A set of carbon wheels can transform the ride of a bike and the Hunt Limitless 42’s are no different. The profile is bang up to date and the lack of weight means they accelerate rapidly; laterally stiff yet able to absorb trail vibrations these wheels are among the best upgrades money can but for your gravel bike.

5/5

£1299 | Buy from Hunt

In years gone by, carbon wheels were a luxury reserved for the wealthy or pros but in recent times, prices have become more palatable and now it’s possible to buy a pair of full carbon wheels at a price one could only dream of a few years ago. I’ve put well over 3000km on these wheels over the past 6 months and have been thoroughly impressed; speed, comfort and durability have all been top tier and although they look a little war torn, they continue to perform admirably.

Highs:

• Aero credentials

• Low Weight

• Durable

• Huge bang to buck ratio

Lows:

• Freehub is very loud

The Lowdown

• 42mm deep rims

• 24.5mm internal width

• 24 spokes front and rear

• EZO Bearings, CeramicSpeed upgrade available

• 3 Year Warranty

• 40mm optimal tyre width

• 1548g

One brand that can be credited with opening up access to a great pair of wheels at an affordable price is Hunt, a UK based brand that designs their rims in house and uses the tried and tested manufactures in the far east to make them.

The wheelset I’ve been riding is the gravel specific 42 Limitless and you may be thinking that carbon wheels on gravel doesn’t sound a great combination as the rough surfaces and tricky descents are sure to wreck the fragile carbon construction but far from it; carbon fibre is often stronger than aluminium in the right layup and brings with it a host of other benefits such as vibration dampening, lower weight and faster acceleration.

Rims found on gravel bikes are typically wider than their road equivalent to provide more support to the tyre and allows it to be run at lower pressures whilst still maintaining predictable handling characteristics.

As the name might suggest, the 42 Limitless Wheelset uses a rim depth of 42mm which Hunt claim can save 16.8 watts over a non-aero wheelset; gravel racing is becoming increasingly popular, and riders are chasing every gain possible so these wheels could result in a marked increase in speed. Hunt is very transparent with their aero testing protocols and data, their whitepaper takes a deep dive into the methodology and results, with the key takeaway being that these wheels are fast. Seriously fast; outperforming wheels from Zipp and Enve which cost considerably more.

The ‘Limitless’ part of the name refers to the rim profile; traditionally bike rims are a ‘V’ shape, but this shape is very susceptible to crosswinds. Hunt, along with other wheel manufactures, have discovered that a ‘U’ shape profile is equally as fast but much less affected by sidewinds, making them more stable. The Hunt Limitless rims measure a whopping 25mm wide internally and 35mm external which means the wider gravel tyre is better supported and the wheels are less affected by crosswinds.

The rims use a hooked design which means there’s a mechanical hook that the bead of the tyre snaps into, locking it in place. There’s a shift towards hookless rims at the very top end of the market as the rims can be made lighter and stronger, but hooked rims have been around for years and we’ve never had any issues.

Further adding to the aero credentials are the Pillar Wing straight pull spokes which Hunt found to be more aero than existing bladed or round spokes.

Hunt don’t build their own hubs, instead using off the shelf Novatech hubs which I’ve found to be pretty bombproof, requiring no mechanical attention in the 1000km that I’ve been riding them for. However, the freehub is incredibly loud, among the loudest I’ve experienced on any bike in the last 5 years and whilst it might annoy some, I found it handy on mixed use trails where there might be pedestrians; a quick blast of backpedalling soon made my presence known. It would be possible to dampen the noise a little with some grease in the freehub, but I personally felt no need. Engagement is very speedy at 7.5º which really helped when navigating technical terrain and instant power was needed to overcome and obstacle.

The hubs are compatible with most existing axles thanks to removable end caps and if you don’t know what axles you need, the team at Hunt are on hand to assist.

Many brands sacrifice durability in favour of an impressive headline weight but Hunt have included sensible design features to keep these wheels rolling for a long time. The freehub body is made from aluminium to keep excess weight down, but uses Steel spline inserts to protect the soft metal from the hard body of the cassette which can eat into the freehub body making removing and refitting the cassette very tricky.

External spoke nipples are used to make truing the wheel much easier and also means the tyre doesn’t have to be removed to replace a broken spoke.

For those looking for every performance gain, Hunt offers these wheels with an upgraded ceramic bearing set courtesy of CeramicSpeed for an additional fee which Hunt claim are 75% tougher and will last around 7 times longer than traditional metal bearings.

All of this tech and clever design features add up to create a wheel that feels great to ride, offering brisk acceleration thanks to the svelte 1548g weight but also feels sturdy enough to clatter over roots and rocks on tricky and fast descents. I had reservations that a carbon wheelset on a gravel bike could be a recipe for disaster, but it’s been completely the opposite; they have really elevated the ride of my test bike and have brought out the best elements from both frame and wheels to create a bike that feels incredibly fast yet durable.

It's hard to ignore the price too; browse online for a carbon gravel wheelset and you could be looking at spending upwards of £2000 with premium options running even higher; yet the Hunt Limitless 42’s are considerably less at £1149. What’s more impressive is that this price includes rim tape, tubeless valves and spare spokes and nipples. Hunt will even install tyres in the HQ when bought together, meaning they’re ready to ride straight out of the box.

Hunt have managed to pull off something very rare in the bike industry these days; creating a product that is genuinely very good at a price that is a fraction of what others are charging.