Hunt has completely revamped their aerodynamic Limitless Gravel wheels, now with new lighter front- and rear-specific rims and the option for ultralight & stiff carbon spokes or conventional aero steel spokes, and steel or ceramic bearings. Any way you look at it, the new gravel racing wheels are faster than ever with wider, now-hookless internal widths optimized for bigger gravel tires. And they are lighter to boot – shedding up to 220g and bleeding into ultralight territory at just 1328g for an off-road-ready aero wheelset!
Hunt 40 Limitless Gravel Aero optimized carbon racing wheels
The next evolution of their aerodynamically optimized Limitless family, these new Hunt 40 Limitless Gravel Aero wheels go big on fat tire speed. While many aero wheels target maximum aerodynamic efficiency, Hunt realizes that aero gravel race wheels must strike a compromise of lightweight, aero efficiency, and versatility. So they set out to design the most aero mid-depth carbon wheelset they could while riding 40mm or 45mm tires over rough off-road tracks.
Their result is a two-pronged approach – a slightly shorter, wider & heavier front wheel to cut into undisturbed airflow and an incrementally taller, narrower & more robust rear wheel to follow behind in turbulent air but supporting more of the rider+bike weight. Both front & rear are now hookless with straighter sides, with wider 4.5mm tubeless-ready beads that are more resistant to pinch flatting due to the larger radius of their edges that spread out forces, even when you bottom-out against a sharp edge.
Their ultimate goal was to best their already “class-leading aerodynamic performance of the 42 Limitless Gravel Aero” wheels while substantially reducing weight. Hunt worked on R&D for these new 40 LGA wheels for 3 years aiming for improvement in 4 performance metrics: aerodynamic efficiency, aerodynamic stability, system weight, and tire shape.
Aerodynamic performance
Hunt says the new wheels deliver a new in-class benchmark for aerodynamic efficiency-to-weight and aerodynamic efficiency-to-depth performance.
“With a 45mm Schwalbe G-One AR tyre the 40 LGA UD produced the second lowest aerodynamic drag after the 3T Discus 45/40 (0.34W difference). The 40 LGA UD produced lower drag than the Reserve 40/44, DT Swiss GRC 1400 SPLINE and the Zipp 303 Firecrest (0.5W, 1.04W and 1.95, respectively).
With a 40mm Schwalbe G-One AR tyre the 40 LGA UD produced the second lowest aerodynamic drag after the 3T Discus 45/40 (0.67W difference). The 40 LGA UD produced lower drag than the DT Swiss GRC 1400 SPLINE, Zipp 303 Firecrest and CADEX 35 AR (0.01W, 1.38W and 2.06 respectively).
For an all-round gravel wheel[set], the 40 LGA UD offers the fastest overall package with both tyre sizes considered, but especially with the 45 mm tyre. The only wheel consistently faster than it, the 3T Discus 45/40, achieves the aero efficiency with 320g in additional mass. The 40 LGA is faster than both the ENVE 3.4 and Reserve 40/44, whilst also being lighter.“
Hunt R&D breakdown
Read Hunt’s latest complete Limitless Gravel Aero development White Paper, here. It’s a fun one to geek out on if you want to see how they came up with this final design through a mix of trial & error and extensive wind tunnel testing!
“While weighing just 1328 grams with UD Carbon spoke technology, the new 40 Limitless Gravel Aero with a 45mm Schwalbe G-One AR tyre offers a 0.39-watt savings compared the preceding 42 Limitless with a 45mm tyre. Compared to relevant wheels in the mid-depth category, the 40 Limitless aerodynamically outperforms the relevant competitor wheels up to and including 45mm in depth, when mounted with modern 45mm gravel tyres. When aerodynamic drag-to-weight and aerodynamic drag-to-depth ratios are considered, the 40LGA significantly outperforms the competitive set.“
Gravel Race Weight Savings
The previous generation 42 Limitless Gravel Disc wheels were already quite light at 1548g, at least light at the time for aero gravel wheels – by taking advantage of Hunt’s unique low-density polymer to fill out that fat rim profile without adding tons of unnecessary weight. But Hunt-sponsored gravel racers demanded lighter wheels to offset the weight of the wide tires they were racing. And that rotating weight was very tangibly felt over long races, with each acceleration, whether out of corners, to close a gap, or just after navigating some technical section.
So now, Hunt take it another step further. Just like in their Sub50 Limitless aero road wheels, Hunt realized that front- & rear-specific designs could help them increase aerodynamic efficiency while shedding substantial weight. And of course, the Sub50s reinforce the benefits of carbon spokes. The shift to Hunt’s top-tier TaperLock full UD Carbon spokes saved a bunch of weight, but so did that carbon layup refinement in the rims, and lighter hubs, too. Even the steel spoke wheelsets are more than 110g lighter than the previous generation.
Plus, those carbon spokes “offer 6% greater lateral responsiveness compared to steel spoke equivalents with significantly less weight (2.7g per spoke), allowing the design team to reduce the number of spokes used in the system”. Hunt’s TaperLock carbon spokes still retain conventional nipples, so the wheels are still easy to true and service.
Tech details
40 Limitless Gravel Aero Disc UD Carbon Spoke:
- front- & rear-specific wide hookless tubeless rims
- wider 4.5mm wide bead for greater pinch flat resistance
- 40mm deep front is 27mm wide internal, 36mm external
- 41mm deep rear is 26mm wide internal, 35mm external
- aerodynamically optimized for 40-45mm gravel tires
- built with 20 (front & rear) ultralight TaperLock UD Carbon spokes & conventional alloy nipples
- Hunt-branded H_Ratchet DBL hubs with 48T ratchet for fast 7.5° engagement
- standard double-sealed stainless steel cartridge bearings
- optional CeramicSpeed coated ceramic bearings
- 1328g complete wheelset
40 Limitless Gravel Aero Disc Steel Spoke:
- same front- & rear-specific wide-bead hookless tubeless carbon rim
- front: 40mm deep, 27mm wide internal, 36mm external
- rear: 41mm deep, 26mm wide internal, 35mm external
- built with 24 (front & rear) elliptical aero Pillar Wing 20 spokes & alloy nipples
- H_Ratchet DBL hubs: 48T ratchet, 7.5° engagement
- double-sealed stainless cartridge bearings standard
- 1431g complete wheelset
Hunt 40 Limitless Gravel – Pricing, options & availability
These new completely revamped and lighter aerodynamic Hunt 40 Limitless Gravel bike wheels come in three different versions now, all sharing the same 40 $ 41mm deep carbon rim profiles.
The most affordable of the bunch is the steel spoke version for $1850 / 1850€ with stainless bearings as well, at a claimed 1431g. But if you want the bulk of the new weight savings, you want to upgrade to the carbon spoke versions.
With a weight claim of just 1328g for the set, the Hunt 40 Limitless Gravel Aero Disc UD Carbon Spoke wheels sell for $2280€ with stainless steel bearings. Or you can upgrade those to CeramicSpeed coated ceramic bearings for an extra $710€.
All versions are available starting this week for pre-order of the first small batch that will land at UK, US & EU distribution warehouses from the 3rd week of November, and should make it out to early buyers by the end of that month. They also all get Hunt’s H_Care Lifetime Crash Replacement guarantee, too. No matter what happens, Hunt says they’ll take care of you, repairing or replacing damaged wheels free of charge, if needed. Snap up a set at:
