Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

TECH NEWS

Hunt launches carbon tubular wheels

British wheel company develops carbon tubular wheels for BIKE Channel Canyon Pro Team, and you can buy them too

Hunt is best-known for its range of keenly priced aluminium and carbon fibre tubeless compatible wheelsets, but following its sponsorship of the new BIKE Channel Canyon Pro Team, it has added a tubular option to its range.

Professional riders still prefer tubular wheels and tyres. They’re the lightest setup and the tyre won't roll off the rim following a puncture, meaning the rider can keep riding on a flat tyre until the support car arrives with a spare. But when Hunt announced it was sponsoring a professional cycling team we thought that it might supply tubeless wheels and the team could break with tradition and ride tubeless. That wasn’t to be the case and Hunt has duly delivered two brand new tubular wheelsets for the team. 

- The pros and cons of carbon fibre wheels

HUNT-5588-CARBON-WIDE-AERO-TUBULAR-BICYCLE-WHEELSET-_9_1024x1024.jpg

“The BIKE Channel Canyon Team are training and racing on our tubeless-ready clincher wheelsets but for the biggest races in the calendar tubular rims were needed as they provide the ability for the riders to keep rolling whilst waiting for their service car in the event of a puncture,” says the British company. 

Hunt is offering two wheelsets, one with a 45mm rim and another with a 55/80mm front/rear combination, the former for as a lightweight all-round wheel, and the latter for flat races, sprinters and time trials.

Hunt has been pushing the benefits of wide rims since it launched a few years ago, and these new tubular carbon rims have a 25mm wide profile so they should play well with the wider tyres that are popular in the pro ranks. 

DSC_5697small_0c78ca1b-9978-47fa-bbf2-a8666429bc8a_1024x1024.jpg

While they’ve been developed primarily for road racing, Hunt does say they are suitable for cyclocross. Tubular wheels are popular with serious ‘cross racers because you can run tyres at very low pressures with little worry about the tyre rolling off the rim or pinch flatting. The wide rim profile should work well with a 33mm cyclocross tyre.

- Review: Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc Wheelset

It’s rim brakes only, naturally, and Hunt has developed a brake track using Basalt Ceramic Fibre to provide a high Tg (glass transition temperature) point. In combination with its Griptec brake blocks, Hunt claims the wheels offer excellent braking even on the longest descents. 

HUNT-TEAM-45CARBON-WIDE-AERO-TUBULAR-WHEELSET-BIKE-_3_63afa05f-cff9-4559-90eb-ef4af0b7a7a7_1024x1024.jpg

The rims will be laced with 20/24 aero straight pull spokes to Hunt Race Season Sprint hubs with beefed up internals to cope with the demands of the high power output the pros generate, so there’s upgraded 48 tooth ratchet and multi-point pawls in the freehub to deliver a 7.5- degree engagement.

The Hunt Team 45Carbon Aero Tubular wheelset weighs a claimed 1,379g and will cost £849. The Hunt Team 55/80Carbon Aero Tubular wheels come in at 1,498 and costs £949. 

Both wheelsets are available to preorder now with delivery expected in July. Check out the wheels here 

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

Add new comment

7 comments

Avatar
captain_slog | 6 years ago
1 like

OK, maybe not super-light for deep-section tubs, and you can be cynical about their provenance, but that is one classy-looking set of rims.

Avatar
GingerWorkshop | 6 years ago
0 likes

i'd Love to See a Hunt X Mason Cycles Team?! Carbon X Steel like Kinesis Started before going Carbon!

 

Avatar
sparker | 6 years ago
0 likes

PR  AND customer service. Had a problem with my 4 seasons from last year and they were completely replaced FOC for a more expensive wheelset. Considering I had ridden Roubaix on them and I'm no lightweight, I'd say that was over and above. Super helpful chaps too & replacement wheels are superb. They have ensured my continuing custom. Give 'em a chance chaps.

Avatar
graybags | 6 years ago
0 likes

Hunt sure know how to do PR

Avatar
tritecommentbot | 6 years ago
2 likes

Bit cynical there derek. You know how long it takes to do a logo on photoshop? Takes a solid half hour to download the application alone.

Avatar
Vili Er | 6 years ago
2 likes

For 'developed' read 'picked out of a Taiwanese catalogue'.

Avatar
HowardR replied to Vili Er | 6 years ago
0 likes

derek n clive wrote:

For 'developed' read 'picked out of a Taiwanese catalogue'.

Oh! - You cynic you.....

 

Latest Comments