t match if you would buy the tires on their own.

HuntBikeWheels.com