Hunt, SON & CeramicSpeed eliminate drag in adventure racing dynamos with ceramic bearings

“The bearings are more precise compared to the standard SKF steel bearings that SON uses, so there is less flex under load and when cornering, which also means improved bearing lifespan.”

I would really liked to see this backed up somehow.

Morning and big thanks for all the replies, it’s really cool to read and gain extra info.
I hope you all got chance to ride over the weekend. Of course pretty much all these comments are bang on, these very high spec options are not really that worth it for normal riders like myself. However, I would look at someone like Josh, whose project this is, and since he is very much at the sharp end of these ultra-distance races small differences count to him. Josh requested this option to be available to rider as just a watt or two over 4000km (such as his TransContinental Race win), and with average rider output somewhere around 150-250 watts, 1 watt is approx 0.5%, which can make hours worth of difference, which becomes worth while over those distances.

As you all correctly say, this is very high end, it is only an option, all normal SON dynamo hub wheelsets are available and they are probably the best option for pretty much all of us. No-one is forced to buy this, just like no-one has to buy a higher spec $200+ helmet or shoes when I and all of us know the $90 pair will make probably less than 1% difference in performance, but here at HUNT our focus, as you can see by our deep range of alloy wheels, is alloy at between $350 and $600 with very competitive specs, these are the wheels most of us here at HUNT use, care about and put a lot of our effort into, my alloy MTB, my alloy Allroad/gravel/winter trainer disc dropbar bike (with lovely full lengther mudguards) are my 90% time riding steads and they all have sub $500 alloy wheels on them and they all ride great, I know I am never held back by them. Only my road racer get’s our $950 carbon wheelset and they are only used in Spring/Summer. However, I can still appreciate and am excited by seeing the special projects that top level riders are exploring at the edge of their performance, in just the same way super light bikes are exciting to learn about by me and many riders, but I don’t own one. Small gains in low friction does make sense especially over longer periods, just the same as aero and low weight all add small gains for these top athletes. Heck, even if I was very sensible in most of our ‘real-world riders eyes’ and maxed $ to performance at say $1800 carbon road bike with 105 and good alloy wheels, Sagan would still thrash me on a $300 total budget racer, but we’d all agree $1800 is a sensible road bike, also it’s worth Sagan wearing a skinsuit to win his races, just like having this Ceramicspeed option for Josh types. You’re absolutely right these projects riders like Josh are working on are very high end but I do think they add to our understanding of what us more average riders like me can think about. I know I, and many normal riders have benefited from many of the features top riders were only just starting to use 15 years ago, stiff carbon road frames, compact chainsets etc, and I do think facilitating top riders like Josh in his efforts helps us to bring the best performance to everyday products for normal devoted riders like us. Of course a key thing is that at HUNT we can pack in these tops specs often for less $ than the established wheel brands sell wheelsets without these upgrades, e.g. a dynamo carbon wheelset with a $310 SON hub and $550 ceramic speed bearing set will be less than $1800, and this is pinnacle tech wheelset used by the best riders in this speciality in the world. We think every day all day and night about how to make better wheelsets, as we love riding just like you do so thank you again to everyone and it’s all really appreciated as listening and understanding all these points helps us make better wheels for devoted riders like you.

Kindest regards and enjoy your riding,

Tom Marchment
HUNT Wheels | TheRiderFirm